The Separation of Church and Hate

To begin with I want to state clearly that I think that any church protesting at a child's funeral because the state they live in supports gay marriage is horrible.  I think that the Wesboro Baptist Church protesting at the funerals of twenty murdered children is no less than evil.  That being said, I have serious qualms about one of the ways my friends on the Internet are fighting back.

I received an invitation to sign a petition that is being sent to the President that asks him to declare the Westboro Baptist Church a hate organization, therefore taking away their rights as a church.  I agree that something has to be done.  Someone should sit them down and talk to them about the all loving and all forgiving savior that they say they follow, but President Obama is not the person to do it.

Before you get up in arms, I am not making some kind of critique of the President.  I am saying that it is not the President's job to determine what is a valid church and what is not.  You may have heard of a concept called the separation of church and state.  Even though it is tossed around for some silly reasons (your kid can't pray over his lunch, that is a violation of the separation of church and state, or some such silly complaints...) this is what the separation of church and state was made for.  The government doesn't have the right to tell a church whether it is a legitimate church or not.  There are many churches out there that probably were not formed for the right reasons, but the government can't make that decision.  In fact, really, only God can tell what is in the heart and make that call.

Even though I would not be sad to see hate mongering churches go the way of the Dodo, government determination would be the wrong way to go.  Just imagine for a moment that President Obama is so enraged that someone would be that hateful as to harm the families grieving over their babies, and decides to ratify your petition.  OK, he decides to say that church is not a church but a hate group.  How many other petitions would follow?  You know how well all we religious brothers and sisters get along.  How long would it be before one church asks for another to be declared not a church?

In my first call, I was in a really small southern town.  Our little Presbyterian church was proud to have a female associate pastor, so every time I preached they would put my name and sermon title on their message board.  So, every time I preached the local Church of Christ, which had it's own radio program at noon on Sunday, would preach about how evil the Presbyterian church was because they let a woman speak in church.  We were all going to hell, etc...  That was hateful and directed specifically at me!  However, I would not ever dare ask anyone to invalidate their ministry.  They still fed the hungry, and did their best.  OK, yes, I think they had some serious things wrong with their theology, but as I have said before, we are ALL sinful people.  We all hold wrong ideas.  We all make mistakes.  As my brother's bumper sticker in High School read, "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven."

And then a really scary thought:  My own denomination is very divided over the ordination and marriage of homosexuals.  Every time it comes up both sides threaten to leave the denomination if they don't get their way.  What if the government could tell a church whether or not it was a church.  One side would argue that the other is theologically wrong and shouldn't be a church.  The other side could say that their opponents were prejudiced and hateful.  Aren't those the same accusations against the Westboro Baptist church?  I know, and love, and minister to people on both sides of this argument.  I strongly believe that one side is wrong, but that doesn't make them not Christians.  It doesn't make them any less our brothers and sisters.  One day Jesus will correct us all where we have wrong, hateful, or prejudice thoughts.  One day Jesus will return and fix the mess that we have made of the church and religion, but we are very arrogant if we say that WE can determine which churches should and should not exist.

By all means tell anyone you know who would be hateful enough to picket funerals that they need to have a long talk with Jesus about love and forgiveness.  Make your voice heard on the Internet, or TV, or wherever you can.  But please don't have emotional knee jerk reactions.  That is what the hatemongers are doing.  A petition to the President is not going to accomplish anything, nor is it the wise way to deal with the problem.  To be honest I don't know what the wise thing is.  Actually, I think it is hilarious that hackers keep attacking their web site and twitter account.  Maybe that is the answer.

What I do know is the Christian response should be to shower those families that lost their children (or wives, or husbands, or parents) with the love of God.  Support them.  Uphold them.  Send cards, e-mails, flowers and let them know that they are loved.  That is what will combat the evil and hate of the narrow minded.  Drown out their hate with love.

Grace and Peace to all of you!

Slow Down and Smell the Pine

It has been a couple of weeks since my last blog.  Christmas is coming and things have been crazy! We have a Cantata and Christmas Eve service to plan at church, the tree, presents, and decorations at home.  Don't forget to bake cookies for the cookie exchange.  In the midst of that the boys have plays and concerts at school.  It is enough to make your head spin.

So, how come we celebrate the coming of peace on earth by getting crazy?  Shouldn't Christmas bring calm and peace?  Shouldn't we take time to sit and quietly contemplate the lights and the tree and what they represent?

