Jedi Pastor Ken

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Parables From Luke Week 3

2012-02-02T09:07:00.000-05:00

Download the mp3 of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Week 3 Here

Parables were intended to have shock value. They were intended to illicit response; whether immediate or in time, it made little difference. Surely we're missing something if a parable doesn't effect us right? Maybe that is why GBU didn't get the critical acclaim it deserved when first released. It needed time.

If you get a moment, read the parable in Luke 12:13-21

The easiest response is to think a parable applies to other people. But as Dr. Roberta Bondi noted in The Five-Day Academy of Spiritual Formation in North Carolina this past fall, the early fathers of the church were, "...convinced judgementalism was about the greatest sin."

Don't put it on the clergy to make it easy for you either. In Adam Clarke's Commentary on this passage, he writes about judging, saying, "...a minister of Christ ought not concern himself with secular affairs, any farther than charity and the order of discipline require it...He who preaches salvation to all should never make himself a party man; otherwise he loses the confidence, and consequently the opportunity of doing good to the party against whom he decides."

No, there is more going on here. Take a listen to mp3 and be sure to also visit www.globalrichlist.com. We could use a little shock.

May I ask? What response does this parable raise up in you?

May I suggest? Take a Bible into your storage spaces. Pull up a chair and then read it again out loud. Look at your stuff. What response do you feel now?

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Parables From Luke Week 2

2012-01-26T09:25:00.002-05:00

Download the mp3 of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Week 2

So this week we look over at Luke 11:1-13 and let's be honest, all we really have done is look at this as "The How-To manual on prayer." Because the Lord's Prayer is here, the parable is glossed over as are some significant connections to other scripture passages.

What is most often missing is context and when it comes to parables, they are often treated like fables, myths and simple wisdom sayings. BUT they aren't and it is important to note the difference. Dr. James Fleming, in The Parables of Jesus, writes, "The Koran and many oriental religions only have the sayings and there is no context to help interpret them...we can excavate...this is unique to the Judeo-Christian heritage." Archaeology can and has excavated the homes of the first century (along with a lot of places and documents which confirm the accuracy of the Bible). For a good look at what I'm talking about in the study, visit Women In The Bible for a better view of an 'insula.'

What it seems to me however, is the passage AND the parable is more than a "How-To." Jesus is giving us the how and the what and the why and the when but most of all, Jesus is revealing to us an important relationship - the who we are praying to.

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Parables From Luke Week 1

2012-01-21T11:48:00.001-05:00

Download the mp3 of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Week 1

When first released, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly received terrible reviews from critics. Yet today, it is ranked among the 100 greatest movies of all time. One of the things I believe makes it so unique are the smaller side stories hidden throughout the movie. These reveal elements of the characters and, if we allow the power of story to work on us, those of us who watch the movie. For us men (as this is primarily a men's study I'm leading), we are wired for stories not conversations. We love the storyline of a football game, remembrances of a day fishing or hunting or simply recalling days gone by.

Dr. Edward Wimberly writes in his recent book, No Shame in Wesley's Gospel, "The power of Scripture is in its ability to get the hearer or reader to suspend his or her own way of seeing reality and, as the reader or hearer is drawn in, to take on the world as it is revealed in the text." In an even larger way, this is the goal of Jesus' parables.

Luke's gospel is unique among the four gospels in that it contains more parables than the other three. Luke's gospel also contains a number of parables which are not found in the others as well. Long thought to be nothing more than analogies, more recent scholarship has dismissed this notion and recognized parables as something different, a unique form of story contained in the Scriptures (Edwin Freed, The New Testament: A Critical Introduction).

In this first week, we're looking at Luke 7:36-50 and the parable contained in the story of Jesus, Simon the Pharisee and the sinful woman. Often what is examined is the interaction of Jesus and Simon. I think what we discover is an example of the power of a parable. We see how Jesus uses a parable to teach and the power of a parable to 'explode' in a person's life and soul, even when we do not want it.

What If We Believed In Grace?

2011-12-07T09:56:00.001-05:00

Two monks were making a pilgrimage to venerate the relics of a great Saint. During the course of their journey, they came to a river where they met a beautiful young woman -- an apparently worldly creature, dressed in expensive finery and with her hair done up in the latest fashion. She was afraid of the current and afraid of ruining her lovely clothing, so asked the brothers if they might carry her across the river.

The younger and more exacting of the brothers was offended at the very idea and turned away with an attitude of disgust. The older brother didn't hesitate, and quickly picked the woman up on his shoulders, carried her across the river, and set her down on the other side. She thanked him and went on her way, and the brother waded back through the waters.

The monks resumed their walk, the older one in perfect equanimity and enjoying the beautiful countryside, while the younger one grew more and more brooding and distracted, so much so that he could keep his silence no longer and suddenly burst out, "Brother, we are taught to avoid contact with women, and there you were, not just touching a woman, but carrying her on your shoulders!"

The older monk looked at the younger and said, "Brother, I set her down on the other side of the river miles ago. Why are you still carrying her?"

Have you ever made a mistake someone would not let you forget? Have you ever messed up and your own conscience wouldn’t forget? How long have you held on to a hurt or a mistake someone else has made? Somethings are hard to let go of ya know it? It is so much easier to keep carrying things; mistakes, wrongs, offenses, and sins. What if we could let it all go?

AND what if we could put it ALL down AND THEN have the ability to walk away? What if we could do it with our friends, our enemies and even our parents?

I grew up with the idea that God has a great big book of everything. Have ya’ll ever gotten that idea...that God is up there making sure it is all written down, especially the screw-ups? Where does that come from? Yes, there are images of God’s judgement in the Bible. There are mentions of lists too in the Bible and if not read carefully or with the perspective of key points, we miss the more subtle ones.

The Key Point is getting the right perspective of God.

John 14:6-9 Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me. (7) If you really knew me, you would know my Father too. But now you know the Father. You have seen him." (8) Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need." (9) Jesus answered, "Philip, I have been with you for a long time. So you should know me. Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father too. So why do you say, 'Show us the Father'?

What if you believed Jesus is who he says he is? Most people like Jesus a whole lot, even unbelievers and atheists. Then they point to the Old Testament and try to explain away Jesus’ words. But Jesus is saying here we can’t do that! “Anyone who has SEEN me has SEEN the Father too.” Look at God in the Old Testament through Jesus’ glasses. In Jesus, we see GOD. Period. He is quick to forgive. He is quick to heal. He is quick to teach. He is quick to correct. He is quick to love. And all those things are true of God the Father. And when we get that, we can face the subtle point.

The Subtle Point is the same God who forgives, is the same God who helps us live.

Luke 18:1-7 Then Jesus taught the followers that they should always pray and never lose hope. He used this story to teach them: (2) "Once there was a judge in a town. He did not care about God. He also did not care what people thought about him. (3) In that same town there was a woman whose husband had died. She came many times to this judge and said, 'There is a man who is doing bad things to me. Give me my rights!' (4) But the judge did not want to help the woman. After a long time, the judge thought to himself, 'I don't care about God. And I don't care about what people think. (5) But this woman is bothering me. If I give her what she wants, then she will leave me alone. But if I don't give her what she wants, she will bother me until I am sick.'" (6) The Lord said, "Listen, there is meaning in what the bad judge said. (7) God's people shout to him night and day, and he will always give them what is right. He will not be slow to answer them. (ERV)

So Jesus is comparing God to an uncaring judge, right? Well, no. James Moore calls this a “How Much More” story. “If an unjust judge can help you when you ask HOW MUCH MORE will God help!” Because we know the KEY POINT, we are more aware of that subtle point, that God is in the business of FORGIVING for LIVING.

The doctors and nurses who helped treat my cancer didn’t do that so that I would continue to live like I was diseased but so I could live. Jesus doesn’t forgive us and heal us of the wound of sin so we wallow around all sickly and reminding ourselves of those sins. Maybe you’ve seen that and felt that was what you were supposed to do but it isn’t that at all.

Like the older monk, we can sit down what needs to be left behind and walk on. HOW MUCH MORE will God help us leave behind mistakes, regrets, failures and sins if we ask. HOW MUCH MORE will God help us live like Jesus if only we ask, if only we turn from our way to God’s way, the way of Jesus.

Finding Spiritual Direction Through Service

2011-11-04T09:37:00.000-04:00

I stood rigid looking into the bathroom of the men’s homeless shelter. Behind me were five teenagers who had followed my crazy idea to give up their spring break to go on a mission trip. I doubt any of the fixtures had seen a scrub brush or bleach in a few months. I dare not try to describe the smell.

I knew what I had to do but my thoughts had to do with how I move, motivate or manipulate these young people to step forward! I had only arrived at this church seven months ago! What on earth had I been thinking? So, I stepped forward, grabbed the hose and a scrub brush and found the far corner. Ever so timidly, the youth moved forward, following my lead.

As I worked, I sensed Jesus’ words asking me, “Didn’t I do a little cleaning work too?” With the nudge, I asked the youth, “Do you remember a time when Jesus did some washing and cleaning?” One young man said, “Oh yeah! He got down on his hands and washed the disciples’ feet!” In a moment, the Spirit transformed the bathroom of this homeless shelter into sacred space. Joy enveloped us as we began to imagine making this the cleanest bathroom these men would ever know.

In a recent interview, professor, pastor and author, Eugene Peterson mentioned, “Everything in the Gospel is livable not just true.” (see below for the full interview on PBS) One of our roles as spiritual directors is helping those who come to us, see a livable Gospel not merely teachable truths. It is true Jesus washed the disciples feet but is this the point? “And if your Lord and teacher has washed your feet, you should do the same for each other. (John 13:14)” Missions and service take us to the dirty feet of our world, to places where truths taught become truths lived.

Watch Eugene Peterson on PBS. See more from Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.

Sin Bravely - Book In Review

2011-11-02T10:47:00.000-04:00

www.12frames.eu

The goal is to provide “a joyful alternative to a purpose-driven life,” so the subtitle declares. Is it an alternative that Sin Bravely gives the reader? Yes. Is it joyful? If you have a fairly good grasp of history and theology, you might find it so but alas, it is more ponderous than joyful.

Professor Ellingsen does a masterful job throughout of researching and presenting the width and shallowness of purpose-driven and prosperity thought. At the heart, Professor Ellingsen seeks to reintroduce the freedom of God’s grace and Martin Luther’s call for Christians to “sin bravely.” “...the concept, ‘sin bravely,’” writes Ellingsen, “is a word of permission to do God’s ‘thing’ joyously and with reckless abandon (64).” This idea is intended to contrast with Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven model and the prosperity gospel which Ellingsen argues, is an extension of a narcissistic world view.

It is worth noting that Professor Ellingsen also delves into modern scientific discoveries to make his case. Chapter 3 includes the subsection entitled, “Biochemistry, genetics, and original sin,” which any pastor, theologian or counselor ought to read. Documentation, footnotes and references to reformation theology, past and present, abound. A good deal of the work includes the history and influence of Puritan thought in the United States, which is worth the time to read.

There is no doubt Professor Ellingsen’s book is far better grounded than any of the purpose-driven and/or prosperity gospel materials. While he takes a weak shot at Wesleyan-Arminian thought, I found he does make the case for sinning bravely by using Wesley’s quadrilateral of Scripture, tradition, reason and experience.

The greatest weakness, however, is Professor Ellingsen writes as a professor not a pastor. Sin Bravely is not near as easy to grasp as Rick Warren’s or Joel Osteen’s works or words. It maybe a joyful alternative and it most certainly is better theology but the book falls short in being accessible to those who have found their guidance from Warren and Osteen.

An open note to the people called United Methodists during this election cycle...

2011-10-28T10:32:00.000-04:00

We often speak of John Wesley extending a hand to those who have things in common. We speak of his quote of doing good as often as we can. Yet, I ask you, where is this evident in your blogs and Facebook posts lately?

Where is there evidence of goodwill and charity when you insult the intelligence of differing political views? Where are you offering grace to those who may not share your view on party allegiance? When do you admit, based on the information available and reasoned thought, a fellow Christian may end up at a differing opinion as yours?

In his sermon, “On Charity,” John Wesley writes,

“’Love is longsuffering.’ It endures not a few affronts, reproaches, injuries; but all things, which God is pleased to permit either men or devils to inflict.”

You may well agree to disagree agreeably and that is our right and privilege under our Constitution but what of how we speak under the grace of God and the love of Jesus Christ? Is the insulting of candidates appropriate? Are the snide and crude pictures an evidence of longsuffering love?

I appeal to you all who call yourself United Methodist to consider who you represent and what fruit is evident when you speak with words out loud or with words on a screen. I pray that this year be a year of longsuffering love for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus and the people who claim the name United Methodist.

Five Ways Our Senses Can Help Through Conflict

2011-10-25T11:16:00.000-04:00

http://www.sxc.hu/profile/sue_r_b

Thoreau once said, " If I do not keep in step with others, it is because I hear a different drumbeat."

But what if you're surrounded and overwhelmed by drumbeats? What if you don't even know what a drum sounds like anymore?

I did a wedding in the Duke Chapel this past weekend and saw the Occupy Duke/Durham protest. I had to wonder (as I didn't have time to ask) if they had taken time to consider their parents were paying over $50,000 a year to send them to a private university and most families at Duke represent the 1%?

And why do so many on the other side of the equation condemn said protesters? Do they not sense the disconnect? They talk about greed and envy but what about the forgotten passion known as avarice, the unwillingness to share one's resources with others?

Dr. Roberta Bondi points out the passions cause blindness. I think they also cause deafness, as well as the loss of all senses. We need to reconsider and review what we learned in grade school about our five senses.

1. Seeing is believing. Our society is dominated by this sense. The historic first televised debate between Nixon and Kennedy ushered us into the age of sight that has dominated us. As a broadcasting major, we learned the importance of manipulating an image. It is easy to make a crowd out of 20 people and just as simple to make 1,000 no more relevant than 10.

2. You have two ears and one mouth for a reason. We do need to listen more and talk less. We also need to realize that sound bites are not information - they're appetizers. I've about had it with both groups of my friends (left and right) who all sound ignorant when they keep spitting out quotes of intended to irritate their 'opponents.' It does not take long for the ears to reveal true colors and help us see the truth.

3. I smell a rat. I have never smelled a rat but I have been into some pretty disgusting places and homes. You honestly don't have to see a rat (or mouse) to know they are there. Get enough information and your gut takes over. Smell is the sense of the gut. Radio, TV, internet, Wall Street to Washington and Democrat to Republican, we are covered up in rats. The color makes no difference nor does matter if it is in the wild or a pet: a rat is still a rat.

4. Taste and see. This is the sense of faith. At some point we step out and take a chance, we put the data into us and try it out. The phrase is from scripture (Psalm 34:8) and it simply points out we can't keep doing life by reason or tradition alone. Of the debates and senses related to our current world, it is the one sense few have the courage to acknowledge let alone use.

5. Give me a hug! It is okay if you don't but you cannot ever lose sight of this one thing: we are each human beings - we are mortal and we have feelings, experiences and thoughts that differ from one another. I love the song, "We All Bleed Red," for it connects us to the reality of our humanity that we will never escape.

May I Ask? What sense will you use today to know others better?

More Cowbell? How About More Spirit?

2011-10-19T15:39:00.000-04:00

May I ask you a question? I am asking because I'd like this to be a rhetorical question, something for you to really consider.

Is our faith journey a...

1) Intellectual journey?

2) Spiritual journey?

3) Emotional journey?

4) all of the above.

I have been on my own journey to discovering and learning the spiritual side of the journey. Recovering it, may not be too harsh a word either. And while some in the Church today are arching their backs and drawing a line in the sand over the "new age" term: spirituality, it is nevertheless a reality for us who follow Jesus Christ. This is a spiritual journey.

It seems to me somehow, in the passing of the years, we have, for all practical purposes, removed the spiritual side of faith out of the equation. I recently attended the 5 Day Academy of Spiritual Formation sponsored by The Upper Room. There, Dr. Bruce Rigdon discussed how the Church in the west sided with the idealist thought that the physical world was the definition of what was 'real.' Prior to that point, the Church Universal understood the real world to be the spiritual and the physical world to be a reflection of this.

The Biblical writers saw no division, it was in Dr. Ridgon's words, "the whole ball of wax!" Dr. Wilkie Au notes, "Christian spirituality offers us a truer understanding of the self and the nature of human fulfillment." (The Enduring Heart, pg 40).

Merely engaging in apologetics has failed to grow the Church. Why? Reason alone will not carry the day. Consider following the advice of any of our modern thoughts on atheism and we end up just as morally bankrupt as the Church during the Crusades. Have millions died because of religious beliefs? Sadly, yes, and how many have died at the hands of governments that have espoused atheism? Millions again.

What I am more interested in is what will we do as the Church to address the spiritual bankruptcy of our culture. The role of the Church is to do just this - to be this place - not of intellectual or emotional renewal but of spiritual renewal - to help us see the "real" and not follow the path of Narcissus and become obsessed with the "reflection."

Did you know that hidden in the United Methodist Book of Discipline, paragraph 629, section 6, there is a recommendation for the Annual Conference to have an Area of Spiritual Formation? That it has its purpose to help develop the devotional life for people and families, CLERGY and LAITY?

I have found the more I practice spiritual formation, the more I pray, the more I engage in reflection, the more I offer grace and the less I offer gripes. But that formation isn't merely rote prayer practices that have been shoveled on us by modern publishing houses and contemporary authors. Spiritual formation engages the width, depth and breadth of Church history and tradition.

Christopher Walken, a United Methodist lay person, might prescribe more cowbell. But the real remedy is found not in answers we come up with in our planning and studies. It is in the reality that "God is a spirit. Those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24). We need more spirit. We've been doing far too much banging on cowbells.

Thoughts on Extravagant Generosity: Monday of Week 3

2011-10-17T12:12:00.000-04:00

http://www.sxc.hu/profile/Varavas

Jesus looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.’ Luke 21:1-4

Put aside politics for a minute and we get to the heart of the matter. When Jesus tells this story, he isn't talking about giving to just another charity or paying taxes. It is giving to God and that is equal to giving to God's Church. It is we who have made giving into something it isn't. Bishop Schnase makes it uncomfortably clear, "The opposite of generosity is greediness..."

The tighter we hold onto the things we have, the harder it becomes to let go and grab onto something better. Generous people have a knack for being optimistic, why? For the same reason God is optimistic about us - remember, God first gave his own son (John 3:16)!

Has giving changed you? In what ways? Have you ever given more than you thought you could? What was that like?

Week Two: Tuesday (Thoughts on Extravagant Generosity)

2011-10-11T12:57:00.001-04:00

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

Reading Bishop Schnase's devotion today I couldn't help thinking about rafting this past summer with our Boy Scout Troop. One thing I've learned is that going down the river with a guide is far more fun than most people realize. Guides "know" the river. Every turn, every rock and every branch. They also know how to have some crazy fun!

Our guide kept us focused and taught us all a great deal. Having someone like that to look up to can make a whole lot of difference not just on a river but in our crazy, hectic, fast-paced world. Guides don't panic - they have been through it. Having God, friends and guides on our "white-water" life adventure can make all the difference!

Today, think about what has been carrying you along and what "rapids" you're in or about to face. Who is a guide for you? If you don't have one, pray about finding one and start looking for those who have some "white-water" experience!

Book Review: Seeking Spiritual Intimacy

2011-10-04T14:49:00.003-04:00

“The deeper spiritual life is available to all genuine believers. It is not an ideal reserved for a handful of elite Christians,” writes Glenn E. Myers. “The Beguines epitomize the pursuit of one thing: loving Jesus with their whole heart.” With a little history and descriptive narrative, Myers introduces us to the lives of these women of the twelfth and thirteenth century. While today churches continue to struggle with the role of women, we find in their own words and the record of history, the Beguine women, leading by example how to experience a deeper spiritual life.

Myers does not try to write a mere history but attempts to engage the writings of the Beguines so as to reflect their impact on their society and the faith of Christians during the Medieval Period. The book introduces us to their general histories, the struggles with family and the acceptance of the Church to the writings and lifestyle of these women. In these pages we meet four of the leading women of this lay renewal movement.

The reader is invited at the end of each chapter to reflect on what they have read through a variety of practices. Though it has an extensive bibliography and could be considered worthy of textbook status, it is a book which connects us to themes common in our modern times such as the issue of suffering, creating community and even the issue of men’s spirituality.

As theologians, historians, writers, clergy and lay people alike, try to engage a fuller understanding of Christian spiritual formation, all would do well to consider the influence and example of the Beguines. I found Myers writing engaging and the chapters applicable to my own spiritual journey and my ministry as a pastor and spiritual director. If you are indeed seeking spiritual intimacy or simply an understanding of the Beguine movement and history, I recommend adding Myers’ work to your reading list.

Seeking Spiritual Intimacy
Journeying Deeper with Medieval Women of Faith
Glenn E. Myers. 2011. Intervarsity Press. ISBN 978-0-8308-3551-5

FIND IT HERE.

Let Me Ask Ya This...

2011-10-03T16:00:00.008-04:00

It is good to be home in Pirate Country! Georgia is now home but East Carolina is always on my mind. I'd like to play a little game today, something interactive to get our minds going a little. It is a fill in the blank game. I'll say a phrase and you finish it...

At an East Carolina home game you hear: First Down...(and you say:) Pirates!
A Teacher: There is no such thing as a stupid (question)
A Police Officer: Please hand me your license, insurance and (registration)

All three of those phrases were part of my time here in Greenville. But of the three, only one is part of my journey. It is so much easier to major on the minors but it is in the questions, that we come face to face with God. Granted the same might be said to be true: if you don’t want to come face to face with God, don’t ask questions.

There is unfortunately different stigmas around questions. We are afraid to ask for fear we might look stupid. Also, people take questions to mean you don’t like them. One of my best friends asks great questions but because he does, some people take it the wrong way. But as a military officer he learned to ask REALLY good questions.

But questions also cause us two fears. One of the things we fear is not knowing. The other, less obvious, is finding the answer. In the earliest centuries of the church, the formation of monastic communities in the deserts were places where men and women could go to face questions. On one occasion, a group of men went to see Abba Anthony. Wanting to test them, the old man suggested a Bible text and beginning with the youngest, he asked them what it meant. Each had his opinion but to each, Abba Anthony said, “You have not understood it.” Last of all he came to last, to Abba Joseph and he asked him, “And what is your explanation.” Abba Joseph replied, “I do not know.” Then Abba Anthony said, “Indeed, Abba Joseph has found the way. for he does not know ("The Sayings of the Desert Fathers," pg 4).” These early Christians learned there was nothing to fear in “not knowing.”

What maybe the greater fear is finding the answer or for that matter, admitting we knew it all along.

The pattern of the desert fathers and mothers grew out of the Rabbinic traditions of the Jewish people. For us, the questioning of Jesus in the temple is exactly the type of pattern which kept the earliest Christians questioning, attentive and passionate about the way of God Jesus had revealed.

Look at this exchange between Jesus and the priests in Matthew 21:23-32

Whoever reported to Matthew the argument only reveals the tip of the iceberg. The priests’ response to Jesus’ first question seems to be the same as Abba Joseph: “I don’t know.” But it is a heart issue. The seeker of God does not fear not knowing. The seeker of glory fears being found out. And it is true of us: We know but we don’t want to know that we know.

But stories reveal the deeper things of our souls. Stories reveal who we are as people. When we hear a story, it brings down our guard. Try this one:
Allan Boesak, was involved in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.
That simple phrase told you a story if you know anything about the hideous effects of apartheid. It prepares us for what comes next for Allen wrote, “We will go before God to be judged, and God will ask, "Where are your wounds? Was there nothing worth dying for?'"

Like those folks in the temple, we’re hearing a story, one we casually consider and think it does not apply to us. And then suddenly, Jesus drops the hammer on us... “Who did the will of the father after all?” Or maybe it is Allen’s words, “Was there nothing worth dying for?”

In the height of the middle ages, Mechthild of Magdeberg noted, “...that too often Christians - especially those who are intellectually bright - obstruct the Lord’s intimacy (Glenn E. Myers, Seeking Spiritual Intimacy, pg 143).” How? We avoid the questioning nature of the Spirit of God. We cover over ourselves with “busyness” or “ministry” Examine the Old Testament starting with what maybe the oldest of its writings, Job. Seek after God, question him by all means, but be prepared chapter 38 verse 2 and 3 tell us:
“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.”

In other words, to go after God is (in the words of my friend Jeff Coleman) to put on your big boy underpants and your big girl panties. It is to recognize that any God we can understand or even prove, is not likely to be a God any of us would find worthy to worship. This, I have to imagine, is what must have been so disconcerting for these priests, I more pity them than get angry with them for here appears a man, flesh and blood, claiming divinity!

So let us at least give credit to these priests, they are not yet condemned. Just because some are going ahead does not mean those at the back can’t get in too!
This isn’t an intellectual journey
This isn’t a physical journey
This isn’t a belief journey
I’m not even sure it is a faith journey

No, this is a soul journey and the way to the soul Jesus tell us, is in the story - it is in the questions - it is in the moments that God arrives and we stand our ground and do not shy away.

So let me ask ya? What about those two brothers? Who are you? You may not like the answer but like Sister Hazel once said (maybe even paraphrasing this verse):
If you want to be somebody else,
If you're tired of fighting battles with yourself
If you want to be somebody else
Change your mind...

My invitation to you is this: become part of God’s story.

Thoughts Before The Talk: Who Is Asking You Questions?

2011-09-22T13:49:00.004-04:00

Karl Jacobson over at Working Precher.com shared a quote from Voltaire this week that we ought to judge a person by his questions rather than his answers. I think taking it a step further would be better, we ought to judge a person by the people who ask him/her questions.

Jesus and the priests go at it with a battle of questions in Matthew 21:23-32. Jesus doesn't just ask a better question, he trumps them (and us) with a story. It isn't a big one but this only proves how effective a story can be.

The priests got pownd. Obviously, we love it. In my life in the Church, preachers and congregations have always seemed to love these texts when the religious leaders take a fall. We get to laugh at someone else and secretly say, "thank goodness that wasn't us!" Really? You think so? Let me ask ya then, who do you think this applies to today? If you don't have people around you asking good, hard, questions and telling simple engaging stories, you are sliding to back of the line.

Who is asking you questions?

This weekend I am going home. The Emerald City. Pirate Country. East of Tobacco Road. Carolina is on my mind (North Carolina, that is). Greenville. On Sunday, I am preaching at my home church as well, Jarvis Memorial United Methodist Church. It has been a church which has supported me, shaped me and encouraged me. I'm nervous and excited. Not only do I have a question to pose to this church, I know there is a question coming back - maybe the very same one Jesus asked.

Four Easy Steps To Build Power and Influence in Your Own Mind

2011-09-12T13:07:00.004-04:00

Why is it super-villians always feel they need to take over the world to fix it? Super-computers and robots are the worst about passing judgement on the whole human race. Of course, the space aliens come a pretty close second. The political party or religious group opposite of our own, comes in third...oh, wait, I was talking about super-villians wasn’t I? (BTW, can you tell we've been on an Avengers kick in the Hagler house!)

Condemnation is our default program be it super-villian, super-computer or ordinary human. Nurture it, and you too can build power and influence in your own mind. It goes something like this...

1) Inflated Ego. We’re kings and queens of our own internal world. If we can sell it to enough people, we might get somewhere. But truth be told, we condemn because when we feel powerless, it gives a sense of power - unfortunately, it is false power. We take it without earning it.

2) Responsibility. Of course, now that we have the power to condemn, we get to take responsibility for the decision. In other words, the buck stops with you. Think about the judge in the courtroom who has the authority to pass sentence - the decision rests with you.

3) Build the Prison. Once we’ve condemned we’ve got to build the prison to house the inmate(s). Since this is all internal, we’ve got to lock-up the emotions inside of us. We get to feed them, clothe them and maintain the prison. Did you know it is hard to find prison workers?

4) Hold the Key. Now you’re the warden. The person or people you condemned are now locked away (hopefully, metaphorically). Congratulations! You have a new career! Good luck with that one.

Jesus intended to upgrade our program:
Forgiveness.

Here is how this upgrade works...

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked him, "Lord, how often do I have to forgive a believer who wrongs me? Seven times?" Jesus answered him, "I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy times seven. "That is why the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to do this, a servant who owed him millions of dollars was brought to him. Because he could not pay off the debt, the master ordered him, his wife, his children, and all that he had to be sold to pay off the account. Then the servant fell at his master's feet and said, 'Be patient with me, and I will repay everything!' "The master felt sorry for his servant, freed him, and canceled his debt. But when that servant went away, he found a servant who owed him hundreds of dollars. He grabbed the servant he found and began to choke him. 'Pay what you owe!' he said. "Then that other servant fell at his feet and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will repay you.' But he refused. Instead, he turned away and had that servant put into prison until he would repay what he owed. "The other servants who worked with him saw what had happened and felt very sad. They told their master the whole story. "Then his master sent for him and said to him, 'You evil servant! I canceled your entire debt, because you begged me. Shouldn't you have treated the other servant as mercifully as I treated you?' "His master was so angry that he handed him over to the torturers until he would repay everything that he owed. That is what my Father in heaven will do to you if each of you does not sincerely forgive other believers." (Matthew 18:21-35, GW)

Do you notice the wisdom of the master to start with? He had the power and did not need to condemn - he started with forgiveness! He could have held this servant responsible from the beginning but since he forgave the debt, he had nothing to track, no prison to build or maintain. His authority and influence is shown at the end.

The true power of the manager is shown at the beginning however. Real power is in forgiving.

May I Ask: Who are you trying to hold captive? What person, place or party do you have locked up?

May I Suggest: Consider your biases this week especially in light of 9/11, as well as politics, religion and race. Read Matthew’s story again. Who is really the captive in your life? Unlock your prison.

The Start of the Season...Dove Season!

2011-08-31T12:25:00.009-04:00

Throughout much of the southern United States, Labor Day weekend is the opener for mourning doves. Dove hunting in the south represents the beginning of fall and another hunting season, the start of the harvest, a chance to be afield again and to renew old acquaintances.

SOUTHERN DOVES, A LEGACY OF TRADITION

As much as I love Star Wars and Pirates, the outdoors truly hold a most secure place in my heart and life where I go for renewal. Those who I count as my best friends are those who I have spent time with either in the woods or the fields both camping and hunting. Since my first hunt 3 years ago, I have tried to take advantage of every opportunity to be out in the field.

This weekend, I finally get the chance to experience my first dove hunt. Needless to say, I'm pumped! Though I grew up in the south, hunting was obviously foreign to my experiences. But as I've learned, there is a way of surrounding the outdoors and our southern culture I had missed. And I have found, it is a way of life worth knowing.

Contrary to most thinking, the culture of the hunting sports is neither racist nor backwards. I have found it to be richly diverse where I have hunted and in who I have met. The majority of those who hunt are more concerned about the environment and have spent as much to preserve and care for animals as any "environmentalist" group (and I have been a member of the Sierra Club).

I have also found many unchurched and dechurched hunters in my days out. From the highly affluent sportsmen with their high dollar upland guns to the guys in their pickup and their "beater single shots," a relationship with God is NOT on their list of trophies to obtain.

As I look forward to this weekend with some good friends and another season in fields, duck blinds and WMA's, it is worth remembering the souls who are not yet aware of what prize they are truly after. And pray for those of us who have a heart for them.

May I Ask? When was the last time you had a stereotype you held blow up? How did you feel? How did it change you?

May I Suggest? Consider reading a magazine, blog or website of a group or tribe you know nothing about but think you do. As you read, consider the common ground you have. I'd love to hear what you learned!

A Fresh Start, Week 4: Learning to Begin Again

2011-08-31T11:27:00.005-04:00

Click here for the sermon text: Matthew 6:25-34

Click here for the MP3

Anne was at breakfast eating the cereal box ad for a “Great New Offer!” Her older sister Mary was reading the other side, “Guess what Anne, the offer is to get your name in gold!” The ad said that with one proof of purchase and a dollar you could get a pin with your name spelled in gold. The astreks noted however: Only one per household.

Anne was excited and grabbed the box, “I’m going to do it!” “I got dibs,” said Mary, “besides you don’t have a dollar and I do.” Anne was crushed, “you always get your way cause you’re older it isn’t fair!” She started to cry and ran off to her room, “Fine Mary, order your stupid pin!”

A few weeks passed and a small package arrived in the mail. Mary took it to her room and Anne followed quietly. She took a seat on the bed while Mary opened the box. Anne said with disappointment in her voice, “I hope you like your pin.” “Oh, it is beautiful!” said Mary. “Your name in gold as promised. Four letters. Do you want to see it Anne?”

“No. It is your dumb old pin.” Mary simply put the pin in the box and left the room. Anne was alone. It didn’t take long for the temptation to look to overpower her. She opened the box and tears began to flow with mixed emotions of love for her sister and shame for her actions. For there on the pin were four simple letters in gold: A - N - N - E. (Chicken Soup for the Kid’s Soul, 116-117). As Mother Teresa once said, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” On that day, Mary fed Anne with a helping of grace.

Learning to begin again, fresh starts are based on a call and a response. The grace of God becomes the call and our acceptance is the response. With school now fully underway, what have been the triumphs and the tragedies? What is it you are longing for and yearning for after the new starts? Where do you sense a call to move forward?

What is the motivation under the surface? The words of Jesus in verses 24-32 dig down deep into our lives. They are words which parallel the first level of Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow’s first level, almost parallel to Jesus’, notes our most basic needs as the first level: air water, food, clothing. (http://www.abraham-maslow.com). We must have these.

Yet, surrounding these words are Jesus’ caution to not only respond to the needs of the poor, but to avoid the temptation of trusting in wealth. Stephen Covey echoes the reality we face in climbing ladders and trying to get to the proverbial top only to discover our ladder has been leaning against the wrong wall!

Jesus speaks to an audience who knows well the Old Testament and the promises God had made. They knew better than we do the truth of Lamentations, “The LORD's kindness never fails! If he had not been merciful, we would have been destroyed. The LORD can always be trusted to show mercy each morning (Lam. 3:22-23, ESV).” Every day the birds are fed. Every day, the flowers are clothed in their best clothing. Do not be anxious.

Our fresh starts, our hope begins when we seek after God’s kingdom! A life of simplicity of need and contentment is the answer Jesus gives. Few would argue we should put first thing first. Too many times I have heard the call to keep the main thing the main thing. If we did this; if we truly believed this to be the way, then for the follower of Jesus, we would place the kingdom of God at the fore of our lives...and all the things we NEED would be added.

We are in a position to be givers of grace, to live in practice the words Jesus preached if only we say yes to the grace, the gift of a fresh starts every morning. Let me give you a vocabulary lesson to help. Tom Davis at Due West UMC shared this idea a few years ago but I felt the ending needed a little more work...

Suppose your driving down the interstate, you get pulled for speeding. You’re going 90 in a 65. The officer gives you a ticket: we call that justice. But suppose the officer gives you only a warning: we call that mercy (or a miracle). But then let us suppose again the officer does neither 1 or 2. Instead, the officer gives you a life time supply of gas, unlimited oil changes and all repairs covered on your car. That my friends, is grace.

The Gospel is Good News and it tells us that a fresh start is always available to us and God even gives us the opportunity to be givers of grace ourselves!

What Is Your Motivation? Thoughts Before The Talk

2011-08-25T10:55:00.006-04:00

Why would anyone want to president? Every four years we do this in the USA. Underneath all the questioning, debating and mudslinging, I find myself seeking to discover the motivation as to why someone would want this responsibility.

Motivations can be noble.
Motivations can be selfish.
Motivations are shared by us all.

What is your motivation under the surface?

Abraham Maslow introduced us to the Hierarchy of Needs in the 1940's. While there is some serious debates about the upper sections, it is hard to argue about the foundation. In essence, we as human beings need 1) air, 2)water, 3)food, and 4)clothing. We must have these.

In reading Jesus' words in Matthew 6:24-32, I'm struck by the parallel to to Maslow's observation. The words of Jesus dig down deep into our lives.

I do agree with the commentators that surrounding these words are Jesus’ caution to not only respond to the needs of the poor, but to avoid the temptation of trusting in wealth. But I think there is another level, and maybe more than one. If the issues of justice do not come home to rest in the injustice we do to ourselves, we may find ourselves merely changing labels and colors. Would not it be better to be changed into Christ-likeness?

May I Ask? What has been your biggest motivator in 2011? Is your motivation different at work, at home and inside you or are they the same? How does that influence you?

May I Suggest? The practice of Lectio Divina has found a revival in recent years. This practice of the Church helps one to listen for God's message to the reader in a passage of Scripture. Use the practice of Lectio Divina and read through Matthew 6:24-32. What motivations does God reveal?

Not sure about Lectio Divina? View this video from the Upper Room Ministries:

A Fresh Start, Week 3: When the Lead Breaks

2011-08-22T16:07:00.003-04:00

Click here for the MP3 of this Sunday's Sermon.

From Ken: If you can imagine it, we had the entire congregation pretending to be a thunderstorm this morning to start the sermon. One section started snapping, the next section clapped lightly, the third section drummed on the pew in front and the final section clapped loudly. Rev. Stasko came forward then and told us, "Peace! Be Still." (BTW, it was a blast!) We all stopped and then I began...

Storms can be scary. Maybe you remember that some storms caused a lot of damage this year in Japan and even here in Georgia. We’ve had thunder storms all summer that have made us come inside from play, get out of the pool or come off Lake Lanier during a day of play. Just like you might be scared, we grown-ups also get scared about those same storms. In the story today, even the disciples, Jesus’ friends got scared in a storm. But Jesus showed them that just by a word, he could calm a storm. God will be with us in our storms too!

Read Mark 4:35-41 for the story of Jesus in the boat with the disciples.

The last thing we’d want to have happen is to have our pencil lead break in the middle of a test or forget the answer when called on in front of the class. As we grow up, times of lay offs and being passed over for promotion can easily paralize us. Like our toys, they don’t go away as we get older, they just get bigger and more expensive!

The storms that terrify us are sometimes those backed by wind and rain. Others however, are backed by the full force of our inner worries and anxieties. Jaws was released in theatres in 1975. I was four years old and even though I still went swimming, I was scared even in pools till I was at least 10 years old. After almost being swept into the Atlantic during a night dive in college, I learned there was more realistic things to be scared of.

The experience the disciples had with Jesus on the Sea of Gallillee points to a secret long forgotten. In the midst of storms, we feel God does not understand our situation. The problem, it seems, is that we don’t understand our situation! In his book, Shattered Dreams, Dr. Larry Crabb notes the likelihood that we have come to believe something about God which he has never promised in all of Scripture or in the history of the church - “to have a good time (pg 31).”

Like the disciples, we rush about doing our own things until we are overcome. It is then, we run to Jesus, to use Him to solve our problems. The storms, the difficulties of life in truth are the greatest blessings for it is here we can discover our true hope - a relationship with God. A relationship built on the truth of the Bible, the reality of experience, the foundation of tradition and the logic of reason.

The boat, from the beginning has long been a symbol of the Church. Over and over, the disciples of Jesus from Peter to Paul, found themselves on boats and in storms. The early church saw it as a symbol of how we journey together. That Jesus was asleep, is also significant for sleep in the Bible is a symbol of death. It is easy to think, because he is silent, that Jesus is dead and not Ressurected? But Professor Sharon Ringe makes this key truth: "Life and death are at stake in the storm, and Jesus holds the key to both."

Having faced my own storms of depression and cancer among other things and even shattered dreams in ministry, faith is a fact. Our faith isn't to be in a Jesus who calms the storm either. Our faith is in Jesus who made the world and who comes to be with us in the boat.

We are in the boat together. This is what Church is. If you are in need of the Church to support you, we’re here. Our Stephen Ministers are here to listen in the storms. Our Grief Recovery Groups are another way for the church to be the Church. Our mobile website and pew folders are ways for you to communicate today with Rev. Kathie Stasko.

We are in this boat together. With one another, and with Jesus. But today, as we face so many things, we need each other. Inspired by St. Patrick’s prayer, we’re going to pray for each other. Look to the person in front of you and turn and look behind you. Look to left and then to the right. As we pray together, pause and pray for those around you.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me (Pause),
Christ before me (Pause),
Christ to the right of me (Pause),
Christ to the left of me (Pause),
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Use this pray to pray for the jerk who just cut you off in traffic or the neighbor whose dog leaves you presents. Pray for your friends on the school bus. Where in this boat together and whatever the storm, Jesus is here with us so it is always a good time for a fresh start!

When Do You Wake Up Jesus? Thoughts Before The Talk

2011-08-18T11:26:00.004-04:00

The Boy Scout motto, "Be Prepared," is more than applicable when I think about the days my pencils broke. It happened taking in High School when I took the SAT and thankfully I had my extra number 2 pencil ready to go.

But the story that goes with this week's sermon comes from Mark 4:35-41. The problem I have with this is we find the disciples of Jesus, many of whom are fishermen, dealing with something they were prepared to handle - a storm on the sea (more accurately it was a lake). Yet in all their years of experience, some how this storm brought them to their wits end and they cry out to Jesus.

What was lacking, Jesus said was faith and obviously this is significant to what Jesus has been teaching. It is so obvious in fact, we (I) skim over what faith must mean for us. Can you be so prepared your faith doesn't fail you? Metaphorically speaking, sometimes life's storms are nothing more than an inconvenience like when you leave open your windows and the seat gets soaked. Other times, our house is destroyed by the storm.

I don't think the issue is a problem having to do with the existence of evil, it is an issue with life. In the world we live in, we don't go out without our share of storms and scars. Nothing in the Biblical record promises us that God is the almighty giver of a good time yet we act like it and even preach it, all unintentionally mind you.

I wonder if the lack of faith comment comes from the disciples failure to do one thing...wake up Jesus first. God doesn't help those who help themselves - this is not in the Bible. God comes to those who call on him when the lead breaks. Don't wait till you fail "the test." (For a scholar's take on this text, look at Sharon Ringe's take at WorkingPreacher.org).

May I Ask: What are you waiting to "wake-up" Jesus for today?

May I Suggest: If you're preaching the Fresh Start series, this text is in the year B cycle of the lectionary and Text Week can help you out. You'll find a great children's sermon or opening for your congregation if you use Philip Schroeder's idea in his book.

Enough with Christian Leadership Books...Spend Time With A Dog

2011-08-16T16:49:00.008-04:00

Guess what I read about the other day on the internet? There is a new book about pastoral leadership!! Yes, another one! But this one is different! The authors recognize the spiritual life of clergy isn't the issue for the church. People already respect their pastors. It isn't the programs, the programs are great too! The worship? No, that isn't it. No, the dust jacket blurb indicate, bu we've got the answer!

Oh, and if a snake had feet and wore shoes, what would you call them? While your thinking about the answer and wondering why I am sounding a bit snarky today I have a good reason. I am just a wee bit tired of all the books that have been shoveled and marketed to the Church in the past and present century. When you add to that number what pastors have spent to get the latest and greatest thing to be effective, well, I'm wondering what we've got going on here. This is just speculation mind you, but I've got to imagine we'd have a few more trees standing and a lot more kids with food on the table who need it. "Beware you be not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge. (Letter to Joseph Benson (7 November 1768); published in The Letters of John Wesley (1915)." Oh, and the answer? Snakers instead of sneakers. Thanks Laffy Taffy.

That is about what I feel like every time I get a new piece of marketing propaganda. There are places all over the world where Christianity is growing and they are not spending near the dollars on stuff the way we are in the USA. I feel like all I'm getting is snakers. It is the emperor's new clothes all over again. While I'm writing, I just got a message on my phone about a new video testimony series I can order...(wait for it)...SERIOUSLY?!?! It was Abba Serapion who was asked for wisdom by a monk. He responded, "What shall I say to you? You have taken the living of widows and orphans and put it on your shelves." For he saw them full of books (pg 227, Sayings of the Desert Fathers.)

I would question anyone who makes the assumption that the spiritual lives of our clergy is healthy. Spend some time reading Dr. John Crowe's work at BACH Development and you'll find plenty of material to the contrary. It has more to do with things than we realize.

Abba Xanthias, in the early centuries of the church, said, "A dog is better than I am, for he has love and he does not judge." Jon Mark's post at A Spoken Silence unpacks this very well. We need less study in leadership and more time with our furry abbas and ammas. We are not doing love really well at all.

We are a people in the west who are grasping and gasping for greater glories. "Seek first the kingdom..." were the words of Jesus. "If you don't have love you're a clanging cymbal," declared Paul. We give lip service and a passing nod to the idea of love, the ideal of love, and the ideology of loving God and loving neighbor. But do we practice it? Are you loving? Do you really LOVE your neighbor? How about the needy and how about your enemy?

"All growth is costly," writes Dr. Robert Kegan in The Evolving Self, "It involves the leaving behind of an old way of being in the world (215)." I don't want to just grow, I want to grow in love and right now, I know I have not even really begun to love. May I go the better way, the way of cats and dogs.

Lord Jesus, have mercy on me a sinner.

A Fresh Start: Are You Fitting In?

2011-08-15T10:52:00.006-04:00

Click here for MP3 download.

Once, while a lion lay asleep in the forest, a little mouse came upon him unexpectedly...so that the lion woke up.
The lion grabbed the mouse and, holding him in his large claws, roared in anger. 'How dare you wake me up! Don't you know that I am King of the Beasts? Anyone who disturbs my rest deserves to my next meal!”
The terrified mouse, shaking and trembling, begged the lion to let him go. 'Please don't eat me Your Majesty! I did not mean to wake you, it was a mistake. Please let me go - and some day I will surely repay you, maybe even save your life!”
The lion looked at the tiny mouse and laughed. 'You save my life? What an absurd idea!' he said scornfully. 'But you have made me laugh, and put me into a good mood again, so I shall let you go.' And the lion opened his claws and let the mouse go free.
'Oh thank you,' squeaked the mouse, and scurried away as fast as he could.
A few days later the lion was caught in a hunter's snare. Struggle as he might, he couldn't break free and became even more entangled in the net of ropes. He let out a roar of anger that shook the forest. Every animal heard it, including the tiny mouse.
'My friend the lion is in trouble,' cried the mouse. He ran as fast as he could in the direction of the lion's roar, and soon found the lion trapped in the hunter's snare. 'Hold still,' squeaked the mouse. 'I'll have you out of there in a jiffy!' And without further delay, the mouse began nibbling through the ropes with his sharp little teeth. Very soon the lion was free. “You laughed when I said I would repay you,” said the mouse. “Now you see.”