Well, maybe we should consider what the first Christmas was like.  Caesar decided to have a census so everyone had to travel to the home of their ancestors.  Joseph had to take a very pregnant, teenage Mary cross country on a donkey.  Why?  So that they could be taxed properly!  (So don't complain about sitting on your chair having to do your taxes online!  You don't have to travel for miles in the cold via donkey to get your tax info.)

When they got to Bethlehem it was NOT peaceful.  The town was completely packed with people who were probably grumpy about having to travel to be taxed, too.  On the plus side, since most of them came from that town, there was probably a lot of family reunion stuff going on.  Any of you who have a big family reunion know that it is fun, but peaceful doesn't always describe it.  OK, sitting on the porch by the fire at Darlene's is peaceful as long as its not too cold, but Amy and her water balloons, not so much!

So baby Jesus was born in a manger to exhausted parents.  Oh, and the "no crying he makes" is not from the Bible.  God came down to be human for us, to experience what it is to be human.  Jesus cried and needed diapers changed.  Any of you who are parents know that having a new baby is anything but peaceful.

So if we are not celebrating peace, what are we celebrating?  To quote C3PO from the Star Wars Christmas album (because it is ohhh so theologically correct...)  "We have a day when love came to stay."  Love came down at Christmas. 

Christmas is the day that "For God so loved the world that He sent his only begotten Son" happened.  The thought that an all powerful and all knowing God would love us enough to come down and be one of us is mind blowing.  God loved us enough to want to know what it is like to be us.  God loved us enough to suffer and die to pay for our sins.  That should make us want to turn into one giant flash mob singing "Joy to the World."

I would love to have a peaceful Christmas, but I will settle for a joyful Christmas full of love and loved ones.  Maybe once I retire we can have a peaceful Christmas... except that we might have grandchildren to spoil...

Whatever your situation I wish you love and joy this Christmas, and to those who need it most - peace!

For Our Four Footed Friends

      Today, I will have to take one of our family dogs to the vet to stay overnight and have surgery in the morning.  When I think about asking for prayer requests it reminded me of several church members over the course of my ministry that seemed embarrassed or apologized for asking for prayers for their family pet.  I don't think that you should ever apologize for wanting prayers for a member of your family, even if they have four feet and fur (or even feathers or scales.)

     Our pets are God's creatures, created with care and love.  They bring love and joy to our homes, which I think are two of God's greatest gifts.  They love and trust us unconditionally, even when we don't always deserve it.  We could learn to be better people and better Christians if we could love and trust like our pets.

     So why are some people embarrassed or afraid to pray for their four footed family members?  I think my college Sunday School teacher gave me one example (a bad example in my opinion.)  I don't remember what brought the topic up, but our teacher made the statement,"You won't see your dog in heaven, because animals don't go to heaven.  They don't have souls."  First off, I believe strongly that he was wrong and so did the rest of the class.  We argued with him for the whole hour.  His main argument was that in the creation story God only breathed life into humans, that gave us a soul...  That is not what that says.  God's breath gave us life.  The soul is not mentioned there at all.  In fact the Bible doesn't say one way or another whether animals have a soul.  The only thing it says in the creation story is that when God made them, God said that they were good.

     OK, so NOWHERE in the Bible does it say either way that my dogs will or will not be in heaven.  That doesn't mean that they won't.  It means that we haven't been up there to see for ourselves.

      So, here is some things that I think about when I consider the furry members of my family who have passed on.  In the End, God will be giving us a new heaven and a new earth.  That IS in the Bible.  God will be recreating things like they were before sin.  There were animals in the garden in the beginning, so why wouldn't they be in the kingdom in the end.  In fact it says that the lamb will lie down with the lion, and a child will play safely over the adder's den.  Yes, I know that this is metaphor, not literal, but it does mention animals being in the kingdom.  Many of the Psalms also talk about ALL of creation praising God.  Is God going to just ignore that praise?

     My second thought is what a waste it would be.  God spent a lot of effort creating all the wonderful variety of life that we find here on earth.  So, are we just going to assume that in the end God is just going to toss out 99.9% of creation and just keep, what, us and the angels.  That would be kind of a boring way for God to spend the rest of eternity don't you think?  This is also my argument for life on other planets, but that is a discussion for another day.

     So, I believe that these loving, trusting, beautiful creations of our God will be there in heaven.  Heaven is supposed to be a place of light, love, joy, and praise.  To me it would be so much more joyful with out kitties winding about our ankles, our dogs faithfully by our sides, and while I am at it, the dolphins happily frolicking and squeaking their praise.

     Please pray for Snoopy and his surgery tomorrow (Nov. 27).  And while you are at it remember to pray for your friends who have lost a four footed family member.  Don't be ashamed to pray for the pets that you love, because love comes from God!