Tell me, who was the more powerful?

Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

At the start of a new school year or anything new, sometimes the hardest thing to do is fit in. We work hard to be at the top, the head of the pack. We live in a world and society that hasn’t changed, really, in 2,000 years. Don’t tell me this book is not relevant for we still jockey for position and status. And since it was an issue for the church at Corinth, should we even wonder if it isn’t an issue for potentially any church today?

In her study on power in organizations, Janet Hagberg notes how successful people “...interpret the symbols as signs of their worth (pg 46, Real Power).” Yet this is only intended to be part of our life’s journey. The church is intended to take the next steps. Jesus reminds us, “You did not choose me. I chose you and sent you out to produce fruit, the kind of fruit that will last... (John 15:16a, CEV).”

Then we hit on Paul’s words and he lays out the counter-culture of the church. We’ve got these eye balls and loud mouths like me, who seem to be essential. But we know they aren’t really. What are essentials? The heart, the lungs, the digestive organs, those often less conspicuous. Mess up a nail and see if your whole body doesn’t scream out. Let’s not forget the hangy-thingy in the back of your throat or the spleen!

Don’t think you have a place? Really? Then watch this video...

As a cancer survivor myself and as a pastor, I know that the simplest act matters. You have a place to fit.

Stephani Satterfield heads up our serving ministries all you have to do is click on the tab on the homepage of CFUMCGA.com. If you have your smart phone, you can go now to the mobile site right now. You can go to my blog at kenhagler.com and find the link to a Spiritual Gift inventory provided by the United Methodist Church - it is free.

You were made in fact to fit and it is here, in the family of God that there is a place for you. Are you fitting in? Today is the day to start - fresh!

Revealing Roots of Violence

2011-08-10T10:14:00.007-04:00

“The real violence starts in the way we speak about people, make assumptions about them, and decide that they are not like us...As long as people keep buying into these words, it will not take much more for them to buy into the action that has to follow.” (Henri Nouwen in ‘The Road To Peace’)

Symbols of power are not always related to the size of our home, the title on our office door or amount in our bank account. The symbols of achievement are defined by each person. Therefore, one’s place in the public arena can be just as much a symbol of power. How many people who listen to our words, articles we’ve published or those who read our blogs and tweets can all define power for us. It may well be we are on the verge of proving the pen is mightier than the sword but is it a good thing?

I have tried very hard to stay out of the fray of political banter on the blogs and Facebook. I have friends enough who run the full spectrum of political ideals. Many of them I know to be Christians. In my position as a clergy, I do not have the luxury of expressing my political leanings. As I have stated elsewhere, I make my voice heard at the ballot box. But I do have a few words on the state of things.

We are doing a disservice to one another across our nation and in our churches by the words being spoken. The accusations heard in our media are a rhetoric of condemnation of our fellow country women and men. In many cases we are throwing not the stranger or neighbor but the very family of God under the bus for the sake of our political ideals!

Churches speak of changed hearts. We claim mission statements of loving God and loving neighbor on our cool, hip websites. We pray for revival in our land. But I ask for what end? Is it so all come to know the love of God or so all come to agree with our view of the American Dream?

In the early days of the church, a brother asked Abba Sisoes: “I long to guard my heart.” The old man said to him: “And how can we guard the heart if our tongue leaves the door of the fortress open?”

You may disagree but I do not think it is a stretch to say that we often find politicians and pundits as influential as pastors in the lives of today’s version of Christians. Is Jesus?

(8)"All of you praise me with your words, but you never really think about me. (9) It is useless for you to worship me, when you teach rules made up by humans." (10) Jesus called the crowd together and said, "Pay attention and try to understand what I mean. (11) The food that you put into your mouth doesn't make you unclean and unfit to worship God. The bad words that come out of your mouth are what make you unclean." (Matthew 15:8-11 CEV)

Jesus was obviously speaking about the Pharisees. But just who are the Pharisees of our day? Who are the one's influencing and adding to the Law of Love? Who are those in our day who are saying it is okay to demonize another because of a political view? This is the evil, the demon we face today. Not in others but our selves.

This journey of violence in words is my own journey too. I have felt it and struggled with my own assumptions about people. I have seen the results in both my actions and other people. I’m trying to speak the words about myself before I speak them of others to see how they taste. If it tastes like vomit then I try not to share it. But Jesus intended no gap between the spiritual world and ordinary life. The Church doesn’t need to add to the violence. We are called to something more – peace.

Community Kindness...Road to Recovery

2011-08-09T12:21:00.007-04:00

There is so much hype about making a difference in the world. From the President to media personalities to athletes, there is a lot of rhetoric out there. But in ever increasing ways, we seem to have less and less time for volunteering and we certainly have less and less to give financially. Or at least this is what we tell ourselves.

I learned this past week about a very simple program available to most people out there. I think it is especially relevant to small to mid-size churches (but that doesn't mean a large church can't do it either!) who may find it difficult to reach out to their communities. It is called Road To Recovery and it is a program of the American Cancer Society.

In a recent article, Linda Conyers, who is a member at Cumming First United Methodist Church, told her cancer story. She highlighted this opportunity which makes it possible for churches to make a real difference in lives without the usual overhead. As a cancer survivor myself, I'm planning to make time.

If you're up for exploring other opportunities, The United Methodist Church also offers an online Spiritual Gift Inventory. One of the things that the early church understood was how our personal spiritual growth is tied to our willingness to put others before ourselves. I'm convinced faith doesn't fit till we do.

Fresh Start Week 1: How To Take God With Us

2011-08-07T15:00:00.011-04:00

Click here for the link to John 8:1-11

Link for MP3

Who doesn’t need a fresh start? Students know that a new school year is before them. And there is both excitement and anxieties around it. Your parents feel that too. New jobs are beginning and life changes for newlyweds and new parents. We sense fresh starts at election times. There is a change of seasons too. Oh, not summer to fall, I was thinking baseball to football...following the Braves this year will do that.

But when we think of fresh starts we rarely think of religion. In my friendships, most people associate religion with tradition and routine. We have come to think that changing the style of worship or preacher or church membership makes for a fresh start. In a way, it does. It may change our position on your GPS but it doesn’t change the condition of our soul.

When the condition of the soul is addressed, the position of your address matters little. Caught in the act of adultery, of breaking a commandment, this woman’s place on the map mattered, to the religious folks. She was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, participating in the wrong action. “The law says she has to die! Our principled-centered lives demand a verdict! What do you say Jesus?” The thing about fresh starts is when you’re on the verge, rocks may fly.

In the new Captain America movie, the doctor asks the scrawny little, Steve Rogers who is on the verge of his fresh start, “Do you want to kill nazis?” Steve responds, “I don’t want to kill anybody. I just don’t like bullies.” We know that God wrote once in the Old Testament and it was the law. Jesus wrote once in the New Testament and we have no idea what it was. Maybe it was “I just don’t like bullies.”

Jesus told them to cast their stone if they had no sin. The only one who could cast a stone was Jesus and he threw no stone. John Wesley said Jesus’ silent action..."signified that he was not then come to condemn but to save the world." Bullies condemn. Heroes save.

A hero is what Stacy Ballanger, a former inmate found when she met Karen Poore, a United Methodist mentor, through My Sister’s Keeper. Even when she relapsed she came to them. She says, “They didn’t judge me at all.”

What did Jesus do with Peter, the denier? How about Matthew, the tax collector? Paul, the executioner? The same thing he did with the woman, he slung, grace at her. He threw mercy all over her. We don’t know what happened to her but we know she walked away with a fresh start.

Jesus put things right with her and God. He addressed the condition of this woman’s soul and his desire is to address ours. But what happens to us when we walk away, when we come down off the mountain? When Sunday morning meets Monday morning or Friday night, how will this fresh start stay fresh? Jesus told a story to help us, a story about a Pharisee and a tax collector. Both came to pray in the same synagogue. Pharisee, even in prayer, couldn’t resist throwing stones, words of insult at the tax collector. The tax collector simply hung his head, beat his chest and said, “Lord, have mercy on my a sinner.” And it is that prayer which has become known as the Jesus prayer.

It is a prayer that positions our soul in line with God - Jesus first, us second. “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me a sinner.” It has been prayed for centuries by Christians as a way to take God with them. Pray it out loud or in your mind. It has been prayed to rhythm of a heart beat, the pattern of steps or the breaths one breathes. It is a prayer that will go with you.

God will be with us in our fresh starts but will we be with him? Whether we make our way to his presence by force or choice, he is waiting, not with stones but mercy. A fresh starts always awaits!

Fresh Starts...recycling

2011-08-02T10:57:00.003-04:00

This next month I'm stepping away from the lectionary and joining with United Methodist Communications for "A Fresh Start," series. Since I'm preaching every Sunday through this month at Cumming First United Methodist Church and it is time to get back to school, I couldn't turn my back on the hand of Providence.

I am really looking forward to dealing with text NOT in the lectionary plan, namely John 8:1-11. It is the story of the woman caught in adultery, a story noted in almost every Bible to not be part of the original manuscript (for a more in-depth look visit 5 Minute Bible on this).

Having been involved with prison ministry at Crossroads UMC, I couldn't help but find this a great story. God is in the business of giving second chances. He is indeed the great recycler.

Nothing But...

2011-08-01T13:03:00.004-04:00

Matthew 14:13-21 (NRSV)

Click here for the mp3 download.

There is a connection between moving boxes and rabbits...they multiply. I know the last time we moved we did not have this many boxes and I know we didn’t collect this much stuff! I know that I gave away almost my entire collection of Star Wars books to the Paulding County library system and I still find boxes with books in them. I did take up hunting as a hobby but I don’t have that much stuff. I only have one head, I’m thinking I need to get rid of some of these hats.

We have nothing here in our house but a few odds and ends but come time to move, it all seemed to add up to far more than we thoughtl

The little the disciples had they dis-counted. It was nothing but it was the nothing that was theirs. It was a nothing that they owned, all five loaves and two fishes (they didn’t have to do an inventory). Stephen Covey, in his “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, talks about the Law of Abundance vs. the Law of Scarcity. The problem is always in perspective.

Jesus would not send the people away and the disciples wanted to hang on to every item they had, especially their filet o’ fish sandwiches. I have got nothing but...a diploma on the wall. I have got nothing but...this car/van/SUV. I have got nothing but... this house that really isn’t worth what it was when I bought it. I have got nothing but...my collection of stuffed animals, DVDs, Star Wars, ___________________ (fill in the blank for yourself).

I often here people talk about getting mad with God and give Jesus a pass. But this text is what infuriates me about Jesus sometimes. He gets too close. He oversteps the boundaries between the material and spiritual. But as pastor Rob Bell put it so well, “Everything is spiritual!” Try as we might, the heresy of the gnostics continues to confront us even after 2,000 years! We may try to parse are way to dividing the reality but it remains. God became flesh and blood - the spiritual and the material were joined in Jesus - and so that reality will continue to confront us.

A tourist arrived in Poland and went to visit a famous Rabbi who lived there. He arrived at the Rabbi’s home and found himself amazed by what he saw. The home consisted of book shelves full of books, a chair and a table. “Rabbi, where is your furniture?” asked the tourist. “Where is yours?” replied the rabbi. “Mine? But I am only a visitor here,” was the reply. “So am I,” said the rabbi. (The Spirituality of Imperfection, pg 34).

The parallel of this passage in John chapter 6 lets us know that the people were so moved by the miracle, they began to push for making Jesus king and start a revolution. That Matthew omits this, in my mind, underlines his need to make a distinction. Jesus was not so interested in nationalism but in people.

Let me share with you that I have heard sermons and lectures on this passage. I’ve read books that refer to it. It does speak about the importance in needing time away from the crowd. Jesus was grieving over the news of his cousin’s death. It speaks too of putting aside our needs for others. The words here speak about how we are given an opportunity to serve Jesus and how he will bless our little bit. There are words here that parallel the Communion meal as well. Professors and researchers note that the bread was likely barley which was the common bread of the poor. The fish on the other hand, represent a likely delicacy. Surely, the twelve baskets left over are not coincidence and are intended to hint at the 12 tribes of Israel.

But this is not a lecture hall at college and this is not a text book. We Christians believe that this book contains all knowledge sufficient for salvation. We believe that is “God-breathed.” We believe it is the primary source for understanding God that is over our tradition, reason and experience. We see scarcity and it is there that Jesus digs for sincerity...

“You give them something to eat.” “We have nothing here BUT five loaves and two fish.”

“I’ve got nothing here but this and that and in this economy and the state of the world Jesus, it is all I’ve got!” And he says, “Bring them here to me.” Jesus pushes us to being sincere for the disciples are right they’ve got nothing BUT this little bit. We’ve got nothing but... You’ve got nothing... I’ve got nothing but...and so we are forced to admit our abundance, we are forced to put our cards on the table. Jesus calls our bluff because everything matters...

We are at an uncomfortable convergence of many religions and philosphical ponderings as well. We don’t like the thought of giving up what we have and what we’ve earned. “After all, compared to the ‘Joneses’ (apologies to the Joneses), I’ve got nothing here but...” And we’ve got to earn it, we’re meant to do it - we have to go after it all! - We’ve got to do it! Look at the book of Joshua in the Old Testament. You can chalk up victory after victory. He achieved it all and still he too came to this point of choice: And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15

In time there comes A TIME where we must set our own goods beside what is our own GOOD...and Jesus meets us at that point and, says, “Bring them here to me.” Our goods at 13 years old are far different than those at 33 or 53. Our victories must be achieved but for our own good, we must lay down our goods. Only then can we take up Jesus. If we’ve got Jesus, then we’ve got by far the better end of the deal.

Away put your weapon...it doesn't fit the next step

2011-07-28T15:31:00.002-04:00

It has been rolling around over and over again in my head as of late. It is a small scene, not usually quoted or referenced. It does not illicit jokes or inspire t-shirts. Yet, it is a significant step for a novice Jedi...

For a long time now, I've been intrigued by the developmental features of the Star Wars saga's main characters. Dismiss the new one's if you want but if you combine them, there are numerous character studies and implications worth noting. Still, maybe none are as compelling as Luke's journey nor as easy to track from a developmental perspective such as Piaget, Kholberg, or Kegan. But what of spiritual development?

Surely the parallel with monks is evident in the George Lucas' Jedi Order but this can too easily be brushed off. There is more at work here (as there often is in all mythology). Still, the likes of James Fowler and more recently, Janet Hagberg, shed more direct light here.

Luke's decision to follow Yoda's advice and put away that blaster is a beginning...the beginning of reflection, the next step on his journey. It is one that will lead to failure. Watch the movies and you'll see that Luke will fail again and again leading to the climactic confrontation on the DS2.

Jesus told him, "Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to sleep." (Matthew 8:20) John the Eunuch said (speaking of the church), "This is a place for asceticism, not for worldly business." We're going to hit a wall, a person, a place, something is going to give in our lives. What took us so far, where we called home, what business we did will no longer suffice.

Our weapons will fail on the next step of the journey. To go after Jesus, the way of the cross, we must stop blasting away at ideas, people, genders, denominations and maybe even our own definition of evil.

May I Ask: What has been your weapon of choice lately?

May I Suggest: Consider people in your life that you've seen or heard of who are "masters." What is it about them which defines them?

Thoughts Before The Talk: Holding Back

2011-07-27T08:48:00.003-04:00

In the great story lines of modern cinema and writings, have you noticed how often the hero or heroine is holding something back? Maybe it is someone on their team, a special gadget or just the deep down since of destiny. It inspires us, it sends that little chill up your spine. (Beware Spoilers)In the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi and when the Rohirrim appear on the hillside in Return of the King always grab my attention.

If only our lives were more cinematic! Unfortunately (to us anyway), life is usually a little more mundane. We hold back and say to ourselves (as we look at the rich and famous or maybe just our neighbors), "I've got nothing! (pause) but..." In our home it goes something like this..

Child: "I'm bored."
Parent: "Really. You've got nothing to do?"
Child: "No. I'm bored."
Parent: "Well, you bought ______________, that would be something."
Child: "Yeah, I got nothing but that, but I'm still bored."
Parent: "What about _______________?"
Child: "Yeah, nothing but that and I'm still bored."

I am no different, in attitude or action. I'm not asking if you appreciate what you have, but do you acknowledge it as yours?

Don't think for a minute this a parable about wealth, it is about the heart of possessions.

When Jesus said to the disciples, "...you give them something to eat (Mt. 14:16)." The disciples responded, "...We have nothing here but...(Mt. 14:17)." Is this a miracle of faith and feeding? Or do we have the humbling of hearts as the teacher digs deeper into the soul of the disciples and digging deeper into my own shadow...the side that holds back?

Bread and beans for me please.

2011-07-26T16:49:00.008-04:00

The story has been passed on for centuries about the philosopher Diogenes who was seen sitting on a curb, eating bread and beans for his supper. It was the philosopher Aristippus who made note of it. Aristippus, lived comfortably by flattering the king (so it was said).

Aristippus came up to Diogenes and said, "If you would learn to be subservient to the king, you would not have to live on beans." Diogenes responded, "Learn to live on beans, and you will not have to cultivate the king."

Where does your understanding of power come from? Where is it that you find the ability to influence people? The diplomas on our walls, the titles after our names, the homes we live in, the cars we drive, the associations we belong to, even our sports teams are used to build up ourselves...or dismiss others.

Whose side are you on? When Treebeard was asked that by two hobbits in Tolkien's Two Towers, the old Ent was quick to note that no one was on his side! The more and more the followers of Jesus associate with sides, the closer we move to kings and the further away from our King.

Maybe Mr. Wendal can still teach us a thing or two...

Hollywood Holiness

2011-07-20T08:51:00.004-04:00

Driving into work today I got to thinking about my disappointments with the new Harry Potter. Oh, it was good as far as movies go. It was at the heart, true to the story. However, as is the case often in the transition from book to screen, somethings get lost in translation. Maybe nothing big but for those who have never read the book, you'd miss key, meaningful symbols and subtle stories that would broaden the scope of the story.

It is not just in Harry Potter that it happens, it is consistently being done and for most folks, it makes little impact or difference. In truth, maybe it does make for a better movie...but it does not tell the whole story. We have the freedom to watch the movie or read the book. We have the opportunity to play the video game or sit in a book club discussion.

There is, in my experience, a convergence of thoughts occurring within the spiritual landscape. It is played out in our churches over and over again. It could be argued, we've been doing it for centuries. Yet, it has been ever growing in scope within the United States precisely because of our freedoms.

In his book, "Working the Angles," Eugene Peterson notes,

"The great attraction for distilling Scripture into truths and morals and lessons is simply laziness. The practice...is the hallmark of the gnostic, for whom matter is evil and history inconvenient... (134 & 135)"

Hollywood Holiness does just this. It is easy. It may or may not be gnostic, I'm not quite willing to go that far. However, it does leave the seeker of God flat and wondering over time, "is this all there is?"

No. No it isn't. There is more, so much more! Stay tuned...this will be continued.

Life Assurance - Romans 8:14-17

2011-07-17T12:56:00.004-04:00

Click here for the verses: Romans 8:14-17

Click here to download the audio of Life Assurance

A Man and his son were once going with their Donkey to market. As they were walking along by its side a countryman passed them and said: "You fools, what is a Donkey for but to ride upon?"
So the Man put the son on the Donkey and they went on their way. But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said: "See that lazy youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides."

So the Man ordered his son to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn't gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the other: "Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge along."

Well, the Man didn't know what to do, but at last he got his son up before him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to the bridge into town, the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The Man stopped and asked what they were scoffing at. The men said:
"Aren't you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor donkey of yours and your hulking son?"

So the they decided to get off and carry the donkey. In their attempts to lift the donkey onto their shoulders they got too close to the edge of the bridge, and the donkey toppled into the river and was washed down stream and escaped. Later in life he would bump into an ogre named Shrek but that is another story.

When we live our lives worried about multiple opinions, ideas and prescriptions it is most likely we’re going to lose our donkeys along the way. Lloyds of London has made millions off providing insurance for those who worry such as Troy Polamalu's hair for $1 million, Celine Dion's, Bob Dylan's and Bruce Springsteen's vocal cords, as well as Tina Turner’s legs. We now know even insurance counts for very little. Yet, in our world we remain committed to propping up our systems, but for what end? For fear above all else.

Jesus’ story of the soil that we read last week revealed that God is looking for good soil, that is, God is looking for dirty people to invest a treasure into. At might be said, that God is looking for those like the father and son who have lost their donkey - we’ve got nothing else to lose after all. When you’ve got nothing, insurance is worthless. But assurance? Now that is something!

Paul, who wrote this letter to the Romans, makes an important contrast and break from conventional wisdom. Positive thinking alone will not overcome fear for fear, Paul says, is something that has foot in the spiritual realm. There is no insurance against fear and the spirit of slavery, no, but there is assurance which comes from the Spirit of God, the Spirit of adoption.

For John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, this assurance of salvation became one of the defining marks of the movement. Many of the Wesleyan songs and hymns were on this theme. He implored his pastors and lay speakers to preach on it. Sermons 9, 10 and 11 in Wesley’s 52 Standard Sermons were all three based on this very passage of the Bible.

Why? Why would this assurance be so important to him? Hmmm, let’s see...in 1737 John escaped in the cover of darkness from the coast of Georgia for fear of his life. Enroute to England, the ship was cast about in a tremendous storm and worry overcame him. It was a group of Moravian Christians who prayed and sang without fear for their lives that caused Wesley to question his very calling to ministry and salvation. Months later, in a Bible Study on Aldersgate street, he recorded in his journal, “...an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”

We aren’t promised protection from the storms but peace through it all. It isn’t a release to be lazy but to become loving. We are not given merely a happy face but a hopeful outlook. We come to no longer demand justice but instead begin to distribute joy. These have been the marks not merely of Methodism but of Christianity itself!

Our salvation, our decision to follow after Jesus was never intended to be a one time occurance, but an ongoing process. This Spirit of adoption which brings us into the family is one who assures us we are children of God and part of the family. How good does it feel to get that text message from a friend or a personal letter in the mail? When the phone rings and you see the name or number of your mom, your son, your spouse, do you catch a glimpse of joy? When my phone sounds off with Kenny Chesney's "She Got It All" (click for video link), I know that my best friend is calling.

It is an experience, a feeling, a reminder of being in relationship with someone else. It is an assurance that we are important - we mean something to somebody in this world. This letter of Paul to the Romans is God’s text message - Be Assured You Are My Child! And it isn’t that you are an only child!

It is in our community of faith, in the joining together as a family that we come to hear better, to understand more clearly and be transformed fully into God’s children, the heirs of God. If you’re still thinking being an heir of Bill Gates or Warren Buffett would do you more good, you’ve not been listening. Father Richard Rohr put it this way, “We are already spiritual beings; we just don’t know it.” (Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality, p. 17). But it is in being in the family AND with the family that we come to experience our full life.

You see, this isn’t about joining church - it is about adoption into a family. It isn’t about signing up for Disciple Bible Study, Disciple is about learning to eat at God’s table. It isn’t about going to Sunday School, Sunday School is about learning to get along with our brothers and sisters. It isn’t about One Great Day of Service, One Great Day is about learning to share our toys.

Surely the rains and doubts will come but there is this assurance - the Spirit promised by Jesus did come and continues to come to those who seek Him first. We can Your adoption papers have been approved, the question remains will you take them up and step out into a new life - a life assured?

Thoughts Before The Talk: An Assurance of Salvation

2011-07-13T10:27:00.003-04:00

Dr. Thomas Oden notes that "Methodists...need to be clear about this teaching [assurance]'because it is one grand part of the testimony which God has given them to bear to all humanity.'" So then let me get down to the very point at hand, do you have an assurance of your salvation?

I know I'm not beating around the bush here. John Wesley's concern that Methodists exist as a dead sect might as well apply to all of the Church and I think this small, often neglected doctrine is a contributing factor. We run out to face the storms of life, trying to run faster to dodge rain drops and only find ourselves getting wetter. We get back soaked and wonder and wail at God but by the door sets quietly the umbrella - a gift from God our Father.

We cannot avoid going out in the storm. We cannot hope to run fast enough. In fact, we run the risk of face planting on slick path. We can however, walk with assurance that God is with us, we can KNOW, we are God's own child. Wesley wrote to Miss Bishop on June 12, 1773, "Seek one thing, and you will be far less troubled with unprofitable reasonings."

Does the idea of an assurance of salvation interest you? If so, two things jump out to me from Paul's words and from Wesley's experience. One, it is a completely spiritual thing going beyond 3 points and a poem. And two, you have to surround yourself with family, that is, other Jesus-followers going after God.

Father Richard Rohr put it this way, “We are already spiritual beings; we just don’t know it.” (Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality, p. 17). Ain't that an understatement!

May I Ask? What has been your experience with people giving you assurances? How about insurance? How does that effect your willingness to trust God?

May I Suggest? For you up to a challenge, go read and reflect on Wesley's sermons 9-12. You may want to read 1 3:24, 2 Corinthians 1:12 and Romans 8:16. Be patient as you pray for God to give you this assurance if you desire it.

Are You Dirty Enough For Jesus?

2011-07-11T10:02:00.006-04:00

Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23

Click here for mp3 of "Are Dirty Enough?"

The sower is looking for good soil. A place to put the seed but what is in fact, good soil? I've walked on soil, dug up soil and face planted enough of it in my lifetime you'd think I'd know something about soil. So when I read this parable, I realized I probably talk to someone who knows more. Thankfully, we've got a great couple here at Cumming FUMC who are Master Gardners. Now, they said I couldn't say there names and that is kind of hard but after eating their tomatoes and cucumbers, I think I'll keep it a secret anyway!

I learned a great deal but of most importance was this...WITHOUT SOIL THERE IS NO LIFE. To be healthy, our master gardener noted, healthy soil must be able to breath and water needs to be able to move through it. The process of decomposing materials creates the very spaces soil needs to breath. In other words, it is death that promotes life.

Still, we must recognize the importance of the word pictures Jesus is painting. Nothing about gardening is measured in hours or even days...think weeks, months, seasons and years. We've ignored the structures God Remember, of all the animal kingdom, while humans are at the top of the food chain, our children are dependent on the care of others for an inordinate amount of time. Today we call it college.

Considering how often Jesus talks about soil and growth it needs to be noted and not ignored the importance of dirt. Are you dirty enough for Jesus? It isn't like he was out picking out the most educated or most religious folks to follow him, nor does the Bible describe in the history of faith, God looking for success.

The Apostle Paul failed; Peter failed; every one of the twelve apostles failed.
David, Israel's greatest king, "a man after God's own heart," failed.
Moses, deliverer of his people and deliverer of the law, failed.
Jacob, father of Israel, failed; Isaac, son of promise, failed.
Abraham, father of the Hebrew people, failed.

Those who want to gain their lives, must lose them Jesus said. Henry Ford forgot to put a reverse gear in his first car. Albert Einstein failed his university entrance exams at his first attempt. Thomas Edison spent $2,000,000 on an invention which proved to be of little value. Very little comes out right the first time. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs in our own time no the value of the death of a dream. Babe Ruth missed more than he hit and it is still true today for Albert Puljos and Brian McCann! Abraham Lincoln's life demonstratea that the only time you do not fail is the last time you try something and it works.

Who has not face planted? Who hasn't known some element of suffering? No matter how big or small the fall, when we hit the ground, we get dirty. I know this is an idea that runs contrary to our winner take all society. The idea that the one who dies with the most toys wins is nothing more than cotton candy – it is sugar with no substance.

It seems to me that Jesus doesn't even give an indication that the harvest is of greatest importance – it just comes. After all, this is what the Apostle Paul says, one plants, one waters, but God provides the growth. What matters, ultimately, is to consider, what kind of soil we have become or are becoming? Good dirt, the best soil has to have some suffering and death mixed in.

Talk to any athlete. Whether you're playing t-ball or major leagues, or any other sport, to get stronger we have to push to get stronger. Ask anyone with a degree or who does research, one has to study. Talk to any musician about the sacrifice needed in practice. Ask anybody who has started a new business, it is going to take some pain to get the the promised land. Talk to any who has faced cancer or disease, there is suffering that takes place to get there.

In January of 2000, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Following that surgery and radiation, I faced clinical depression. To get back to health sometimes means we lose the idea of wholeness. For cancer and other diseases and illnesses, we sometimes have to step beyond this world's ideals. We must learn to trust the wounds to experience the wonder of life.

Jesus was looking for imperfect people not the ideal people. Jesus attracted salt of the earth people. In Luke's gospel he compared God to a man who had a feast. The ideal people, the perfect people, the rocky soil and shallow soil, all made excuses. Luke tells us...

"And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.' "And the slave said, 'Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' "And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. 'For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.'" (Luke 14:21-24 NASB)

Jesus isn't interested in the pristine, pristine doesn't make good soil. It applies to children, teens and adults, it crosses gender and race. We are the ones who have come up with the question "Am I clean enough for church and God?" But thank God it is Jesus who asks the question of grace: "Are you dirty ENOUGH?" Thank God almighty, we are! Hear that GOOD NEWS!

Are You Dirty Enough? Thoughts Before the Talk

2011-07-09T16:23:00.000-04:00

Bad soil, good soil, rocky soil...what gives? Jesus' parables are full of plants, harvests, and farms. I'll admit that I dislike getting out and working in the yard especially come the dog days of summer. I don't mind the sweat but dirt? I'm already thinking about taking a shower!!

Still, we must recognize the importance of the word pictures Jesus is painting. Nothing about gardening is measured in hours or even days...think weeks, months, seasons and years. Remember, of all the animal kingdom, while humans are at the top of the food change, our children are dependent on the care of others for an inordinate amount of time.

Consider taking time to read some of the Bible verses on plants and farming. I'm not talking just with Jesus, but the whole Bible. We need to review our Biology notes lest we miss some of the lessons underneath!

May I Ask: How 'dirty' do you feel these days? Does it make you seem unloveable or unacceptable? Do you think God feels that way about you?

May I Suggest: Spend some time this week learning about soil. Go to a flower show, find a master gardner or go by a farmer's market and pick up some produce. Ask any of these folks about what is needed to make good soil...you might be surprised what you learn.

Do You Hear It?

2011-07-03T13:00:00.001-04:00

Click here for mp3 of the sermon "Do You Hear It?"

As little more than infant, I first set foot on the battlefields that cover the eastern region of the United States for the first time. It was the tradition of our family to combine home and heritage. I went from tossing tea boxes into Boston Harbor to being on the Battlefield of Shiloh. Williamsburg and Valley Forge as well as Gettysburg and Appomatax were part of those times. Whether through family or friends, most of us are connected to our military. In my time at Seminary at Asbury, I served as a Chaplain in the VA Hospital and heard the stories of those who landed on Iwo Jima and those who knew the icy winds of the Battle of the Bulge. July fourth always brings to mind these connections.

During the times that Thomas Paine wrote “that tried men's souls,” a generation of men and women asked of themselves what kind of generation they were going to be? And who were those patriots? What kind of people were those who stood fast against English tyranny? What set them apart? On the eve of December 25th on the banks of the Delaware, General Washington described them this way, “It will be a terrible night for the soldiers who have no shoes. Some of them have old rags tied around their feet, but I have not heard a man complain.”

I'm just a bit humbled by those words. Do you hear it? How many times have I complained about a slight inconvenience? Too long in traffic? Too long at the fast food window? Too hard with the hammer on my thumb? Too many boxes that should have been thrown away rather than packed?

In his own day, Jesus asked a similar question of a generation. Do you hear it? Matthew's history of Jesus has Jesus answering questions from John the baptist's disciples. John is sitting in prison and beginning to wonder about this cousin of his. Jesus answers those question and then turns on those who run their mouths...maybe you know a person like that, maybe two?

Jesus addresses the crowds who had followed John the Baptist for a time and his unique blend of living and lecturing but then the flavor of the month grew stale. They turned to Jesus, this traveling rabbi, a teacher and found someone altogether different. Here he was going about spending time with the riff-raff, the outcasts, the party people of his day...and what do you know? These people didn't seem to like this either, maybe you can hear that in Jesus' tone of voice.

What kind of generation does Jesus describe? One that had grown to love convenience and complacency. But the call is a call to a life filled with experiences and an abandonment of the rigid observance of religiosity. Do you hear it?

Like other young people, myself included, one young boy misunderstood something said in church. He was terrified to go into his church alone. His mother asked him about it and he said he was terrified by the 'zeal' who who wanted to eat him. He wasn't sure what it looked like but knew it was big enough to eat a man whole because the preacher had read it from the Bible.

Going through the Bible, she came across a verse where the young man told her to stop reading: Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE HAS EATEN ME UP." (John 2:17 NKJV). She told young Theodore that there was nothing to fear but that zeal meant a zest and passion for God. And that was how Theodore would live. He would become known as Teddie, and this future president would later write that fearing God in the truest since meant to love God...”and all of this can only be done by loving our neighbor, treating him justly and mercifully (from Fear God and Take Your Part).”

Do you hear it? Do you hear the call of those who have gone before us? Not for liberty of a nation alone but for all people? They were simple men who tread the ground with bare feet taking little with them but a sense of destiny, a promise. Not of victory alone but of a rest, a burden removed. They weren't soldiers crossing the Delaware but crossing the line between a comfortable religion and the opportunity to follow Jesus, the hope of us all. Jesus promises a safe port not a quiet passage.

Do you hear it? These were not people of some special talent or birthright and today in this day they are not either. They are people who, like John, live holy and they are people who, like Jesus, party heartily. Do you hear it? It is the call to feed the hungry and it is the call to hunger to be fed.

We’re like Winnie the Pooh. We always hear the rumbly in our tumbly but do you hear the one in your soul? For today, you are invited to have that hunger filled – and it happens here, at this table – Do you hear it? Jesus is inviting you and me today, do you hear it? We welcome you to this meal that fills more than our stomachs but fills our hungry soul…(as this is first Sunday, communion is celebrated).

Do You Hear It? Thoughts Before The Talk

2011-06-29T16:03:00.003-04:00

In thinking about this week's message I'm struck by the image of listening. As a dad with two pre-teens there is plenty of miscommunication that takes place in our home. Rarely does it stop there. In our world of information, too many take too little time to listen to voices around them. Sure we can point fingers at others and even at ourselves but that leaves little of the issue solved.

This word from Jesus speaks, I think, to our soul's own voice which we largely ignore. We feed it the passing snack when it growls and rumbles. We pause for a warm fuzzy moment in church, a song the sends a chill up our spine, gaze at a beautiful sunset, and giggle when our favorite fuzzy friend gives us a wet kiss on the nose. They are intended to be the seasoning on the main course - not the nourishment we need. 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.' Matthew 11:17

In the games played by children, there is a permission given to experience the range of emotion. Is there not lessons to be learned for the children of God?

May I Ask: What has happened most recently that caused you to pause and connect with God? What emotions did it bring out? Did you fight it or let it flow? Why?

May I Suggest: Once a week for the next four weeks go to a different place, listen to a song, look at a picture and read an article or blog on God. Take note to listen for what you hear God saying.

Are we (clergy) children with nothing to do?

2011-06-28T14:30:00.008-04:00

"But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.'" Those are the opening words of Jesus in Matthew's Lectionary reading this week (11:16) and as I prepared for this week's sermon, I ran across this piece of history...

George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin on July 26, 1856. He left school at an early age and was largely self-taught. In 1876, Shaw moved to London to become a writer. He became an active member of the Socialist Party and wrote pamphlets to further that cause. He went on to write the plays Pygmalion, Saint Joan, and Candida. In 1925, he won the Nobel Prize for literature.

He was an outspoken and controversial atheist. He was a showman, satirist, critic, and at times an intellectual buffoon trying to coax people to believe in socialism and in to reject God.

In the autumn of 1950, Shaw fell off a ladder while trimming a tree at his home outside of London. He died a few days later of complications from the injury at age 94. While on his deathbed, Shaw said: "The science to which I pinned my faith is bankrupt. Its counsels, which should have established the millennium, have led directly to the suicide of Europe. I believed them once. In their name I helped to destroy the faith of millions. And now they look at me and witness the great tragedy of an atheist who has lost his faith."

This isn't so much to get into the debate of atheism today but it in regards to the secularism or pluralism in our churches especially my own UMC. It also is not about being against anything either BUT it is about an acceptance of a diversity that is slipping away. I do care deeply for all voices to have a place, no one deserves to be shouted or ridiculed into silence. Let us all both dance and mourn and not seek to shut up anyone.

And it is for this reason I have to share this e-mail from my friend, Jim Hogan. I have known Jim for a while. He is a scientist and an engineer. He is United Methodist, a founding part of Crossroads UMC and true Jesus-follower. We don't always agree but we do always listen to each other so when Jim raised concerns about the UMC position on evolution and the clergy letter project (see links below), I knew I needed to listen carefully. I'm not a scientist and don't pretend to be one, I am pastor and I think Jim carefully words a response that we clergy need to respect before we do become children with nothing to do...

------------Beginning Jim's E-mail--------------

Just two days before I sent the e-mail to which this is a follow up, I had sent another e-mail entitled, “Links to Some Interesting Audio Files.” The first link was to a recording of John Lennox speaking on “Myths Christians Believe,” and one of those myths he spoke of was, “Everything a scientist says has got the authority of the hard sciences,” or “Everything a scientist says is science.” And then I quite unintentionally came across the commentary by Al Kuelling on THE UMC web site entitled, “It’s Time for People of Faith to Accept Evolution” (http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=5259669&ct=10843351) which led me to The Clergy Letter Project web site (http://www.theclergyletterproject.org/).

I understand that many of you are probably not as interested in this topic as I am, and may not have even read this far. I certainly have no hard feelings over that. But perhaps you might keep this as it may prove to be a useful reference at some future time when the subject may be of more immediate importance to you.

For those of you who read on, I hope that your trust in me is justified in that I provide you with factually correct and interesting information which may both benefit you now and prove useful to you in the future should you have the opportunity to discuss this topic with anyone.

Even those of you who are interested may not read all of it. As you have no doubt discerned by now, my writings tend to be a bit on the long side. That is because I like to be thorough and precise. I am sorry if that bores or frustrates you. I have not yet learned how to combine thoroughness, precision, and brevity.

So, let me get to it.

As my first point, I think it is necessary to clarify the term “evolution.” I think the author of the UMC commentary (Al Kuelling) provides a false and deceptive definition when he claims that evolution simply means, “change.” That may be a succinct dictionary definition, but it does not come within a country mile of capturing the scientific meaning in the context in which he is addressing the topic.

A better definition is provided by Michael Behe in the preface to his book, “Darwin’s Black Box (10th Anniversary Edition)”. Michael Behe is Professor of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University. He holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and his “… research involves delineation of design and natural selection in protein structures.” (Quote taken from “About The Author” in his book.) Michael Behe is clearly qualified to speak authoritatively on the topic of evolution in the scientific sense. Michael Behe writes the following:

“In its full-throated, biological sense, however, evolution means a process whereby life arose from non-living matter and subsequently developed entirely by natural means. That is the sense that Darwin gave to the word, and the meaning that it holds in the scientific community.” (Emphasis is Behe’s)

That is why I believe that this issue is vitally important. In the scientific community, life occurred spontaneously through nothing more than natural (physical) means. In the view of the scientific community, there is no such thing as the supernatural (meaning, literally, beyond the natural or physical world which we can directly observe and measure). There is no Creator. As Stephen Hawking claims in his latest book, the universe created itself from nothing.

Those are the claims of the scientific community. Many scientists, and many more people who simply believe that “everything a scientist says has got the authority of the hard sciences,” think that science has disproved creation and thereby disproved the entire Bible. Take a look at attacks on the Bible, and those who hold to its Truth, from this “scientific” web site: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13695-evolution-myths-the-theory-is-wrong-because-the-bible-is-inerrant.html.

While I agree that the Bible is not a science book, when it does speak on matters of science, it is correct. Take a look at Job 26:7, which (speaking of God) says, “He … hangs the earth on nothing.” (ESV) Job is considered by many Bible scholars to be the oldest (in terms of when it was written down) book of the Bible. Compare the idea in the Bible that the earths hangs “on nothing” (i.e., it is by itself in the void of space as we now have evidence) with the other religious or superstitious writings of the ancient world. You will read of theories such as the one that states that the earth rests on the back of an enormous elephant which, in turn, is standing on the back of an even larger turtle that is swimming in an endless ocean.

(By the way, I think it interesting to see how common the idea is that the world started in a large ocean or that there was only water before there was earth. Isn’t that what you would expect based on the story of Noah’s ark?)

When Darwin proposed his theory, the scientific belief at the time was that the cell was the smallest divisible unit of life, and that a cell was a homogeneous entity. It was believed that cells were akin to Legos® in that they could be assembled in such a fashion as to form any living thing. Techniques of observation had not progressed to the point where anything smaller than a cell was visible to scientists. It was just a “black box” upon which Darwin built his theory.

Tremendous advances have been made in the area of molecular biology in the last 50 years or so. Biologists now know that highly sophisticated molecular “machines” control every cellular process and are nowhere near the homogeneous blobs of life that Darwin thought they were. Untold thousands, if not millions, of scientific papers have been published in the field of molecular biology. Michael Behe write that, since it is widely stated that the theory of evolution is the basis of all modern biology, then one would expect that the evolution of biological structures would be the subject of a significant number of papers in the scientific literature. Behe writes that, “… if you search the scientific literature on evolution, and if you focus your search on the question of how molecular machines – the basis of life – developed, you find an eerie and complete silence. The complexity of life’s foundation has paralyzed science’s attempt to account for it.”

Michael Behe puts forth the ideas of “irreducible complexity” and “minimal function.” “Minimal function” means that a system must have the ability to accomplish a task in physically realistic circumstances. Irreducible complexity simply means that all the pieces of the system are necessary for it to perform its intended function, and that function cannot be performed if even one of the pieces is not present. Michael Behe points out that Darwinian evolution encounters major obstacles in light of those ideas.

As an example, he discusses the cilium, which is a structure used by some cells to “swim.” Michael Behe notes that, “In the past several decades, probably ten thousand papers have been published concerning cilia. … One might … expect that, although perhaps some details would be harder to explain than others, on the whole science should have a good grasp of how the cilium evolved. … In the past two decades, however, only two articles even attempted to suggest a model for evolution of the cilium that takes into account real mechanical considerations. Worse, the two papers disagree with each other even about the general route such an evolution might take.”

Michael Behe further points out that the first paper :… does not even try to present a realistic, quantitative model for even one step in the development of a cilium in a cell line originally lacking that structure.” In the end, Michael Behe concludes that this paper is really more of an attempt to get others to do work to come up with a model. Likewise, the second paper, “,,, is a simple word-picture that presents an underdeveloped model to the scientific community for further work.”

Michael Behe concludes, I believe correctly, that the, “… amount of scientific research that has been and is being done on the cilium … lead many people to assume that even if they themselves don’t know how the cilium evolved, somebody must know. But a search of the professional literature proves them wrong. Nobody knows.” (Emphasis is Behe’s)

By the way, Michael Behe is not a creationist.

So that’s it then. Science has not even put forth a plausible explanation for how an existing cell can wind up with a cilium, much less how an entire cell can come into being from non-existence. After an immeasurably huge investment of time and resources into scientific research on cilia, the best that has been done in terms of substantiating the theory of evolution is apparently to put forth a wholly inadequate model and then submit a plea for others to propel (pun intended) the idea beyond the stage of laughable sophistry.

My point in all of this is that Al Kuelling (the author of the commentary posted at the UMC web site), along with a lot of other people, assume that scientists have “the authority of the hard sciences” behind everything they espouse. In this case, they fully submit to the theory of evolution as defined by the scientific community.

It is frightening what the authority of the label of “science” can lead to when science has been deified as it has been in this culture (and indeed most of the civilized world). Following is a link to a heart-breaking and utterly horrifying example of that. Before you visit the web site, I would caution you that some of the material (words, not pictures) is shocking and vulgar. The article is rather long, but I found it quite compelling, and certainly enlightening. http://www.healthyplace.com/gender/inside-intersexuality/the-true-story-of-john-joan/

In his commentary on the UMC web site, Al Kuelling makes not the first attempt to present a case for theistic evolution. What he does do, and what the Clergy Letter Project does, is state that “people of faith” must accept Darwinian evolution since science has “proven” it is true. They attempt to completely divide science and religion – a task I regard as impossible. I would point out that The Clergy Letter obliges me, and shoots itself in the foot, by providing a prime example of a failure to practice the separation they claims to be so necessary when they write that they, “… believe that the theory of evolution is a foundational scientific truth, one that has stood up to rigorous scrutiny and upon which much of human knowledge and achievement rests.” How does having “Christian clergy” endorse a scientific theory fit into their mythical separation?

I do not think the import of The Clergy Letter will be lost on the scientific community. I think they will count it as another defeat of religion at the hands of science. And I think the world will see it that way, too. The church is not pushed out of a position of relevancy but, instead, once again chooses to be irrelevant. How tragic.

Make no mistake. Ideas have consequences. The efforts of mankind to throw off the moral constraints given by God in the Bible will be further bolstered. Man will believe even more firmly that he is the supreme arbiter of right and wrong. Consider this horrifying video clip of Virginia Ironside on British television: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/uk-pundit-to-shocked-tv-host-suffering-children-should-be-smothered/

It is bad enough that I have to battle against the secular world to demonstrate the evidence for the reality of God, the Glory of His Christ, and the Truth of His Word in the Bible. But now I have to battle “Christian clergy,” too?

------------End of E-mail-------------

It wasn't lost on Jim either that our ad campaign of "Open Minds, Open Hearts and Open Doors" was not in the least bit felt. My prayer is for clergy to read this, not for fuel to add to a fire but to get fired up about the Gospel message we have been called to carry to the nations, for the care we are called to give to the needy and for the love we are to show for our enemies.

It seems to me we continue to dilute our influence not because we share about the Way, the Truth and the Life but because we've tried to dictate OUR way, OUR truth and OUR life.

(My thanks to Jim for his years of friendship and permission to post his e-mail)

Finding A New Medium For My Voice - A Pastor Says Goodbye

2011-06-13T19:31:00.007-04:00

Sometimes people surprise you and sometimes, inadvertently, we find God in the midst. One of those days came a few years ago at a staff meeting where my good friend Brandon Reeves reintroduced us the poetry form of haiku. You'll have to friend Brandon on Facebook and ask him about his haiku of pickles, I couldn't hope to do it justice.