Blessings

On Being a Gracious Winner and Reconcilliation

     When I was little and learning to play Candy Land, Uno, and Go Fish I would get very excited when I won.  I would laugh and squeal and clap my hands.  So my mother pulled me aside and said, "Honey, you are playing with your friends.  How do you think it feels for them when you act like this when you win?"  The answer of course was that it makes them feel bad.  So, I learned to say, "Nice game" and shake hands and be a gracious winner.

     Now, I have been very careful to try not to take political sides during this campaign, because of my 319 "friends" and family on Facebook they are almost 50/50 liberal and conservative.  I try to be sensitive so that I will not hurt the feelings of those I care about.  Last night showed that our country is divided about the same.  The popular vote was almost exactly 50/50.  Our nation has never been so divided.

     President Obama in his acceptance speech last night showed that his mother (or whomever taught him how to play well with others) taught him how to be a gracious winner.  He complemented Romney on a good race.  He talked about working together and reconciliation.  So I went to Facebook this morning hopeful.  Unfortunately, not everyone listened to Obama's speech...

     I was actually very surprised at where the mean and hateful stuff was coming from.  My conservative family and friends were quietly reflective.  They talked about all things working out for good for those who love the Lord, and God wiping away their tears.  But I was saddened and discouraged by many of my more liberal family and friends.  (Those of you who are being good winners about this, I am sorry.  I am not talking to you, but you should be as embarrassed by your colleagues as I am!)  My feed was filled with pictures of Big Bird, comments about freeing binders full of women, and mean, snarky comments like "Ding Dong, the witch is dead."  I don't think this is what is going to bring about reconciliation to our divided nation.

     What worries me is not that they are being really poor winners, but that the comments infer that because they disagree the other side must be either stupid or evil.  As I said in a Facebook post yesterday, these are your brothers and sister.  They disagree with you politically, that doesn't make them evil.  Name calling and gloating is not the way to reconcile with someone you disagree with.  Neither is (as one of my liberal friends suggested this morning) dividing the country down the middle and letting the two parties become two countries and go their separate ways.

     Now, I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings, but if we really want to heal our nation, we need to remember a couple of things.  The second greatest commandment is "to LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."  When asked, Jesus told a story saying that showed a Samaritan, a hated person of a different race, culture, and political view was the neighbor Jesus was talking about.  We are called to love our neighbor. 

     If you really truly see the opposing party as the enemy and evil, here is a word for you.  Luke 6:27ff  But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

     There needs to be some loving, doing good, blessing, and praying on both sides of this fight this morning.  We are still one Nation under God.  We need to forgive, and try to accept each other in spite of our differences if our country is going to begin to move forward again.  I am basically a peacemaker at heart, and I will be praying for all of my family and friends both conservative and liberal to find a peaceful path TOGETHER.

Grace and Peace...

On Fidelity

They were passing around a great picture on the web yesterday, maybe you saw it.  It was a picture of the soldiers guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the pouring rain.  The caption explained that these brave souls were going to stay faithfully at their post no matter how bad Hurricane Sandy got.  They risked their safety, probably got completely soaked, for their calling.  That is fidelity!

As Christians we are called to be faithful.  So why are the pews empty when it rains, or when it's cold, or when there was a big game or party the night before.  We could stand to learn something from the honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  It is considered one of the highest honors in the military to be chosen to guard the tomb.  We have been chosen by God to represent the body of Christ on earth...  Shouldn't that be the biggest honor there is?  Shouldn't that make us want to be more faithful?

For the next couple of weeks our lectionary gives us readings from the book of Ruth.  This is an amazing little book.  If you haven't ever read it, look it up.  It is only a few pages long.  In the Old Testament there is a Hebrew word, Hesed.  It means unending, faithful, love.  It is often used for God's faithful love of us.  It is not often used for humanity.  One of the few times the word Hesed is used to show a human showing God like love is here in Ruth.  Ruth gives up her way of life, he country, and her gods to go with her mother-in-law back to Israel.  She loved Naomi too much to leave her.  How many of us would be that faithful to our Mother-in-law?

Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbors.  We are called to show Hesed, faithful, unending, Godlike love.  Most of us have trouble showing this kind of love to God, let alone to our neighbors. 

The honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier risked way more than just getting wet to show their faithfulness.  What do we risk to show Hesed to those we come in contact with every day?

Blessings!