I remembered studying the haiku form when I was in eighth grade. I didn't remember much so I decided to research it some more as I knew there was more to it than just 5-7-5 syllables. What I found was a form of poetry that didn't need to be 'poetic' or 'sappy' or even have to rhyme. While there is certainly a wider understanding, it is intended to connect our senses and experience with the natural world around us.

As someone who finds the outdoors to be a centering place and location of reverence, I realized I had stumbled across a 'light bulb moment.' I have found an expression to emotion and my peculiar journey with Jesus that seems to make sense.

I have written many over the past few years but have shared few. There have been a couple that have been wanting to get out, and today, with some time to catch a glimpse of God, they did. Where words and emotions have failed, I sense God in the midst. To all of our Crossroads family, know that the memories of these days will always be held tight.

A Peculiar Pilgrimage Week 6 - GOD SPEED!

2011-06-13T16:50:00.003-04:00

1 Corinthians 12:1-13 NASB Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. (2) You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. (3) Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is accursed"; and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. (4) Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. (5) And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. (6) There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. (7) But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (8) For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; (9) to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, (10) and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. (11) But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. (12) For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. (13) For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

I ran across the story of Maria and the events at Aldersgate Church. In her church, there occurred a day like what was recorded in Acts 2:1-21. That day was the day we call Pentecost, one where God poured out His Holy Spirit to all believers in Jesus Christ. But on the day that the Spirit came through Aldersgate, it did not seem to touch the life of Maria Smith. Maria had been a faithful member of Aldersgate all of her life. She was baptized there, confirmed there, married there. And yet, when the Spirit blew new life into the lives of so many in the parish, Maria felt excluded.

The other members of the church prayed for her but the prayers did not seem to work, however. Maria Smith did not speak in tongues. She did not prophesy nor interpret prophetic utterances nor acquire new and greater faith nor experience new healing power. All the prayers seemed to be in vain. Maria Smith experienced all of this as a source of great guilt. What was the matter with her? What was wrong with her faith life? Why couldn't she speak in tongues? In the company of her "spirit-filled" friends she could only see herself as a spiritual failure.

One day Maria's aunt came to visit her. Maria knew her Aunt Carmen to be a woman of great faith. Maria told her aunt of her experiences with her spiritual friends and of her own despair over God's lack of presence in her life. Aunt Carmen heard Maria's story of pain and replied in great wisdom. "The Holy Spirit has been at work in your life ever since you were baptized," Aunt Carmen began. "It is the Spirit that has taught you and brought you to have faith in Jesus. It is the Spirit that has given you your many gifts for the common good of God's people. The Holy Spirit doesn't have a copy machine. Only you have been given the gifts that you have. The Spirit doesn't want you to be like anyone else. The Spirit gives each one of us a different assortment of gifts. Our spiritual task is to use the gifts the Spirit gives us for the Body of Christ.” (adapted from Lectionary Tales For The, Richard A. Jensen, CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio, 1994, 0-7880-0081-0 )

Had Paul written it in our age, I think he would have concured with Carmen, the Holy Spirit doesn't have a copy machine and that is a good word for today.

Brothers and sisters, we have journeyed together in the building up of this church known as Crossroads but Crossroads does not stand alone. We are part of a church known as the United Methodist Church and part of the Body of Christ known as the church with the big capital “C.” Your gifts are needed in the big C, you have a purpose in the big C and the big C needs all the gifts of the churches. There are gifts in Korea and Nigeria and India that the Spirit has given and vice-versa.

And among us as individuals, gifts are given and gifts are needed and used and sent. The Holy Spirit doesn't have a copy machine. Brian Funderburke will not be a copy of Ken Hagler. The Church and the church doesn't need that type of system. Methodist clergy are not interchangeable in that way and it isn't what the Church needs and it isn't what the Bible says we need to look for in others.

Changing will be hard but it will be okay. Things will be different but different is neither better or worse – just different. The Spirit is here, the gifts are here. The same Spirit that is here at Crossroads was the same Spirit that called me to ministry. This Spirit was the same one who has been at work in you on your faith journey and ultimately made our time together possible. There will never be a church like Crossroads for me, God doesn't copy churches that way either.

Brian has the gifts and the calling to be your pastor. On June 23rd, that calling is entrusted to him and I will no longer be your pastor. Help him, encourage him, support him and follow him, just as you have done me. His cell number and e-mail will become common place

Crossroads will always have a place in me and part of me will always be here. I speak for Heather and Logan and Jillian when I say this. There is nothing quite like being a clergy family where work and life go hand in hand.

Even as we grieve our separating, it isn't goodbye, it is God-speed on this our peculiar pilgrimage that will end for us all at the Throne of Grace! You follow Jesus and I'll follow Jesus. Use the gifts the Spirit has given you and I'll do the same. But there is one thing more.

The Spirit I believe led me to this. It comes from this past week at Cub Day Camp. In the Backcountry program we have a phrase of the day to remind us of our lesson. The one that sticks the best is the first one of the week and it applies, I think, to this peculiar pilgrimage. I'm going to say, “It's the PHRASE OF THE DAY!” and you'll respond back, “It's the PHRASE OF THE DAY!” Then we say, “The right gear, in the right pack, for the right trip ensures a RIGHTEOUS experience!”

I pray that in our time together these past years, you will recall the right gear and carry the right pack on this peculiar pilgrimage for it is THE righteous experience! God-speed to you my friends on our RIGHTEOUS EXPERIENCE!

Our Peculiar Pilgrimage - Week 5

2011-06-10T18:16:00.003-04:00

1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 4:13 But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.4:14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.

5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 5:8 Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. 5:9 Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. 5:10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. 5:11 To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.

"Sometimes Christians deserve the ridicule they get and it is easy create one's own alienation and rejection by inappropriate and insensitive behaviour.” Those words of retired professor William Loader seems more than appropriate sometimes. What we say and what we do as Christ-followers are unfortunately, in the realm of absurd at times.

When Jesus said in Matthew 7:6, “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces,” I'm wondering if Jesus ever intended for Christians throw out our mistakes to them as well? The predictions of Harold Camping and the end of the world didn't miss us even here in Paulding if you drove on Hwy 120, you'd have seen the billboard proclaiming the May 21st day which has now come and gone.

The conclusion reached by editorialists in the Washington Post seemed to nail the point home: Christian leaders have a responsibility to remind people that we cannot know the “day or hour” ... They should also emphasize, however, that Christians should not seek to escape the world, but to embrace and engage it instead. (Washington Post Article ).

Orthodoxy is the word for RIGHT BELIEF. Orthopraxy is unfortunately a little known cousin and it is the word that means RIGHT ACTION. In the first century of the Church, it is important make note that persecution came from what both Christ followers believed and what they did. Christians DID NOT BELIEVE in the Imperial-cult of worshipping Ceasar (much as the Jews wouldn't worship Pharoah of Egypt) so they DID NOT PARTICIPATE.

Unlike the Jewish leadership who attempted to remain neutral, Christ-followers did just that – they followed Christ. They preached a message of liberation that is they preached good news to the poor, freedom to the imprisoned, sight for those blinded, and liberation to the oppressed (Luke 4:18-19) and then they went beyond it – they did something about it. Read the Book of Acts, it is the book that outlines the history of the early Church.

As we've looked at Peter's letter we've seen this movement of Right Belief and Right Action that we've been called to for it is our peculiar pilgrimage. It is a way Peter says, that shouldn't surprise us when we are facing difficulty or persecution. We should not even expect that in this lifetime that we will find ease.

But ease is not rest. Jesus promised us we would have that. But here is the way:
Be humble – the word meaning humiliated. Not God doing but you and I choosing it.
Cast anxiety – literally, THROW it on God.
Be sober of spirit – be calm, reflective, attentive to God's presence
But be alert – on your guard → there is an enemy, don't doubt it.

The way of Jesus is not merely one way among many but the way contrary, the way perplexing, the different path, the peculiar path. Don't take that because there are church buildings on every corner that our peculiar pilgrimage is part of culture. When Christianity was ruled to be the Religion of the realm by Emperor Constantine, it didn't make the way of Christ the way of the world.

The peculiar pilgrimage of Christ followers continued in the out of the way places, in the shadows, not in the popular stream of things. Today it continues and it is in that way, that I challenge you to live and walk. In that way, you will know sufferings as others do around the world but you will also know what it will be to have Jesus himself, “restore, support, strengthen, and establish you.”

Don't look for the Kingdom to come – look for it around you, in you and being built by those who follow the peculiar preacher from Nazareth on His peculiar pilgrimage.

A Peculiar Pilgrimage Week 4

2011-06-10T18:12:00.002-04:00

1Peter 3:13-22 NASB Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? (14) But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, (15) but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; (16) and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. (17) For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. (18) For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; (19) in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, (20) who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. (21) Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you--not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (22) who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.

Approximately 92% of American households own a Bible, yet the majority of Americans never bother to read it. Even fewer of us try to do the hard work of understanding it.

In one of Jay Leno's street interviews he asks a lady on the street to tell him one of the Ten Commandments. She thinks for a moment and replies, "Freedom of speech." Leno asks her friend to complete this sentence, "You without sin..." The lady responds by saying, "You without sin, have a good time." A man passing by is asked, "Who, according to the Bible, was swallowed by a whale?" The man thinks for a moment and says, "Pinocchio." The best seller is not always the best read book of the world. And for those who read it, it isn't always readily understood nor is agreement easily reached.

This doesn't mean we don't have a reason to hope for unity. Creeds such as the Apostle's Creed and Nicene Creed readily make available to all the Church's unity across denominational lines. To say, as some do, that you can believe anything and be a Methodist is disengenuous to say the least. It is flat out wrong.

Peter's message is very much targeted to the Christians of the day who suffered at the hands of persecution from other religions and from government. Often today, I get the sense that mainline denominations face a level of persecution from within the church. The UMC has been at the forefront of denominations that include Presbyterians, Lutherans, the Quakers and others. But what makes a mainline denomination? We consist of those protestant churches who hold to a conviction of holiness and justice.

It was the mainline churches who stepped forward in leading the charge for the end of slavery as well as Women's rights and Civil Rights. The advent of Sunday School was a social justice movement for children who worked in factories. As a United Methodist Christian and pastor, I have experienced being reviled by culture for being a person of faith and I have experienced being condemned by other Christians for caring deeply for justice.

This, I sense, is part of our peculiar pilgrimage. Peter says we ought to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts – Sanctify meaning HOLY, set apart and Lord meaning the one in charge. But too often we stress to often a heavy handedness of this holy ruler and Peter reminds us of the “gentleness and reverence.” We need only look to John Wesley's experience and the day we celebrate called Aldersgate Day every May 24th...

On that day, John went very unwillingly to a Bible study on Aldersgate Street and as he says it, "About a quarter before nine, when the leader was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ and in Christ alone for my salvation and an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. No longer was I a servant, I became a son."

I went very unwillingly into the pulpit as an ordained United Methodist minister. But in doing so, I too came to understand that I was no longer a servant but a son. This is who I am called to be and what I am called to preach. I have been adopted into the family of God. Not only Jesus Lord...he is my brother and yours by his gift. He showed us the way of justice and love. Today, with over ten million United Methodists in 165 countries around the world, who gather for worship in 41,000 churches, we have reason to hope even if we suffer for doing right. We have reason to celebrate in that suffering. We have reason to serve even in that suffering. And we have reason to continue on our pilgrimage no matter the struggle, storms or celebration – for our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

Our Peculiar Pilgrimage - Week 3

2011-05-17T15:22:00.003-04:00

Strange things happen. And sometimes these events don’t seem quite fair.

Futurist Faith Popcorn approaches this subject from a different angle. She writes about the “Right, But” Club. The “Right, But” Club has as its members all the people who did the right thing, BUT life still didn’t work out for them as they had planned.
“I exercised BUT got heart disease;” “I took antioxidants BUT got cancer;” “I spent quality time with my kids BUT their SAT scores stink;” “I went to an Ivy League school BUT I’m stuck in middle management quicksand.”

Ms. Popcorn says, “It shouldn’t be surprising that life isn’t predictable, but our consumer society, the self -help industry and the media have all conspired to have us believe that we can actually micromanage our destinies.”

Consider Buffalo Bills receiver Steve Johnson's twitter post last fall after dropping a pass: I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS IS HOW YOU DO ME!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! I’LL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!! It was just a dropped pass, but Steve Johnson unloaded on God. Johnson, of course, is not alone.

In his book Disappointment With God, author Philip Yancey interviewed a friend of his who had in a short time, found himself with his wife facing cancer, a collapse of finances and injury due to a drunk driver. When Yancey asked him about God being unfair, the friend responded: “I learned a long time ago and especially through this accident not to confuse God with life. Is life unfair? You bet. My life has been unfair. What has happened to my wife, what has happened to my daughter, what has happened to me, it’s unfair. But I think God feels exactly the same way. I think He is grieved and hurt by what that drunk driver did as much as I am. Don’t confuse God with life.” (1)

But the best example that life isn’t fair is the crucifixion of Christ. Never forget Peter's words that, “ Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross so that freed from our sins, we could live a life that has God's approval. His wounds have healed you. (25) You were like lost sheep. Now you have come back to the shepherd and bishop of your lives.”

But here is the Good News: We live on the other side of Easter. Resurrection faith is about living faithfully in an unfair world.

Unfair was Peter's forte: he had lived alongside Jesus and seen it in the days after the resurrection and experienced it himself when he too was crucified. He uses the word “anastrophe” 6 times in this letter which is more times than it is used anywhere in the Bible. Go back just a few verses where Peter sets this idea up: Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable,...(1 Peter 2:12) The word means conduct – how we live and face what is perceived unfairness matters!

Peter specifically looks at a slaves life. I didn't read those words but go back and you'll see Peter associates the life of a slave to that of the Christian. We may not like it but there it is. This isn't a call to right belief but a call to faithful living. If right belief was what was needed then all of us need to go Seminary and get Master's Degrees. It isn't and you don't. Faithful living in the face of unfair will be just fine. For that, Peter says, you need only look to Jesus.

Personally, I've journeyed this very road and willingly or not, you've been on it with me. I have in my time with God demanded justice like Job for his dealings with me and at the same time I have cried with David and the tax collector in the temple – Have mercy on me O God! I have learned from being a pastor and church planter, that indeed life isn't fair but God is faithful. I have experienced incredible highs and the lowest of lows in my life. I concur with Peter, it is our conduct that matters.

We need not be part of the “Right But” club. Don't fear UNFAIR! We live on the other side of Easter!

Now, in the body of Christ, what appears unfair and maybe the end is often a new beginning. Paul says it this way:
1Co 3:5-11 ESV What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. (6) I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. (7) So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. (8) He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. (9) For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. (10) According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. (11) For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

I have had the privilege of being the one to plant but Crossroads will take the Next Step of growth under another pastor and with leadership from this advisory team and all of you. It is going to be hard but it is going to be okay.

The North Georgia Annual Conference has chosen Crossroads to be one of two vital new churches participating in the NEXT STEP program for coming years. Rev. Brian Funderburke will be taking over the pastoral leadership as the UMC renews financial support in a significant way through salary and program support. Combine this with our new location and open invitation to help our community find ways to connect through our church's ministries and space, the stage is truly set for an exciting journey. Brian is joined by his wife, one child and one on the way!

For our family, we'll take our next steps up the road to Cumming First United Methodist Church where I'll be joining the staff as Associate Pastor. Our transitions to a new house, new school and new community have just started. For me, it is the next step on this peculiar pilgrimage. Through much time in prayer and suffering, spiritually, mentally, and physically, I came to see this spring that my time at Crossroads needed to come to an end for me and for you. The Bishop and DS agreed with that as well. Cumming FUMC will be in part a place of healing, further education and ministries.

The United Methodist Church is a connectional church and there will be a renewing of that covenant to see Crossroads become the Church we all envision us to become! This next Sunday, May 22nd, Tommy Willingham, Executive Director of New Church Development to help clarify and answer questions about the Next Step for Crossroads UMC.

There will only be one founding pastor of Crossroads, one planter. But being the second is equally daunting, Brian will be adding the water on this pilgrimage. Know that part of me will always be at Crossroads and Crossroads will always be a part of me.

NOTE: The Haglers last Sunday in worship with Crossroads will be June 12th. A reception will be planned and announced in the coming weeks. Ken will be on call as pastor in charge until June 24th when Brian Funderburke assumes responsibility for the pastoral leadership at Crossroads UMC.

1) A large portion of this sermon is taken from “It's Not Fair” by Dr. King Duncan.

Our Peculiar Pilgrimage Week 2

2011-05-09T11:13:00.001-04:00

1Pe 1:17-23 NASB If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; (18) knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, (19) but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. (20) For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you (21) who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (22) Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, (23) for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.

The pastor had preached a strong sermon on personal evangelism pointing out every Christian's obligation to reach out and win others to the Lord. In the conclusion of the sermon he tried to obliterate every excuse that anyone might have for failure to lead others to Christ. The sermon needed to be preached, of course, as it still does. Only apparently he had been guilty of some unfair emphasis.

After the sermon he was invited home with a lovely Christian family. The husband was completing his resident work as a medical doctor, and had little spare time, but still he spent time in the churches ministry. The wife beautifully cared for their three lovely children. All of them were very young-one still an infant in arms-and required a lot of time.

During the meal the wife asked the pastor if he remembered the Scripture, "For as his share is who goes down into battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage" (1Samuel_30:24). He confessed his ignorance, and she gave the context of King David insisting that the home guard be rewarded equally with those who had the more obviously essential role of fighting in the front line.

And then she shared a wonderful truth which is so easily forgotten. She mentioned that she felt that taking care of children, patiently teaching them the ways of God and His great values, looking for moments of readiness to deflect them gently when they get on the wrong track was "staying with the baggage." She went on to point out that she often felt guilty for not doing more of the "church" work than she did. But she felt her greatest ministry was being a dedicated Christian mother.

Where will those children trace their faith to I wonder? I would imagine it will be the same place John and Charles Wesley looked, their mother Suzanna. Paul noted the same in his letter to the young pastor Timothy. What would the church have missed had those two not have had that kind of mother? What will the church miss if we don't consider the legacy we leave behind to the next generation.

In grabbing hold of the image of pilgrim, Peter connects all Christians together on one journey. It is an important parallel for in doing so, Peter invites the new believer, the gentile, the rest of the world to join the story of the Jews. No, let me rephrase that – He invites us ALL to be part of God's family and the story of God's people from the beginning.

Don't miss for a minute that when we choose to go the way of Jesus, we are joining the same journey the Jews did when they fled from Egypt. One commentary notes, I think very accurately the parallel that the new believers face a difficult journey. It is one that he rightly worries about. That as new pilgrims, when we feel the struggle of the journey "...you have brought us out into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly..." (Exodus 16:3b).

And don't think for a minute Peter doesn't miss the temptations of silver and gold in verse 18. It tempted the Israelites at Sinai and it continues to tempt the followers of Jesus on the journey and I'm not speaking for pastors alone. The silver and gold that tempts us can be our children, our jobs, our hobbies, our free-time, yes, even the time we 'deserve' on Sundays.

Professor Daniel Deffenbaugh (www.workingpreacher.org) notes as well an important fact: When we began to speak of the Passover Lamb and compare it to Jesus Christ, we need to note that “..blood was offered not as an appeasement to God but as a symbol of Yahweh's favor.”

And if we are going to own a journey with God, we need to make note of the dangerous nature of God's sovereignty. This is what verse 17 notes. God shows no partiality – he doesn't play games. We get to join in with the full of history of his actions on behalf of creation. But in doing so, we don't get to dictate to God. To trace our roots back through the Old Testament means we recognize that it has always been God who acts first. It is God who chooses to extend his hand. God is not petty in his dealings with our petty issues with Him. He doesn't spend time cutting us down to size, laughing at our attempts to manipulate or our consistent inconsistency about our trusting in him. He is not Zeus after all.

Two disciples were on the road traveling between two cities. They shared later their conversation was about their doubts regarding their faith. Along the way they picked up a stranger and he inquired about their conversation. They couldn't believe this person was unaware of the story of Jesus. To contrary, the stranger began to teach them the meaning of Jesus' life. When they got to their destination, the two men invited the stranger to dinner. As the stranger prayed for God's blessing on the meal, they realized, this was no stranger...it was Jesus Christ.

It is a story found in Luke 24 and it demonstrates what God has done throughout our history. He hasn't left us to our own devices, he journies with us, he on the road with us, he is in the midst of the questions we ask, he his there at the moments of greatest need even when he is a stranger to us. In other words, he has loved us.

Like Mark Twain said about his father (and could be said about mothers), “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he'd learned in seven years,” we just as easily apply to God as if God somehow has changed.

But it is us who is on the pilgrim journey and God with us. He has been over the ground for centuries and continues to patiently walk with us to obedience – to become the most powerful, most incredible we can – to become people who love. On this day we recognize our mothers, as human beings who seek to overcome their own frailities and failures and epitomize love to us. It is hard to find a mother's day card that doesn't express our appreciation for a mother's love.

What we are left with is a glimpse across the table or a memory of days gone by and in our mother's example, see Jesus. We see this love that Peter talked about us all having, when we obeyed our mother's wisdom and words and truth. In doing so, we began our pilgrimage, a pilgrimage that stretches back through time. Will that love be what is seen in your home? Is that the love which is seen in our actions, one to another? Is that the love we have to the enemy who stabs us in the back or attacks our nation?

When the opportunity comes and the road in front of you diverges, which path to take? There are only two after all. One looks promising with its shiny things but it is always death. Then there is the other of plainness and obvious struggle but it is always life and ultimately love.

Our Peculiar Pilgrimage - Week 1

2011-05-04T16:23:00.003-04:00

Something happened after Easter morning.

The earth continued it's orbit around the sun. Plants and animals continued on their way of doing things. The people who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover began to make their way home. And with some of them, went the story of Good News. Some who heard the story of the Rabbi Jesus, I'm sure dismissed it as a location thing, a, “You just had to be there!” moment. But time would prove that wrong as the message and the people kept on spreading around the globe.

Looking here at this letter Peter writes, we find a feature not all that foreign to our lives here in Paulding county. If you want a letter of relevance then simply look to the first verse where Peter addresses the 'aliens.' Other translations refer to the word 'pilgrim.' Both reflect the original term which refers to those who come and live alongside 'the natives.' Let's take a survey of the room. Ask the people around you where they were born (Ask for states to raise hands).

As a United Methodist pastor people talk about how often “we” move. In comparison, looking into it, the average US American moves between 12-16 times in a lifetime or roughly every 5 years. They say each move will take an average of 50 boxes too. (http://184.106.235.187/q/how-often-does-the-average-american-family-move.html ) I don't believe it but I have no doubt about this – we are a pilgrim people. We are in this together in more ways than one. Our faith, Jim Wallis of the Sojourners says, is “personal but not private.”

Peter writes to these Christians scattered throughout the region of Asia minor and in these words, we hear the echoes of his own spiritual journey through the Easter experience. We have no record of a disciple who was a bigger wash out than Peter. None of us have been THAT bad but then none of us had our lives' on the line for our faith either!

Peter's letter is one of Biblical encouragement. This is no pep-talk. No self-help seminar. No passive warm and fuzzy spirituality. Peter's letter of exhortation is intended to give us what has been behind all that Jesus has done. Peter reveals and revels in this plan God has worked out, you can almost sense his excitement. This was one, who like Judas had DENIED Jesus and yet he was sought out by Jesus for redemption – HE WAS CHOSEN and by grace, he responded.

This is the Biblical understanding of election – that God has chosen us all for salvation and by His grace alone we are given the opportunity to choose as Peter did or cast of the opportunity as Judas did.

And here is where, I think we get in the immortal words of Paul Harvey, “The Rest of the Story.” It is right here at the beginning of the book in verse 3 namely, “...according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...”

In public speaking it is the old adage: “Tell them what you're going to tell them. Tell them. Tell them what you told them.” In education it is, “HOOK, BOOK, LOOK, TOOK.” In Scouting it is the EDGE method – Explain/Demonstrate/Guide/Enable.

It is too a LIVING HOPE that we are Born Again. It isn't dead or static. We're not zombies who are decaying as we live. We are people on the move by nature – the Good News spreads as we wander but that wandering often entails sacrifice. Peter talks about HOPE because he knows it is so easy to doubt. Suffering is part of the reality of faith and it is built on the resurrection of Jesus Christ not political action groups or committees.

1Co 15:13-19 NASB But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; (14) and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. (15) Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. (16) For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; (17) and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. (18) Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. (19) If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS IS CRUCIAL TO OUR HOPE...
1. If Christ is not risen, then the apostles were liars, and our faith is vain! - 1 Co 15:14-15
2. If Christ is not risen, we are still held guilty for our sins, no forgiveness has occurred! - 1 Co 15:17
3. If Christ is not risen, those who have died as Christians have perished, they are lost! - 1 Co 15:18
4. If Christ has not risen, then we do not have a “living” hope, instead we are to be pitied by others 1 Co 15:19 (Mark Copeland @ Executable Outlines)

Easter has everything to do with it - without, all of this is nothing, nonsense and we are the most to be pitied. Every sermon, every small group and every ministry, in every church comes back to this. Jesus is all we have and all we need.

Weekend Edition - Prayers for Lent

2011-04-01T07:46:00.001-04:00

April 1

All-Knowing God, this is a holiday that Your children don't keep. It is an atheist's holiday (Psalm 14: 1). Let them celebrate it. We will glory in all the other days with You and Your Son for we have baskets of things to celebrate especially Your love for us. It is truly amazing. Amen

April 2

God, give us the grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen

April 3 (Psalm 84:1-2, 4 NIV)

How lovely is Your dwelling place,

O Lord Almighty!

My soul yearns, even faints,

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh cry out

for the living God.

Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;

they are ever praising You.

March 31 - Prayers for Lent

2011-03-31T07:36:00.000-04:00

Gracious God, I hate this pain but You are God and I don't get a vote. I can't change it. I can't fix it. So, I turn it over to You for whatever purpose You have for it. Let's make this contract, regardless of my feelings, conform my heart to this contract through the power of Your Son, Jesus. It is all about Him. Amen

March 30 - Prayers for Lent

2011-03-30T09:08:00.001-04:00

Lord Jesus, thank you for lifting the burdens of daily life from our tired bodies. At the cross, You took them in Your nail scarred hands and threw them to the wind. Thus, we can enjoy peace knowing that You care for us and are concerned about Your children. Amen

(On a side note, please lift a prayer of thanks for Philip Rhodes who writes these prayers. He had a great report from his doctor regarding his red blood cell count!)

Weekend Prayers for Lent

2011-03-26T19:25:00.001-04:00

March 26
Loving God, let me feel Your love and get to know You deeply. I want to welcome Your Son, when He returns, not as a stranger but as my friend with whom I have walked for so many good years and with whom I have spent so many hours in conversation with Him. Amen

March 27 (Psalm 63: 1-5 NIV)
0 God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You.
I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise You.

March 25 - Prayers for Lent

2011-03-25T07:45:00.001-04:00

Lord God, when I arrive before Your throne, I want a good lawyer. The very best lawyer that I know is Your Son, Jesus. He never loses a case. So right now, I ask Him to stand by me in all that I go through so that I can copy Him in all that I do. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen

March 23 - Prayers for Lent

2011-03-23T09:45:00.001-04:00

Lord Jesus, when I woke up this morning to Your shinny sun, I went outside. I looked up and said "Maybe, this is the day. Maybe, this is the day when You will come again." For this I have two prayers: First, that it will be real soon and Second, that I will be ready - as usual, I need Your help. Amen

March 22 - Prayers for Lent

2011-03-22T08:50:00.001-04:00

March 22 - Prayers for Lent
Worldly Jesus, You said that I am to love my enemies. That is hard to do. Do You know how hard it is? Yes, You do, because You love those who rejected You like Judas Iscariot, Caesar, Pilate, Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin, and Herod. Oh my. I'll try but I need Your help. Help me. Amen

March 21 - Prayers for Lent

2011-03-21T08:46:00.001-04:00

March 21 - Prayers for Lent
Lord Jesus, many times I come to worship service on a gurney - in pain, bruised, bloody, dirty and broken. Then, when I see the cross I remember the pain that You withstood and I am reminded that I am Yours and Yours alone. You washed me white as snow. Then, I jump off the gurney and shout, "Hurray for Jesus". Amen

March 19 & 20 - Prayers for Lent

2011-03-20T05:56:00.000-04:00

March 19
Merciful Father, I come before You knowing that I am a sinner and that I don't deserve anything from You. I also know that if I run to Jesus that He will run to me, hug me and forgive me. So, from this moment on, You get my life, all of it. You can do with it what You wish. I just want to be forgiven and loved. I am tired of doing it myself. Amen

March 20 (Psalm 139: 23-24 NIV)
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

(My apologies this didn't make it out before the weekend! Had an exciting time with my son's Boy Scout Camporee.)

March 17 - Prayers for Lent: St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T07:51:00.001-04:00

Caring Lord, when sorrow strikes and pain keeps us awake and troubles abound and the world has turned into humus, it is so good to know that You hear the splatter of our tears on Your lap. Then, You pat us softly on the head with Your nail scarred hands and say "I am always with you". And we feel better knowing that we are not alone. Amen

March 16 - Prayers for Lent

2011-03-16T10:56:00.001-04:00

All Knowing Father, quiet our souls, minds and hearts so that we may hear Your word of love that invades our souls, minds and hearts to long for more time with You. Amen

March 15 Prayers for Lent

2011-03-15T08:14:00.000-04:00

March 15
Forgiving Father, come into my life as powerfully as You feel that I can stand it. Awaken my soul to love You more dearly and care for others, even those that I do not like, with more compassion. You know that I can't do it alone; as always, elbow me so that I know that You are beside me. Amen

Prayers for Lent: March 11

2011-03-11T07:13:00.001-05:00

Father God, when I was deep in sin, I turned to You and in the quiet of Your presence, Your love overwhelmed my dirtiness. Your amazing love deserves only one response and that is for me to earnestly repent and confess my sins and yearn to serve You more completely. Amen

Prayers For Lent: March 10

2011-03-10T07:10:00.001-05:00

Jesus, my Lord, remind me where You found me with all the guilt, emptiness and meaningless of life. These things I despise. Remind me also of Your unconditional love for me. Then, I will rejoice in my new on-going romance with You for You are truly a forgiving God. Amen

The Days Of Promise - Isaiah 35:1-10

2010-12-12T17:09:00.002-05:00

Week 3 – Year A
(Isaiah 35:1-10)

Where do we see the Messiah's promising presence at work in the world? Or do we see it at all? Do we even know what those promises are or where they began? Without the story of God, why do we even question the state the world is in?

In a world where there is always war – how do we know what peace looks like?
In a world always full of suffering – how do we know what to hope for?
In a world of sadness – what does joy feel like?
In a world permeated by hate – what does it love look like?

The promise of Isaiah contrasts the two worlds – one of wilderness and one of life.

We don't live in a wilderness or desert...or do we? Tell people you live in Paulding County and they'll look at you like you're from another planet. Just five years ago, folks in Marietta used to joke about Hiram being the sticks and today you run into them shopping at Wal-Mart and going to Movies 278! Just 5 years ago, Cedarcrest was full of pine trees. Catch up with some of our old time families like the Ragsdales and Austins and Grogans and they'll tell you of the days when Cedarcrest Rd. was a 'pig trail.' For good or bad, we've been seeing a wilderness transformed – if only we have eyes to see.

My description is no where near what the words of Isaiah describe. It is classical poetry structured not merely to relay facts but share a vision. Like good story, good poetry changes minds by changing our emotions first.

It is a foreign desert and while we may never have driven through Death Valley, we've all lived through desert places. Whether we've known weakness or blindness isn't required – the writer paints a description that targets what we've seen or touched. This is one of those breaking away points for us – this poetry, a painting with words of a world that is and one that is not yet.

The structure is called a Chiasm – a pattern that walks us to a central point and then out again. For Isaiah, it moves this way..
Creation – healing
Humanity – healing
God – coming to save
Humanity – healing completed
Creation – healing completed

Consider our days right now. Gone are the greens of summer and even the yellows and oranges of fall have melted away. Consider as you leave today how in a sense, death reigns over the landscape of God's creation. Isaiah is writing to a people who have been dead inside and who are beginning to walk what they expect to be the barren, dead landscape from their exile and captivity in Babylon. They are on their way home...

Isaiah begins by painting a picture with words in his poetic description of the day of God's coming. They are words of encouragement and hope for a weary people on a long journey. Journeys like this aren't always ones in desert lands. Often they are in the desert place of our souls when we lose sight of God. Desolate places are in relationships at times with family and friends, damaged by the past.

But there is healing promised, and it begins in this one key verse of 4: Say to those who are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you." Now that is the kind of God I'm talking about! At my greatest need – nothing is standing in his way...but it at his time that he is coming not mine or yours and often lost is that God is coming for His people – not just one or the other.
We are a very self centered people after all. It is one of the things which at times makes it difficult for us to read these words and even to live our lives – you and I have a hard time turning the “m” in me right-side up so it says “we.”

Years later, after the Christmas night, Jesus had begun his ministry but his cousin John was sitting in prison waiting to find out his fate. But when in Matthew 11:3, John sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the Messiah, he asks, “Are you the one, or should WE wait for another?” And Jesus pointed to Isaiah 35, verse 5 and after and “... answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. Matthew 11:4” The waiting for the Messiah was over.

Yet, we are called to wait again, to wait for His coming again.

It was a Sunday afternoon in Seattle when the priest stopped by the home of a member after church. She had a five-year old daughter who had just gotten a new jump rope. Like all of the best clergy, the priest began to demonstrate the finer points of jumping rope. After a while the daughter began to jump. First one time and then two. The mom and priest clapped loudly and cheered her accomplishments. After a while, the girl was doing quite well. She wandered off to practice more on her own and so the priest and the mom began to talk. It was only a few moments before the little girl returned dragging her rope and showing off a very pouty face. “Mommy,” she said, “I can do it but I need lots of clapping (The Spirituality of Imperfection, Kurtz and Ketcham).”

We can wait for the second coming of Jesus but not alone. We can journey the desert paths but we need lots of clapping. You are NOT alone in the desert place. I am NOT alone in the desert place. We have each other and it is together we wait for the coming of God. How much better it is to wait together. This is the promise of Joy on this day – for a day of JOY is coming. I invite you today to a community that waits with hands at work and hands at worship and ALWAYS with hands clapping!

Is the question of clergy health the concern or should it be clergy holiness?

2010-12-06T11:37:00.005-05:00

Dumped out for the world to see was the reporting by the New York Times of recent studies chronicling the struggles of modern day clergy. Studies and interviews from a number of denominations and from Judaism and Islam were noted in the article. Additional articles came out and the blogosphere lit up with more opinions and thoughts from clergy and laity alike.

The United Methodist Church led the way in most of these reports. As in most studies, there is certain biases that are brought to the forefront. Issues of obesity, hypertension and depression were among the noted items of concern in the NY Times article. But blogger Tom Nees took an alternative route and began to question myths about clergy burnout. To do so, he went to the Lewis Center for Church Leadership and its director Joseph Arnold and found another side of the story.

In his blog, “Five Myths About Clergy Burnout,” Nees notes his conversation with Arnold that what is really happening is that clergy are sliding into the norm of society. On top of that, job satisfaction still remains high compared to less than 50% of the general population.

In a large part, I think Nees is right on target on questioning these findings. While I think he is right in questioning (I don't agree with all of his myths), I don't thing he has gone far enough. What has been even more greatly compromised may well be our very integrity as clergy for neglecting our very calling. It maybe different in each tradition so I cannot speak for them all, but certainly, the more we have tried to be like corporate America in the Church, we have certainly succeeded in sliding into being more like the world than like Jesus.

The core issues of preventing stress and burnout are, I think, being woefully ignored. Anne Dilenschneider's article on “Soul Care and the Roots of Clergy Burnout,” hits much closer to the reality. She addresses pointedly the “...deeper “disease” of the soul that has plagued clergy...” for it is an issue of our souls which is truly at stake.

In his research for the book Spirituality for Ministry, Urban T. Holmes interviewed clergy across denominational lines. Holmes noted, “The pastor or priest is rooted in a world of symbols and takes on the character of his environment (Holmes, 34).” One of the priests in the study delved further into the implications of this noting that, “the priest can live the lifestyle that most people in the parish cannot and wished they could (Holmes, 31).” Maybe so, but the tragic reality our current studies show is that we obviously all are now living the same lifestyle

In 1786 John Wesley shared what was arguably his greatest fear namely, “I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid, lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power.” At least, as it pertains to my tradition of the Wesleyan heritage, I think the loss of the power is precisely in our spirituality, namely, our doctrine of entire sanctification – the way of holiness.

If it true that the people who call themselves Methodists are to be the “Grand Depositum” of this doctrine (Wesley's term - not mine!), then I am inclined to ask the question again of our clergy that was asked at our ordination, “Are you going on to perfection?” Oh, surely we all say “yes” but what if I asked:

By what means are you getting there?
By what practices and habits are you nurturing your soul?
On the journey toward holiness, where do you think you are?
How are you nurturing others?

I once talked with a United Methodist pastor about whether he spent anytime reading Wesley's 52 Standard Sermons. His response was to blow it off, “Oh no. It is good theology but terrible preaching.” I challenge any laity of any tradition to ask a United Methodist Clergy, “Do you own a copy of Wesley's 52 Standard Sermons?” If it is good theology and terrible preaching then we must be far worse preachers today for who of us has had the impact in the world like Mr. Wesley?

I am writing out of concern as one in the trenches, one who knows full well in my life what these studies represent. It is all well and good to do studies and research to identify the problem but I can tell you in a nutshell what the “problem” is – we're human beings. Even us clergy. We're finite and fallible. From the largest churches to the smallest. From bishops to lay speakers – we believe there is a spiritual side of this life which will not pass away yet we treat our days as if this mortal body is all we have been given.

Clergy must do more than take a day off. Clergy have to do more than use their vacation time. Clergy need guidance in the way of their own soul care. We need to stop doing and start being and we need this to take place throughout our systems and structures. The systems aren't the pieces to blame – it is the two legged mammals with opposable thumbs who God has been gracious enough to love and redeem – we've done it.

We clergy cannot care for the souls of others if we cannot acknowledge the despair in our own. As United Methodists, it is past time we put aside worrying about our dying sect and consider instead that gospel message that gave birth to a movement that changed the world. It is time to return to that message and the methods – not worrying so much (at the start) our churches but our lives – which is the way of sanctification – the way of holiness.

Rob Bell on the Divine Dance

2010-11-10T09:30:00.003-05:00

H/T to Jim Parsons for posting this great video. The rabbi story, I think, points to a huge piece of our faith journey we often have not wrestled with in ourselves. It seems to me, one of the problems with western Christianity today is that most of us are more like the policeman than the rabbi but we fail to admit it or fail to do anything at all.

Watch and see what you think...

Broken: The church you never knew you wanted. Week 1

2010-11-10T09:10:00.004-05:00

And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: (10) "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. (11) "The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. (12) 'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' (13) "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' (14) "I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:9-14 NASB

On the recommendation of one of the monks at the monastery in Conyers a few years ago, I began reading the book, “The Spirituality of Imperfection.” One story is shared regarding a lecture at Rutgers University for alcohol counselors. On the board, the instructor had written the words, “human – humor – humility.” He turned to the gathering of would-be counselors and challenged, “you all know what 'humus' is don't you?”

In the back of the room sat a gentleman you might have thought was from the state of Texas. Being that he was every bit 6 foot something 250 pounds might have given and indication. Or his cowboy hat, boots and belt buckle. Or maybe his nametag cut in the shape of a star that said, “Tex.” In any case, in a deep drawl Tex, bellowed (and I'm editing here), “Yeah Doc, humus is worm dung!”

The authors note that we cannot work on one without working on all the others. I've mentioned before that following my cancer surgery in 2000, I was later diagnosed with clinical depression. I swore I'd never go there again. Never say never. I was again diagnosed with depression recently. Sitting around the table, we were talking as a family and I mentioned I was trying to get better. Logan looked at me and asked, “does that mean you won't yell so much?” We can't work on our humanity, our humor, or humility without dealing with our BEING humus.

It is humiliating to talk about being worm dung and dust isn't it? After all, we live in Georgia and know too well that being crushed or broken is not a good thing as Larry Munson reminded us that Saturday afternoon when he said,"We just stepped on their face with a hob-nailed boot and broke their nose! We just crushed their face!" We don't do broken well or at least not in public. But I would submit to you the unpopular notion that the only successful church is a broken church, the only successful Christian is a broken Christian and the only successful pastor is living a broken life.

Being part of the Church universal and a church in general is a most contrary thing. It associates you with the one organization in the world that exists for others. It associates with the primary logo of the cross – a symbol of a torturous death sentence. Its primary practices of baptism and communion are also symbolic of death. It is no wonder churches have moved these symbols out of primary places – they remind us too much of our humus.

And yet, how often do we hear a song on the radio or in a motivational seminar a question like, “what would you do different if you knew you'd die tomorrow?” Is it not the church, in our vows of membership, that reminds us of this very thing? How will you live differently? We are called to live for something more than ourselves and to be part of a revolution – the very body of Jesus Christ by our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness.

Like our humanity, humility and humor are tied together, so are the 5 vows. But I see these tied to each other in unique ways as well. Starting with Prayers and Presence – they make up the practice of Listening. To listen, we often have to give up myths, our own beliefs about people and situations. I think two apply here.

MYTH: I can worship God anywhere.
1) The Church creates Sacred Space where ever we gather and it is a place of prayer for all people – for the sinner and the self-righteous. I think it is significant that Jesus has the action of this parable play out in the temple. Other places in Scripture make the point of praying to God anywhere. Right here, Jesus could easily have done that but he does not. Instead, he puts the action in a sacred space where believers in Yahweh, God Almighty, are called to worship. It is here, that ALL people are invited (My house shall be called a house of prayer). We are a called people practicing presence.

MYTH: I've got to be perfect to come.
2) The Church, when creating Sacred Space, provides a place to break or be broken. The prayer of the tax collector has become known to the church as the– The Jesus Prayer - “Have mercy on me a sinner.” The practice of simple yet profound breath prayers is an ancient practice of the church stemming from this verse. Simple, one phrase prayers, remind us of our need to pray every moment, our need to be honest with ourselves and with God.

Prayer is a willing receptiveness to the power, presence and pleasure of God. To pray in this way means we must be willing to be present and actively listen. This is contrary to our nature that demands attention and a hearing. Jesus calls to the whole person – listen – in your prayers and presence.

A Message For Saints

2010-11-01T07:48:00.004-04:00

Ephesians 1:18-23 NASB (18) I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, (19) and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might (20) which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, (21) far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. (22) And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, (23) which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

This week I was thinking about one of our conversations a few weeks back during our set-up time. For those of you who have never done set-up, you surely miss some great times and conversations! That week Rob had posted on Facebook about cleaning out his book collection of business leadership books. We talked about some of the titles that have made their way not just into business but into the church. Books like, “Who Moved My Cheese,” “From Good To Great,” and “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership,” that were forced upon us from managerial types who wanted to remake the organization.

Then I came across something written in 1756, where John Wesley remarked, “November 1 was a day of triumphant joy, as All Saints' Day generally is. How superstitious are they who scruple giving God solemn thanks for the lives and deaths of his saints.”

I thought about this quote of Wesley's regarding this day called “All Saints Day” and how little thought is given to such a day because of our superstitious nature or maybe we feel it is morbid. But as our conversation played out that Sunday, how much homage has been paid to those we have set-up to be leaders in the church – people who fail to recognize the One Irrefutable Law of Leadership that Paul makes fairly clear in his letter to the Ephesian church: It is Jesus, the Son of God who is over ALL.

It was a few months ago, I remember driving in my car and sitting at a stop light. I was totally discouraged and reflecting on my leadership. Sitting there, the Spirit of God reminded me that God gave Jesus, “as head over all things to the church (v.22).” Dr. Dan Allender, author of “Leading with a Limp,” would agree completely and then some. He takes it a step further with a cue from Paul's first letter to Timothy when he says that pastors are to be the chief sinners of the church!

When we try ever so desperately to gain control of things, we only move faster and grasp tighter. Trying to lead the church (or even business) is about leading people. Under the guise of modern leadership experts, we become “bulls in the china shop.” In our families and in our work and in our faith, the more we try the next principle or read the next book, the more we find things not turning out so right. We look at others and wonder how “they do it?” And we miss the wisdom of the grandmother who said, “The only completely happy people I know are the people I don't know at all.”

Now that is a funny little word, “ALL.” It gets kind of lost in our conversations. But Paul uses the word 5 times in these verses. I'm sure you're imagining there must be some Greek word of great significance behind this. Nope. It is the word 'pas' it means 'all'. In other words, it means what it means to us = everything; the whole; complete. And this is where Jesus sits, over it ALL.

It seems to me, this is ultimately what a saint is, someone who recognizes their position as a sinner/maybe even chief sinner and sees just how significant it is that Jesus is over it ALL. Jesus is over I-75 at 7am in the morning. Jesus is over homeroom and Advanced Math/English/Social Studies. Jesus is over babies with dirty diapers at 3am in the morning. Jesus is over the victim of the DUI at Grady Hospital. Jesus is over all the leaves that have to be cleaned-up and the HOA. Jesus is over Tuesday's elections and the results on Wednesday. Jesus is over abortion clinics and over the electric chair. Jesus is over AIDS and Jesus is over birthdays. Do you get it? Jesus is over it ALL and a saint comes to see that no matter what happens, no matter what you and I face, no matter how awful we feel curled up in a ball on the floor, He HAS been there and He is not merely over it but he is in it – ALL IN ALL.

God didn't come in Jesus looking for perfect people. He came looking for perplexed, pathetic people and it is those he wanted use to lead his church. The idea that saints are somehow a set-apart holy class is what some would like us to believe but the truth is that no Christian can be a Christian apart from Jesus Christ being who he in our lives as he is in the world – All in All.

There is a story about a conversation Jesus had with the archangel Gabriel when Jesus returned to heaven after the ascension. “You mean,” Gabriel said, “your whole plan to save the world depends on that ragtag bunch of former fishermen, prostitutes and tax collectors?” “That’s right,” Jesus replied. “But what if they fail?” Gabriel persisted with alarm. “What’s your backup plan?” “There is no backup plan,” Jesus said.