Drowning in Minutia

There is an old story about a college professor that brings in an empty jar and jars with rocks, pebbles, and sand.  He asks his class if they think that he can get all three jars full of stuff into the one empty jar.  They of course say no way.  He lets one of them try it.  They put in the sand first and there is barely room for any pebbles, let alone the rocks.  The the professor shows them.  He puts in the rocks first.  They are the important things, God, love, family, education, a job.  Then, he asks if they think more will fit.  He then pours in all the pebbles.  The fall down in the cracks around the rocks.  These are semi important things like hobbies.  Then, he pours in all of the sand, and it fills in all the cracks between the pebbles.  The sand is the unimportant things. 

There is room for everything in our lives, but only if we take care of the important things first.  I think that our society has gotten so used to focusing on the grains of sand that we are bumping what is important.  I look at what the headlines are and shudder.  Is what celebrities have speeding or DUI arrests really the most important thing going on in the world today?  I know that who gets custody of Michael Jackson's kids is one of the big things to them, but should it be one of our rocks or should it be sand?

I can't wait for the election to be over!  This is where I think that we are actually drowning in minutia.  After the debate last night they actually counted how many times each candidate insulted or called the other a name.  With all the important "rocks" we need to think and decide about, all the media is giving us is "sand."  You know what?  Both candidates are human.  Both candidates are sinful.  Both candidates truly believe that they know what is best for the country.  Is it more important to know where they stand on the issues or whether or not they color their hair?

Confession time:  I color my hair.  I consider this to be a grain of sand thing.  It makes me happy, but the world would not come to an end if I stopped.  The fact that I color my hair doesn't tell you anything about who I am, what I believe in, what is important to me.  It is irrelevant to who I really am. 

I think we need to start insisting on getting "rocks" first.  Remember, that when we start with the rocks, that there will still be plenty of room for pebbles and sand.  (Although if there isn't room for Justin Bieber's latest haircut, I think I will live.) 

Jesus knew that we were prone to worry about not only big things, but all the silly little things too.  Here is his advice from Mathew 6:25-34.

25

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you

will drink,or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food,
and the body more than clothing? 
Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap
nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more
value than they?

27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?

28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field,

how they grow; they neither toil nor spin,

29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.

 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you--you of little faith?

31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we

drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’  

32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

33 But strive first for the kingdom of God

and his righteousness, and all these things will

be given to you as well. 

34

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.

Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Musings on the Bacon Shortage

OK, I don't know if you heard the news story that because of this years drought there was not enough pig feed, so that next year there will be fewer pigs.  One farmer even went as far as feeding his pigs gummy bears to supplement there feed.  (Hey, that would make the part about the Prodigal Son wanting to eat what he was feeding the pigs have a very different twist!  But I digress....)

So the news media is predicting a bacon shortage next year.  That would not have been a problem for Jesus or his disciples, because of course they were Jewish and forbidden to eat pork products.  We , however, are descendants of Gentile Christians, and thanks to Paul did not have to follow all of the Jewish cleanliness regulations to convert.  So we can eat bacon to our heart's content, which is very good news to the men in my house.

Our Family eats bacon at least once a week when we do breakfast for dinner, and I was happy to find that bacon really isn't that bad for my diet.  Two pieces are only 70 calories.  So a bacon shortage is going to make our household very sad.  But as I read and heard people whine about the bacon shortage it made me think about how faithful was that response...

There will still be bacon.  It will just be more expensive next year.  Our family will probably still buy it just as often and "eat" the price increase.  We may have to switch from name brand to generic, but we will not go without.  But what about those who can't afford bacon or many other foods that we consider staples.  There are so many hungry people in the world, even here in our own communities.  The DeSoto Food Bank has been desperate.  Because of the economy the number of people needing food each week has grown and the number of people donating has shrunk.  They run completely out of rice, beans, and peanut butter every week.

Those of us who can afford to put food on our tables shouldn't complain or whine.  We have been blessed!  We need to be very thankful and not take for granted how much we are blessed.  But between the drought and the economy, many of our brothers and sisters are suffering.  God created enough food for everyone if we are just willing to share.  So, while our budget is still OK, I am trying to pick up something for the food pantry every time I go to the grocery.  I get peanut butter, or beans, or rice, or pasta, or canned goods for the food pantry.  So often we overlook the fact that we have food, clean water, clothes to wear, and a roof over our head.  Many people don't.  So in your daily prayers, thank God for what you have been blessed with, and in your daily lives, ask what you can do to be a blessing to others.

Peace.

Preaching like a Pirate???

In honor of "Talk Like A Pirate Day" some suggested that I preach like a pirate with all the arghs and avast mateys.  Although I think the youth would like it, most of the church would probably want to make me walk the plank.  (Into the drink with yer...)  But it did make me think about how we communicate the gospel.