It makes no sense does it? None of us who have served as leaders in business or military or community would ever think of such a thing! But saints get it – no one could do it anyway, not with out Jesus. From Stephen, the first martyr recognized by the Church to Dietrich Bonhoeffer and all those unknown to us (but known intimately by Jesus), they got it – and it is them we recognize, those who have gone before us, those who have lived and died and know the one irrefutable law of leadership that the Son of God who is over ALL. But they not only know they see the author and know him face to face and on this All Saints Day, I invite you to pause, maybe for the first time, or maybe for 1,000th time. Recognize you're a sinner, that Jesus loves you and know there is no backup plan – you are the saints you've been waiting for.

(Pastor's Note: Yes, I know that according to the liturgical calendar, we're a week early. After consideration it seemed better to reclaim the day.)

The Quest for Character: The End Game

2010-10-27T15:12:00.002-04:00

(2Ti 4:6-8 GNB) As for me, the hour has come for me to be sacrificed; the time is here for me to leave this life. (7) I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance, and I have kept the faith. (8) And now there is waiting for me the victory prize of being put right with God, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day---and not only to me, but to all those who wait with love for him to appear. (2Ti 4:16-18) No one stood by me the first time I defended myself; all deserted me. May God not count it against them! (17) But the Lord stayed with me and gave me strength, so that I was able to proclaim the full message for all the Gentiles to hear; and I was rescued from being sentenced to death. (18) And the Lord will rescue me from all evil and take me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

As I understand the story, the District Superintendent had come to his wits end with this church that was never pleased with the pastors they were sent. At this year's meeting of the Staff-Parrish Relations Committee, the DS brought a letter from a potential candidate. It went something like this...

"I understand your church is looking for a pastor. I should like to submit my application. I am generally considered to be a good preacher. I have been a leader in most of the places I have served. I have also found time to do some writing on the side. I am over fifty years of age (no children), and while my health is not the best, I still manage to get enough work done to please my congregation. As for a reference, I am somewhat handicapped. I have never served in any place more than three years, and the churches where I have preached have generally been pretty small, even though they were located in rather large cities. Some places I had to leave because my ministry caused riots and disturbances. When I stayed, I did not get along too well with other religious leaders in town, which may influence the kind of references these places will send you. I have also been threatened several times and been physically attacked. I have gone to jail three or four times for expressing my thoughts. You will need to know that there are some men who follow me around undermining my work. Still, I feel sure I can bring vitality to your church. If you can use me, I should be pleased to be considered."

The SPR committee was a bit surprised the United Methodist Church would commission or ordain such a person let alone, that their District Superintendent would think this was a good candidate for them. The SPR committee chair, asked the DS, “Why did you come here with someone with these credentials? I'd like to know who this pastor is so I can call the Bishop!” The DS handed the letter over to the committee chair. His face went blank. Then someone piped up, “Who signed it?” The chair simply said, “Paul.”

In no story that I've read or watched have I found the quest or goal to be easy. We watch and read movies and books to journey with those characters on their quest. These characters face life and limb to achieve the results they desire. I think our kids grasp it better than us grown-ups because they have imaginations we have long sense turned off. But even we know the truth, usually in the times we brush up against our mortality.

I know from experience having twice in my life rubbed elbows with my death. The first, was night diving off of Radio Island, NC and getting caught in the tide going out. Suddenly, I was swimming against the current, and watching the rock wall go by, then nothing and then seeing the channel marker go past. I realized in that moment, that if I didn't get hold of that marker at 40 feet, I would be swept out into the Atlantic Ocean. The second, was facing the diagnoses of testicular cancer in the year 2000. I hope that when the next time comes, I will be able to join with Paul I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance, and I have kept the faith. (8) And now there is waiting for me the victory prize of being put right with God!

Three things Paul says he did three things in the course of his life to endure...

“I have done my best...” I cannot say or hear the words without thinking about my four years as a Cub Scout Den Leader and the motto of Cub Scouts - “Do Your Best!” But I also grew up with that motto when I was a Cub myself and it is a reminder to us all that WE can only do our best. Different translations have fight but the idea of race seems to follow better here as it does in 1 Corinthians 9:25.

Next up Paul notes that he has "run the race in full." William Barclay in his Daily Bible Study, reminds us of the history of the Battle of Marathon between the Greeks and the Persians. Upon defeating the Persians, a Greek soldier ran the entire way back to the magistrate to declare, “We won!” and then he died. 26.2 is the sticker on the backs of cars that indicates someone has completed a marathon.

Finally, he says, “I kept the faith,” but maybe not what you were thinking. You see this phrase has a couple of meanings, one of which refers again to the sports analogy that Paul is fond of using. You could say here, “I kept the rules of the contest and didn't foul out.” It is hard here in October, not to be reminded here of the doping scandals surrounding baseball and the Tour de France. Paul says in his quest he never tried to cheat his way to the finish line. His letter to the SPR committee assures us of that!

Yet there remains something of greater significance and it is by far of greater significance than Paul's will power as verse 17 declares, "the Lord stayed with me and gave me strength, so that I was able to proclaim the full message for all the Gentiles to hear; and I was rescued from being sentenced to death." Paul, on his own, could never have sustained himself over the course of his life. We don't have a biography or his journal to go by so we don't fully appreciate what Paul must have faced.

What we have is the assurance of where Paul has placed his trust, where Paul kept his eyes focused, and where Paul kept his feet moving – always toward Jesus Christ and the message of the Gospel – that God had come into the world to rescue you and me from ourselves, from doing life our way. And Paul believed it had all been worth it – I for one, believe he was right. His example taught others to run the race and they passed down Paul's words and example all the way till today.

And what about today? What about you and me and the race before us? Maybe the analogy doesn't fit you. Maybe swimming or hiking or driving is more your thing. It doesn't matter, but what does, what is central is this, are your eyes on Jesus? Rest assured, no matter how bad you're cramping, no matter how lonely the road, no matter when you are about to give out, Jesus will stay with you and give you strength – not for your own goals but for pointing the next runner you meet in the direction of Jesus Christ. This is the Quest for Character – to give your life for others – just as Jesus did.

The Quest for Character: Words to Live By

2010-10-18T11:34:00.002-04:00

2Ti 3:14-17 NASB You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, (15) and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. (16) All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; (17) so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2Ti 4:1-5 NASB I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: (2) preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. (3) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, (4) and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. (5) But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

There are certain sermons that as a United Methodist, I simply can't do without looking to John Wesley for some insight. But in a sermon on this very same text, Dr. Maxie Dunnam, retired President of Asbury Theological Seminary, took a unique twist. Dr. Dunnam noted that there is in fact a problem that has come from one of Wesley and it is this, “As to all opinions which do not strike at the root of Christianity, we think and let think.”

Dr. Dunnam went on to say that he wished Wesley had never said those words and I think I must agree. It has led far to many to believe that you can believe anything and be a Methodist. Granted, I don't believe that is Wesley's fault – it is at the root of what Paul was writing to Timothy when he said, “For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.”

When I moved the middle of my junior year of high school, just months after making the decision to follow Jesus Christ, I was just a baby in my faith. I knew that if I did nothing, if I sat ideally by, then this new relationship that I had with God would not last. At our new church, I picked up a copy of a little book called, “The Upper Room” and I began the habit of reading from the Bible everyday. Today, The Upper Room is my homepage on my computer for the very same reason.

Maybe the difficulty here is the idea that somehow the words of the Bible are stagnant. In terms of how this passage is normally taught, there is little reference to it beyond using verse 16 as a means to berate others to believe the Bible is the authoritative Word of God. As Professor Dirk Lange (@ workingpreacher.org) puts it, “... faithfully continuing what we have learned does not mean quoting Scripture ad infinitum on any subject or controversy until we are blue in the face (or our opponents run away!).”

Look at theses verses again. My problem with school and learning was always that it had to do with regurgitating information for a test of a paper. But the truth is that isn't about learning – it is about living. And here lies a central point in Wesley's words - “The Spirit of God not only once inspired those who wrote it, but continually inspires, supernaturally assists, those that read it with earnest prayer.”

People will reject the Bible but are quick to believe and put their trust in practices of witchcraft or UFO's. How quick will we dismiss that God might have spoken something of relevance to our lives that we ought to change but are quick to listen to a politician or media personality. We prefer entertainment and contentment to righteousness and holiness. And we wonder why the world, our country and the Church is in the state that it is in?

The monk, Thomas Merton, wrote, “The Bible is without question one of the most unsatisfying books ever written – at least until the reader comes to terms with it in a very special way (pg 11, Opening the Bible).” Likewise, Eugene H. Peterson, whose works include, “The Message” Translation, places clergy in the cross hairs for “...turning their studies into “stills.”

“The great attraction for distilling Scripture into truths and morals and lessons is simply laziness,” Peterson writes (pg. 134, Working the Angles). This moonshine gospel, this 100 proof stuff, are empty calories that strip all the nutrients and life from the narrative that is the Bible. As long as we treat it merely as another book, then it will remain unsatisfying – and we'll live with tickled ears or in this case, throats warm to little more than snake oil.

Paul's words are clear and the tradition of the Church universal echoes through the centuries – ALL Scripture is inspired by God. It applies at once to the Old but by consideration of the Church also applies to the New. We do not seek it out for a word. It is The Word and the Word seeks us out.

Yes, the Word has given every follower of Jesus has their good work to do. (3:17)
Yes, every pastor is accountable to the Word in fulfilling their ministry. (4:5)
And yes, the Word is living and not stagnant – the Word “put on flesh and moved into the neighborhood (John 1:14, The Message)" and the Word is available for you and me today to follow and be changed into His likeness.

The Quest For Character: Conformation

2010-10-11T14:03:00.000-04:00

2Timothy 2:1-15 NASB You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (2) The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (3) Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. (4) No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. (5) Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. (6) The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. (7) Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. (8) Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, (9) for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. (10) For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory. (11) It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; (12) If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; (13) If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. (14) Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. (15) Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

I like to do things my way. I like to eat my cereal with a tablespoon not a teaspoon. I like to mow my grass in a routine way. When I clean the bathrooms, I have my routine and cleaners that I like to use. I like my week's schedule to go just so. When I get up in the mornings, I have my routine and the same when I go to bed at night. I really like to do things my way.

The lion liked things his way too. One day he met a monkey in the jungle. The lion pounced on the poor monkey and said, "Who is king of the jungle?" The frightened monkey replied, "You are, O mighty lion." So the lion let him go. The next animal the lion met was a zebra. He pounced on it and roared, "Who is king of the jungle?" "You are, O mighty lion." So the lion let him go. The lion next met an elephant and asked the same question. The elephant grabbed the lion, twirled him around the threw him 50 feet. The lion picked himself up and huffed, "Just because you don't know the answer is no reason to get so rough."

The Old Testament reading from 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15, tells the story of Naaman who was someone who liked things his way too. As general over the armies of Aram, he knew had plenty of power and knew how to get his way but he had one flaw. He was leper and his leperousy was taking it's toll on his health. From a slave girl he learned of the prophet Elisha in Israel and so journeyed to seek healing. When he arrived at Elisha's house, Elisha's servant came out to Naaman and told him to wash in the river Jordan seven times and he would be healed.

But Naaman wanted more! He wanted a show and a ritual! He didn't want wash in the nasty, dirty Jordan River! (5:13) But his servants approached and said to him, "Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, 'Wash, and be clean'?" 95:14) So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean. (5:15c) Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel...”

Oswald Chambers, author of the devotional, “My Utmost for His Highest” wrote, “My vision of God is dependent upon the condition of my character. My character determines whether or not truth can even be revealed to me. Before I can say, “I saw the Lord,” there must be something in my character that conforms to the likeness of God.”

Paul to Timothy says, Conform to the Gospel! (v.8) 2Ti 2:8 NASB “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel.” Paul is addressing here that we can't go around teaching something different than the gospel of Jesus Christ – what Paul was in fact in teaching. Verses 17-18 speak of Hymenaeus and Philetus who were preaching a different message, one that was stealing the hope from people.

Paul goes on to share from what appears to be an early hymn of the church. Our hope is not in Christ crucified but in Jesus resurrected from the dead. It seems to me that if I consistently want things my way, it is going to be hard for my character to ever look like Jesus'. For us to discover the trait of conformation of Character, Paul says

1. Die to your way (v.11)
John Wesley noted here it means we have to become, “Dead to sin, and ready to die for him.” This is precisely the path Naaman had to travel. Naaman struggled with pride. So do I. What is it that is keeping you from conforming?

2. Endure His Way (v.12a) It will be hard.
Enduring the way of Jesus Christ is not going to be easy. Ya think? This is what Paul is talking about in his own testimony. He is called a criminal though he broke no law. Naaman had to endure the humiliation of bathing in the Jordan river.

3. Don't disown The Way(v.12b) –
There are far too many zombies in the Church. What do I mean? We Christians preempt our dying. It takes place when we gloss over the point of Paul in the previous verse that being a Christian exempts us from difficulty. Rather than bathe 7 times we do it 1 time and then 6 times we take a sponge bath and think we followed directions. We got up and started walking around before the work was done and there is nothing pretty about it.

4. Your faith may falter – His faithfulness never will (v.13)
But losing faith isn't the same as disowning The Way. Like Peter, we may take our eyes off of Jesus and look at the waves. We might slip back into our pride as Naaman did before someone corrects us.

What is it you need to die to? What is there for you to endure? Have you disowned? Faith faltered? Today offers you another chance to conform to the character of Jesus. Character begins at the Gospel – Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.

The Quest For Character: Legacy

2010-10-04T14:37:00.000-04:00

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy. For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you. (2Timothy 1:1-14 NASB)

To this day, I give credit to Don and Jon Hall and Curtis Martin for mentoring me in my faith as teenager. But it was my grandmother Bonnie, with her body crippled by arthritis, who was faithful in prayer and in setting an example for me. Consider for a moment, who was it who truly kindled your faith?

This may well have been one of Paul's last letters written. He sends it from a prison cell in Rome as he awaits his fate before Caesar's court. It goes out to this young man Timothy, the pastor at the church of Ephesus.

Author and pastor, Bruce Wilkinson, tells about attending a conference many years ago. He discovered that a man sitting off to the side at this conference was the son of a very famous Christian leader. Wilkinson decided to introduce himself to this young man and find out what it was like to grow up in the home of such an admired leader. He worked his way over to the young man and said, "I understand that you're such-and-such, the son of so-and-so." This young man stared right at Wilkinson as he asked, "What was it like, growing up in your father and mother's home? What was it like being the son of such a great Christian leader?" The next thing Wilkinson knew, this young man turned, swore at him, swore at his father, swore about the Bible, and said, "I hate God. I hate Jesus Christ." Then he turned on his heel and walked out of that conference, and didn't come back the rest of the day.

Wilkinson was stunned. He couldn't think of anything more gut-wrenching than having his own children hate him, hate God and hate Christ like that. What had happened to this young fellow, he asked himself, and what could he do to avoid it happening in his own family?

What kind of legacy of faith are we leaving behind? Paul was encouraged by what he saw in Timothy's faith in Jesus Christ. Paul could see both Timothy's response to legacy left by his mother and grandmother and the Timothy's response to Paul's own example. But Paul knew more than Timothy about what was in front, things Timothy had yet to experience namely that suffering goes with the name of Jesus Christ.

The legacy of Faith Paul indicates is one that comes from the Holy Spirit (v. 7). It is a gift of grace. Then Paul uses a unique word here that I really like, a word we translate re-kindle. It is a word related to a fire. Having had a great deal of outdoor experience, one of the things we know is that when lost, the most encouraging thing one can do to help moral is to start a fire. Carefully tended, a fire can die down overnight and then be rekindled in the morning with coals once thought dead.

How we live makes a difference in the lives of others. Faith in Jesus Christ changes the character of a person and it does not easily die and it is worth striving for, protecting and growing. It is what we commit to as a church at every baptism. We testify to it every time we celebrate the gift of eternal life at the Communion table.

Sidestepping Suffering

2010-09-16T09:40:00.005-04:00

We do our best as parents wrestling with our schedules to make the time we want and need with our families. I always seem to hit stretches that are just insanely draining and busy that keep me distracted and feeling like a planet on the outer orbit of the Sun – part of the whole but out of the warmth and company of others.

For some reason, it seems that in those times, I have to step and discipline. We have to do it – distant and removed though we maybe. Of course, the greater than average response is something along the lines of, “Dad - I hate you!” Nothing like feeling more connected to family.

To avoid it is to hold back what our kids need and we know it. We don't want to (and a good many parents choose not to for fear of the “hate” word) but to do so is to fail correct an error, one that could ruin a child.

The truth is, I think, we do not like to deal with pain. My good friend and chiropractor, Dr. George Tomes, likes to point out, “When we step on the tail of a dog and he barks, we don't say something is wrong with his mouth.” More to the point, when it comes to the spiritual journey, we cannot imagine WHY would God let me hurt?! Why would God allow ME to feel this way?!

We're scared of going deeper and addressing what we fear about God. Our modern Christianity is second rate and hides behind a cursory understanding of the Bible and theology. We say we want more of God but we fail to account for what that might look like.

OR we fail to peal away what we think is a “spiritual question” and ask what the real question might be because if we did it would come closer to one of these: Why is God acting like a parent and not a vending machine? Why is God acting like a parent and not Santa Claus? Why is God acting like a parent and not my best friend?

The writer of Hebrews sees most clearly what takes place in our journey of faith and God's instructions when he writes,

(4) You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; (5) and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; (6) FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." (7) It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? (8) But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. (9) Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? (10) For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. (11) All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. (12:4-11 NASB)

When was the last time you shed blood striving against sin? Yeah, me either – can't remember. The moment we hurt, we Christians tend to run and hide behind our pretty baubles at the book store and our perfect padded pews. I fear we revel in acedia. Martin Luther condemned the Roman Catholic Church for it's selling of indulgences and today's protestants sell our souls for a comfortable hovel. We have turned spiritual boredom into a spiritual gift.

St. John of the Cross (known for “The dark night of soul”) wrote centuries ago, “Nothing in this life can offer the secure hope, the limitless love our soul needs...It is because He [God] loves you that He refuses to let you rest your soul in this corrupt, dying world.” (Living Flame of Love: Stanza 1)

I can only see what I found in the mirror. I have taken measure of myself and found myself wanting and with good reason, God's work isn't finished. I dread the journey as much as I long for the results. Staying put is more often the road less traveled on a religious road use to sidestepping suffering.

Images from sxc.hu
1. Rotorhead
2. Lusi

A Dangerous Endeavor: Lost Week 2

2010-09-13T12:49:00.004-04:00

The sermon today comes from Luke 15:1-10

H.H. Staton in his book, "A Guide to the Parables of Jesus" tells the story of having been on an ocean liner headed to the Middle East.

Nine hundred miles out to sea a sail was sighted on the horizon. As the liner drew closer, the passengers saw that the boat - a small sloop flying a Turkish flag - had run up a distress signal and other flags asking for its position at sea. Through a faulty chronometer or immature navigation the small vessel had become lost. For nearly an hour the liner circled the little boat, giving its crew correct latitude and longitude. Naturally there was a great deal of interest in all the proceeding among the passengers of the liner. A boy of about 12 standing on the deck and watching all that was taking place remarked aloud to himself - "It's a big ocean to be lost in."

Hearing that story reminded me of one of my favorite quotes of all time, “A ship in the harbor is safe but that is not what a ship is built for.” This world is a difficult place to be lost in but we were not created to simply tie up on the dock and set by.

Luke introduces us to two types of people here: the “holy” and the “heathen.” The holy are the pharisees and the scribes. The heathen are the tax collectors and sinners. Both are up to their eyeballs in what matters most. One group is focused on being perfect the other is focused perfectly on being. (Can't help thinking of Billy Currington's song - “I'm not known for doin' a lot, But I do my best work when the weather's hot, I'm pretty good at drinkin' beer.”)

Jesus could have easily aligned himself with the “holy.” In fact, this was what that group had been trying to do. But lost in translation is the word “Receive” - prosdechomai; a word we know well at Crossroads – Jesus was offering HOSPITALITY. Jesus was admitting heathens into his group – into the family.

And so in the midst of the griping and moaning of the holy people Jesus pulls out a story of a lost sheep and a lost coin. What is lost for us, is how much these two stories are influenced by their setting of home and community. Let's stop for a moment and consider this. In the USA we are an individualist society. We identify ourselves by our job, sports team, denomination, etc. But the Jews of Jesus' day had a community identity. Jesus OF Nazareth – Judas OF Iscariot / Simon Bar Jonah = 'son of' Jonah. The prayer of Jesus reflects this too: “OUR daily bread” and “forgive US.”

Jesus was not just building on this idea of community for the Kingdom BUT expanding it. Without searching a bit, this is lost to us. I had the chance a few years ago to listen to Dr. James Fleming who is an expert in first century Jewish culture. In his work on Jesus Parables, he notes that these parables are built on this important detail of culture – namely the Jewish home.

The Latin word for a Jewish home was “insula.” It is the root for the word “island.” These insulas are very much unlike our homes of today. Insulas contained more than one related families. Poorer families contained more holding upwards of 40-50 people. When the family grows, more walls/rooms are added. (1)

So think for a moment on the parable of the lost sheep. This lost shape endangers the livelyhood of the shepherd and the ability to provide for his family in the insula. Shepherds were considered unclean and the lowest of society. The family rejoices when the sheep is found because it is 'their' sheep too. And consider the coin of the woman. It is likely this is part of the woman's dowry, a gift from her father. It would be part of a group of ten such coins. So in essence she has lost one-tenth of her life insurance. Everyone has joined in the search AND celebration because they are in it together.

It has been noted that "Jesus used parables and Jesus was put to death. The two facts are related." Jesus offered a vision of pushing out from the harbor – to follow Jesus meant then and means now, that we are setting off on what one person termed a “dangerous endeavor” = a life focused on transformation not conformation in merely ritual and beliefs. The focus, always for Jesus is people and that should NEVER CHANGE no matter how many centuries we are removed from Jesus' incarnation as a human. Jesus was who we were created to be. To that end, Jesus in these parables pushes off from the dock in search of those who are lost at sea.

Martin Luther, the monk who founded the Lutheran church described it this way: A truly Christian work is it that we descend and get so mixed up in the mire of the sinner as deeply as he sticks there himself, taking his sin upon ourselves and floundering out of it with him...If you are proud toward the sinner and despise him, you are utterly damned. Why? They are family.

Tuesday this week I went home to my office to work. I walked in the door expecting to see our 6 month old kitten Zoe come bounding up to me, trying to sneak out of the house. Nothing. I called her. Nothing. I began looking in her napping spots. Nothing. I began a search through the house calling out her name, turning things over left and right. I went outside calling for her and her big brother hoping the two were together. Nothing. I was thinking the worst. When Heather arrived, she began retracing her steps from earlier and finally found Zoe in our daughter's closet.

I didn't want to be in a panic looking for our kitten but at the time, she became the focus – our home was incomplete. The fact is, we as a church, as THE CHURCH, are missing people. We are incomplete because we are missing people here that Jesus also has died for, we are being called to a dangerous endeavor of finding our missing family. It is a big ocean to be lost in out there.

What does that look like? It looks like we don't give up on people who've visited Crossroads. It looks like we don't give up on each other who are here at Crossroads. We keep inviting, we keep loving, we keep serving. We keep doing the simple things and avoid getting ourselves bogged down in miniscule things. We feed each other when we're sick. We help the poor. We teach our children. We focus a bit less on me and more on the we.

Until everyone turns to Jesus, the family isn't complete.

(1) referenced from Dr. J. Fleming's booklet: "The Parable of Jesus"

You Can't Do It!

2010-09-06T07:37:00.001-04:00

Luke 14:25-33 NASB Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, (26) "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. (27) "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. (28) "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? (29) "Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, (30) saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' (31) "Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? (32) "Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. (33) "So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

A while back Will Willimon, former Dean of the Chapel at Duke University and now Bishop in Alabama, got a call from an upset parent, a VERY upset parent. "I hold you personally responsible for this," he said. "Me?" Will asked.

The father was hot, upset because his graduate school bound daughter had just informed him that she was going to chuck it all ("throw it all away" was the way the father described it) and go do mission work with the Presbyterians in Haiti. "Isn't that absurd!" shouted the father. "A BS degree in mechanical engineering from Duke and she's going to dig ditches in Haiti."

"Well, I doubt that she's received much training in the Engineering Department here for that kind of work, but she's probably a fast learner and will probably get the hang of ditch-digging in a few months," Will said.

"Look," said the father, "this is no laughing matter. You are completely irresponsible to have encouraged her to do this. I hold you personally responsible," he said.

As the conversation went on, Dr. Wilimon pointed out that the well-meaning but obviously unprepared parents were the ones who had started this ball rolling. THEY were the ones who had her baptized, read Bible stories to her, took her to Sunday School, let her go with the Presbyterian Youth Fellowship to ski in Vail. Will said, "You're the one who introduced her to Jesus, not me."

"But all we ever wanted her to be was a Presbyterian," said the father, meekly. Hmm. (1)
I can recall a few of my own students from my youth ministry and their parents who had similar conversations with me.

It is almost a disservice to try and preach on these words of Jesus. It is almost arrogant of me to try and add anything to these words. We can say it is about counting the cost. We can talk about carrying our cross. BUT read between the lines – for I think it is in between the lines that Jesus is saying to us – get ready – you can't do it.

In Matthew's gospel we find the parallel where the words are just a bit different: Mat 10:37 "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. It is the same meaning – nothing comes between you and Jesus. But the truth is you can't do it.

Jesus isn't asking you to give up the worst things in life either. Revivals have loved to hear about those who gave up drugs or alcohol or promiscuity. But really, look at it, what is Jesus asking us to give up? The best things – the relationships and things that we say make life worth living. Do you understand? You can't do it.

Jesus is making people squirm. He isn't blessing the children right here. He isn't talking about feeding the poor. He isn't a consensus builder or a comforter. Jesus is thinning out the crowd. Follow me? You can't. You can't build the tower. You can't win the war.

When you know you can do it, then you obviously don't need Jesus.

When I began to follow Jesus, I left behind family – I would go where God sent. I left behind the ideas of “having it all.” My dad still worries about me.
What has it cost me to follow? It has cost me friends who are pastors. It has cost me friends who are Christians. It has cost me trust in my own denomination. It has cost me my health. It has cost me hair color for sure. BUT that is the point isn't it? What gets in the way has to go. It would all stop if I said I could do it.

Who is a successful Christian? What defines a successful follower of Jesus? Is it Hakuna Matata? Being in a mega-church? Is it being a pastor of a mega-church? Is it salary? Is it exemption from suffering? The truth of being a successful Christian? You get to die.

So just what is lost? I think in part it is this: Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. In these stories and parables – Jesus is on his way to the place where he will lose his own life for you and for me. He is on his way to do what we cannot do – save ourselves.

He takes fisherman and turns them into disciples
He takes Pharisees and turns them into authors of the Bible
He takes a monk and turns him into a Lutheran
He takes an Anglican and turns him into a Methodist
He take Duke Presbyterians and turns her into a missionary
He takes a youth pastor and turns him into Methodist pastor and then a new church start pastor

None of these changes took place because they could it but precisely because they couldn't or can't do it! As long as we tell God what we are to do then we can do it. If we can do it then we don't need Jesus. Oswald Chambers, author of the devotional “My Utmost for His Highest,” once said, "Abandon to God is of more value than personal holiness.... When we are abandoned to God, He works through us all the time."

What is it you're not abandoning? What is it that God is calling you to do that you are saying, “I can't!” That is the place he is most likely calling you.

(1) (David E. Leininger, Collected Sermons, Adapted from William Willimon, Pulpit Resources, September 10, 1995, p. 45.)

I'm Going Old School

2010-08-30T09:49:00.005-04:00

During the last few years I've done my own thing as has been the custom of many other clergy. It has been relatively easy to do so because there are today so many resources available for sermon series directed at "felt needs" in churches.

However, as I began reflecting on sermon planning for the coming year, I felt a particular draw away from that approach. As I have grown to question the motivations of my own heart this past year, I couldn't help but consider how my heart might also be impacting how and what I preach.

This has led me to go 'old school' and return to something called the Lectionary. More specifically, the Revised Common Lectionary. That doesn't mean I'm giving up on series preaching. In fact, from my experience, the Lectionary plan lends itself ideally to series preaching just not felt need preaching.

It is kind of like the signs I've seen one church posting around:

"Church for people who don't do church."

How about we do church for people who want to meet God?

Not the god of my "felt need" but the God of the Universe, the God of mystery who meets us in bread and juice and in the hands of the poor? I realize that there are three fingers pointing back at me as I point fingers here - I don't mind - that is exactly my point.

I'm going old school because I don't trust my heart - I don't trust my mind - I don't trust my instincts. Instead, I'm trusting the mystery of the Body of Christ, the CHURCH, with its flaws and mistakes but also filled with the mystery of tradition, reason, experience but ultimately, the Bible.

Two Invitations - Walking Wisely Week 8

2010-08-30T09:38:00.000-04:00

Proverbs 9:1-18
Wisdom has built her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars; (2) She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine; She has also set her table; (3) She has sent out her maidens, she calls From the tops of the heights of the city: (4) "Whoever is naive, let him turn in here!" To him who lacks understanding she says, (5) "Come, eat of my food And drink of the wine I have mixed. (6) "Forsake your folly and live, And proceed in the way of understanding." (7) He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, And he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself. (8) Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you. (9) Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser, Teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning. (10) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (11) For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you. (12) If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you alone will bear it. (13) The woman of folly is boisterous, She is naive and knows nothing. (14) She sits at the doorway of her house, On a seat by the high places of the city, (15) Calling to those who pass by, Who are making their paths straight: (16) "Whoever is naive, let him turn in here," And to him who lacks understanding she says, (17) "Stolen water is sweet; And bread eaten in secret is pleasant." (18) But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

I began this series by asking what Pastor Andy Stanley calls, “The Best Question Ever,” namely, “What is the wise thing to do?” The book of Proverbs is chocked full of answers to the best question. We're not interested in asking “What do I want to do?” “What is the good thing to do?” or even, “What is the best thing to do?” No, it is about the wise thing.

Pastor Carlyle Fielding passed on a family story that occurred when his dad was a young man. It seems the young man had gotten in to hanging with a group of guys that were not making wise decisions and were getting into trouble. His father cautioned him but the young man continued to ignore him. Finally, the father asked his son to join him in his study to pray for him (how often are you doing this?). After prayer, the father said to him, “I don't want you running with these guys anymore.” “But Dad,” said the boy, “I'm not better than they are.” The father replied, “I'm not saying you are better than they are. I am saying that you have a better opportunity to make something out of your life.” And it was a lesson he never forgot.

There are two voices that cry out – shout out – even scream out to us. Two invitations are given to us. Solomon tells us those two choices boil down to choosing the way of Lady Wisdom or the way of Mistress Folly.

Wisdom has prepared a beautiful home with seven pillars (9:1). This number 7 throughout scripture implies the idea of completeness and perfection. The book of James in the New Testament sharese (Jam_3:17)the wisdom from above is described as (1) pure, (2) peaceable, (3) gentle, (4) willing to yield, (5) full of mercy and good fruits, (6) without partiality and (7) without hypocrisy. She has got a huge tailgate party spread. It has got the best brisquit and barbque, the best drinks available (9:2). No one is going away hungry.

What does Lady Wisdom desire? Wisdom desires a hearing (9:3) and to that end, wisdom doesn't sit idly by. She goes to the high place and sends out the message to those who are simple (9:4-6). Her promise is wisdom and understanding to those who fear and know God (9:10). Long life is found in wisdom (9:12). The way of wisdom is the BEST LIFE POSSIBLE!!!

But the voice of wisdom has a rival louder and more tempting. She has built nothing as is absent from the descriptions of her. She sits in the doorway or sits at the high place in the city. Believer's Bible Commentary describes her as “loudmouthed, empty-headed and brazen faced.” Another translation says of her that she is “loud, seductive and knows nothing. (ESV). God's Word Translation drops the description “folly” and says, “The woman Stupidity is loud, gullible, and ignorant.”

Folly is tempting – it sounds incredibly like what we want to be seen as in our day and age. But there is an interesting piece here in these words you may or may not have noted. You see, Mistress Folly is 'naïve.' Have you heard that before? Of course, she is no different from those she is calling to! Isn't it interesting that the word the world uses to describe people who follow after Jesus Christ - “naive” is the same word used by the Solomon to describe the world?

Did you hear about the controversy this week regarding Ms. Philippians at the Ms. Universe pagent? She grew up in hut with a dirt floor and no electricity. She worked her way through college. When asked about a major mistake in her life she said she hadn't made any. I listened as the guy on the radio, a member of a more “Open-minded” generation dismissed her answer as being a lie. Really? Did you know that same Hebrew word for naïve can also be translated - “Open-minded?”

The naïve, the silly, the simple calls to the simple and promises much! Stolen pleasures that are enjoyed in secret. They are no more than false promises.

I once met in the woods a former sheep dog. We struck up a conversation. Over the course of the conversation he shared with me how he recently became unemployed. It seemed a pack of coyotes lurked near a sheep pasture. But the dogs kept them at a distance and the sheep grazed safely. But the coyotes planned long and hard. From a distance out hearing of the dogs, the coyotes called out, “why is there always this hostility between us? We are wise and we know you are a simple minded and we have wanted to share our knowledge with you. But it is those dogs who are always stirring up trouble! Send them away and we will be good friends.” Well you can imagine where this is going, the dogs pleaded with the sheep not to send them away. The warned them but the sheep insisted. That evening the coyotes had the grandest feast of their lives.

The promise of Mistress Folly is hidden from the simple. In fact as I said, she her self is simple minded. A fairly accurate translation is that her home is a haunted house and it is the way of death. She promises much but the life she delivers is the worst possible.

It is a book seen as simple wisdom but then the best question is the same – what is the wise thing to do? Jesus said Mat 7:24 NASB "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Tell me church, tell me friends – after you have heard the call of the wise and the foolish, which way will you walk?

Riddle Me This - Walking Wisely Week 7

2010-08-25T09:37:00.000-04:00

Pro 1:5-9 NKJV A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, (6) To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles. (7) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction. (8) My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother; (9) For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck.

There is a mystery here in Atlanta. It may not have run across your mind but there are some who have pondered it through the years. It surrounds manager Bobby Cox, his success in winning but also the impact of breaking the record of being tossed out more than any manager in Major League History. Sports Illustrated did a feature on the Bobby as he approaches retirement. Chipper Jones has certainly fueled a great deal of speculation. The article reveals some of the mysteries surrounding Bobby. I'll admit, I've never been a fan of Bobby Cox but I believe that I have come in part to understand the real mystery. You see, it isn't the impact on games one or lost that is the issue. No, if you want to know the real mystery of why it is this incredible manager has been thrown out so many it is the loyalty it has bred in the players who have played for him through these many years.

I'm fairly certain we each carry with us a list of mysteries that dwell in the back of our minds. For instance the one that has most troubled me, why do we park on driveways and drive on parkways? Yours I'm certain are deeper than mine – I just tend to the simple.

Yet at the beginning of Proverbs, Solomon notes that one of the pieces of concern, one of the central things that the book intends to address is helping those who desire wisdom to understand the riddles of life. Nowhere in Proverbs are riddles more pronounced than in the words of Agur son of Jakeh. His riddles are found in chapter 30 and reflect a totally different style of writing and wisdom than in the previous work.

The word riddle in the Hebrew, reflects the idea of satire. In a sense it is making a mockery – sarcasm possibly. Not surprisingly I think, the writer opens his lists with a work of mockery towards those who do evil.

The Riddle Of Evil Doers: Proverbs 30:11-14
Pro 30:11-14 NKJV There is a generation that curses its father, And does not bless its mother. (12) There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, Yet is not washed from its filthiness. (13) There is a generation—oh, how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up. (14) There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, And whose fangs are like knives, To devour the poor from off the earth, And the needy from among men.

As we read those words, I imagine we begin to form pictures of people and situations we've been in ourselves. But we'd me at fault ourselves if we did not ask, “What is the wise the thing to do?” You see the danger in a riddle or an enigma is how quickly it mocks not someone else but the reader. Regarding verse 12 a Rabbi once noted "If there are only two righteous men in the world, I and my son are the two. If only one, I am he."

It is not far from the scenario which played out before Jesus where the Pharisees attempted to carry out the death sentence on a woman caught in adultery. Jesus played in the dirt while they waited. When he spoke, his riddle was this, “He who doesn't have sin, you cast the first stone.” He went back to his drawing and all of the accusers went away. May I ask, what answers do you to these riddles of Agur in your life? (Pause)

The other point that comes through is the role of parables in Proverbs. These tend to often come out in the form of analogy and story. Of all the section which seems most applicable in my mind is Agur's 'Riddle of the Little.' In our world, so focused on big and shiny, Agur contrasts the wisdom of small things...

The Riddle Of Little: Proverbs 30:24-28
Pro 30:24-28 NKJV There are four things which are little on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise: (25) The ants are a people not strong, Yet they prepare their food in the summer; (26) The rock badgers are a feeble folk, Yet they make their homes in the crags; (27) The locusts have no king, Yet they all advance in ranks; (28) The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, And it is in kings' palaces.

The use of grouping ideas in threes and fours is found in literature throughout the Ancient Near East. It seems to have been beneficial in sharing thoughts and ideas with their students. But it tells of something more, namely, the evidence of God's design in the world around us. In this way, we come back around to Job and the examination of Job by God.

While such knowledge is good and has it's purpose, for us again, we must ask of ourselves, “What is the wise thing to do with these words?” To that I would look at the writer's intent – what wisdom is here for us? When you look at the ants or feel that bite on your foot, remember to be planning ahead. The timid rock badger makes a wise choice to hide where enemies do not find them. The locust, like a massive army, work in unison. And what about the spider who does it's skillful work – do you take note of it?

I have to wonder, as a young man, did Jesus not find this wisdom literature fascinating? The wise thing to note too, is how Jesus brought parables to the forefront of his teaching – alerting and pointing us to reality of God's Kingdom surrounding us, just as Proverbs did. What do I mean?
Mat 13:31-32 NASB He [Jesus] presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; (32) and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES."

“Proverbs is the scrapbook of common grace.” from Charles G. Martin. This is the way of God. Not in the grandiose. Not in vulgar displays. Not in extravagance. Just as the way of wisdom is found in the little, so to the Kingdom of God.Jesus – God of the Common. He was found NOT in palaces & with kings BUT with the poor & kicked around. He didn't speak to his disciples about being leaders BUT being loving. He didn't encourage followers to live a lavish lifestyle BUT to be looking at the Little. Jesus known not for doing BIG things but for doing the HARD things. The riddle is what has Christianity become known for and what is it that Jesus said we should be known for?

Who Gets To Judge?

2010-08-19T09:49:00.005-04:00

I'm in so many ways a son of the South. I have lived most of my life in Mississippi, North Carolina and Georgia with a few stops elsewhere. I have lived and ministered among those who still use the N-word in everyday language and I have counted upon and put my trust in my brothers in Christ who are of African-American descent.

It has long been my desire to visit the King Center here in Atlanta and this summer, our family set our sights on making that happen. I have not read as widely as I'd like on Dr. King though I've read probably more than most. What I am most often struck by in the writings of so many is the absolute lack of recognition of the deep faith and the sermons of Dr. King which speak so forcefully of his trust in Jesus Christ.

So, during our time at the King Center, I looked for copies of sermons, of the messages of Dr. King, those rarely mentioned words inspired by God's Spirit. I managed to find two. I'll admit I was disappointed but I bought them and took them home. They've sit to the side now for a couple of weeks.

Now my own journey has taken me into the time that St. John of the Cross termed, “the dark night of the soul.” I have read his works and others on the role of suffering and pain in the life of the Christian. My own theology of suffering is being shaped in these many months and I've come to a recognition that our understanding of suffering in western Christianity is tragically underdeveloped. It barely hangs on life support, neglected and withered.

The times of dark nights are, in my estimation, misunderstood or more tragically, seen as weak faith. To read and hear Dr. King though, I come across one who both lived in times of dark nights and found there, the chance to face what God intends there – the places we need work.

As I rolled out of bed this week, I knocked those CDs off my bedside table. There, on the top, was the sermon, “Judging Others.” That signaled all to clearly a piece of my own soul that myself and others close to me, have found themselves dealing with lately.

Dr. King begins with the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:1 saying, "Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” He goes on to share how Jesus modeled that with the woman caught in adultery, with Peter, the disciple who denied him, and Zacchaeus, the “wee-little man in the sycamore tree.” He added to it his own stories of trying to live out this command of Jesus in the face racism. He also shared of the conflict within the black community regarding the tension over non-violent protest or violent activism.

At the end of the sermon, Dr. King drives home the application points, questions which drive to the heart of the matter. We should ask these of ourselves in any and all situations where we might speak regarding others. Dr. King quotes from Dr. Alexander White, that before we speak we should ask:

1. Is it true?
2. Is it necessary?
3. Is it kind?

“If you can answer these three questions you can go out here and talk about anybody you want to talk about. When you answer these you come to a love of humanity. You don't judge too easily for in the process of judging, you judge yourself. As I come to my conclusion, our job is to be like Jesus.”

No, it isn't Martin Luther King Jr. Day but then wisdom doesn't ever call it in. Neither did Dr. King. Neither should the followers of Jesus.

From Bling To Blessing - Walking Wisely Week 6

2010-08-17T08:57:00.001-04:00

Proverbs 11:23-31

Did you know that at one time generosity was illegal in Santa Cruz, California? That's right. Pastor Billy Strayhorn noted that about fifteen years ago, it was illegal for someone to put money in other people's parking meters without their permission. The practice called "plugging coins" was considered an illegal act by Santa Cruz municipal code. The fine for a parking violation was $12.00. The penalty "plugging" thirteen dollar.
Mr. Twister whose real name is Cory McDonald, is a professional clown and balloon twister, who has spared many car owners in Santa Cruz, California the misery of that twelve dollar parking ticket by putting quarters in their expired parking meters. After several warnings, Mr. Twister was ticketed for his random acts of illegal kindness. However, he refused to stop doing what he considers "doing to others as he would have them do to him."
But there is justice. In a strange twist, the news media got hold of the story and pretty soon Mr. Twister was being interviewed by CNN and nearly every news organization in the US. Letters from children all over the country began pouring into Santa Cruz City offices. Other clowns got into the act. Bumper stickers were created.
Mr. Twister became a local and national hero.
His acts of kindness prevailed. Declaring the law a "public relationship disaster," the Santa Cruz City Council took emergency action to yank the law from the books immediately. In an effort to show their support and their chagrin, each member of the City Council, along with the mayor, donned red clown noses and beeped their vote of approval.
Rather than see his Benjamins and Bling as something to aquire and protect, Mr. Twister saw it as a blessing and a chance to bless.

I am not a fan of clowns but I am a fan of this one! His story speaks to the heart of Proverbs on being wise with our bling. Yes – Proverbs speaks to gaining wealth and Yes – it speaks on the issues of poverty and Yes – it speaks on dangers of greed. John Wesley neatly sums this up in the sermon on “The Use of Money”. He laid out the foundational understanding that a believer should, “Having first, gained all you can, and, Secondly saved all you can, Then give all you can.”

But if all we dwell on is gaining and saving and avoiding greed – if this is what we take away from God's Word – on Solomon's wisdom then may God have mercy for we are clowns and jesters in the court and are making a mockery of the blessings of God and considering it merely our bling.

The issue at hand is not about giving money to the church – the issue is the condition of your heart. These aren't my words but the words of Solomon. This section begins and ends with a reference to those who are “Righteous.” A person who is righteous is in line with God's character for God is just/righteous as noted in the words of Job: "Shall mortal man be more just [righteous] than God?" (Job_4:1). On our own can we be righteous? The Bible clearly says no but it also makes clear that one of God's deepest desires is for his children to follow in His way. Over and over, the Bible identifies, describes, shows and demonstrates it is the nature of God to be generous. So to with His followers.

There are unfortunately barriers that come to us all – verses 27-29 identify that there are those who go after evil and when they do so they will find the results destructive. When it comes to finances and greed, such desire will damage even a family. Bankruptcy and tax evasion are two that I have seen in ministry that have damaged families, some irreprably.

When that damage occurs in the church, the family of God suffers harm and it calls into question whether the church is trustworthy. I know there are those who come here who carry wounds caused by churches. I know many of your stories related to this so you may think at this moment I am talking directly to you – and I am – but “you” are a whole lot of people.

It is hard not to hold back when we've been hurt in any relationship. But Solomon in his wisdom noted the danger in verse (24) that, “One person spends freely and yet grows richer, while another holds back what he owes and yet grows poorer.” Be it our estate or our soul, when we lack generosity we will know poverty. And so I ask the question, when it comes to generosity, what is the wise thing to do?

But Ken, that poor guy could get a job, why should I give? But Ken, I was in a church that abused my financial gifts? There valid questions – good questions but not the best because the wise question has to do with our souls. And the wise hear that we need not be irresponsible with our bling but turn it into blessing.

In 1731 Wesley began to limit his expenses so that he would have more money to give to the poor. He records that one year his income was 30 pounds and his living expenses 28 pounds, so he had 2 pounds to give away. The next year his income doubled, but he still managed to live on 28 pounds, so he had 32 pounds to give to the poor. In the third year, his income jumped to 90 pounds. When he died in 1791, the only money mentioned in his will was the miscellaneous coins to be found in his pockets and dresser drawers. Most of the 30,000 pounds he had earned in his lifetime he had given away.

Wesley wasn't tithing. Tithing is the Bible's understanding of the minimum we ought to be giving to God. Generosity means we're talking above the 10 percent! Now you may say God has no right to ask that but if you believe God is God, and you are alive and have breath and are here then you are blessed. We all tithe to our mechanic, to our mortgage lender, to the grocery store – they tell us the cost – we give the minimum.

My words are a poor expression of all that I feel toward what God has given me. But the life that I now live following cancer and depression has strengthened my understanding of the generosity of God. If God only gave the minimum to us, we might have an argument. Look at it this way [says Paul in Romans 5:6-10] At the right time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for ungodly people. (7) Finding someone who would die for a godly person is rare. Maybe someone would have the courage to die for a good person. (8) Christ died for us while we were still sinners. This demonstrates God's love for us. (9) Since Christ's blood has now given us God's approval, we are even more certain that Christ will save us from God's anger. (10) If the death of his Son restored our relationship with God while we were still his enemies, we are even more certain that, because of this restored relationship, the life of his Son will save us.