Many arguments have been made that we need to "dechurch" our language to attract Spiritual seekers who want to find God, but have been turned off by the church.  They have a point.  We use words in our worship that are not used in common culture.  That is why we keep re-translating the Bible.  It is only Good News if they can understand it.  The opposition's argument is that if they can learn to order a "grande, decaf, Carmel machiato cappuccino" at Starbucks (also words that are not in common use in regular society) then they should be able to learn terms like lectionary, intinction, and epistle.

For the most part I try to write my sermons and my prayers in the same way I talk.  I take to heart the advice of my preaching professor, "If you preach above the heads of your middle schoolers, then you have probably lost half the adults, too.  Now, I do not dumb down my sermons.  I believe that our youth are smarter than we give them credit for.  But I try to use everyday language.  If I want to talk about a Hebrew or Greek word, I define it first.  I have heard sermons that could have been used as doctoral thesis, and even though I could understand them, I want to know who they were trying to impress?

The core of the Gospel (Which means the Good News, by the way) can be summarized in the preschool song, "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so."  That is what we need to get across...  If we suddenly had an influx of Caribbean pirates, then I would not be adverse to  singing, "Jesus, loves ye, argh, ye kin..."  On World Communion Sunday I invite church members who speak another language to participate in their native tongue.  I am all for Christian music being written to Rap or Techno beats.  (I would prefer not to listen to Rap for long, but I understand that it reaches some people that I can't.)

So, the neighborhood around the church is changing.  We need to listen to and pay attention to their language if we want to reach out with the Good News.  Shiver me timbers, that can be a terrifying thought.  Some of ye would probably rather face the Kracken than change the decent and in order way that we have always done things. 

But here is one last parting thought to chew on.  Where are Presbyterian Churches the strongest?  In Korea, Several African Countries, and on Native American Reservations the Presbyterian church is thriving.  It is growing in Latin America.  Where our church is thriving is where we HAD to learn to speak their language and relate to people in their culture.  Our culture in the US is changing.  Our language in the US is changing.  Our church needs to learn to speak that language if we are to survive.  (On a lighter note:  The Spell check had as much trouble with our Presbyterian liturgical language as the pirate speak!)

Love an peace

Musings on 9-11

I think that most Americans get reflective on September 11th.  It was truly a day where the Holy Spirit had to intercede and pray for us for our cries were too deep for words.  It was a day of deep sorrow, but also a day of great compassion.  The firefighters and rescue workers risked their very lives to give compassion and comfort to the victims.  People all over the country gave of themselves to ease the suffering in New York and Washington.  I waited in a long line to give blood only to be turned away because they had run out of room to store it.

People made a point to check on friends and loved ones.  America crossed denominational and religious lines to all pray together.  In one of our darkest hours we all tried to be the people God created us to be.  People didn't identify themselves as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans.  We didn't complain about partisan politics getting in the way of the relief effort, but we all asked, "What can I do?"

It's eleven years later and we are back to picking at each other and back biting.  Innocents are still dying in movie theater shootings and attacks on religious services.  Where is our unity?  Where is our compassion?  We sit here complaining about politics and what the politicians aren't doing, instead of asking, "What can I do?"

OK, I know, we are sinful, selfish human beings.  We get tired of being good all the time.  But today as we remember all who died on 9-11, let us also remember the glimpse of the kingdom that it gave us.  Remember the love and compassion that we had for our neighbors and even strangers.  Remember the sense of unity in the midst of our diversity.  Remember the desire to be a part of the solution instead of the problem.

Pray today that we can be the compassionate, giving, accepting, and loving people that we were in September of 2001.  We reflected Jesus that day.  It is closer to the people we were created to be.  Take cookies to your local fire fighters.  Give blood.  I personally bought more peanut butter for the food pantry.  We honor the fallen better when we "Love our neighbors as ourselves."

Peace!

When It Is "One of Those Days"

I had a day yesterday that would have made old Murphy proud.  I don't think there was much more that could go wrong; dogs escaping, a sick child, bad news from family members.  It was one of those days where you didn't know whether to scream, pull your hair out, or (as it usually is in my case) sit down and cry.  How as Christians do we deal with "One of Those Days?"

As a Presbyterian, I believe in a Sovereign God, but that doesn't mean that God purposely orchestrates every car that cuts you off, every light that turns yellow, or any of the other bigger things that seem bent on ruining your day.  God loves us and has our best interests at heart.  That doesn't mean that God is going to make you remember to shut the fence gate, or keep some kid from sneezing his germs on yours, or keep us from destructive behavior.

So how does being a Christian help with days like this?  Does it help?  I believe that it does.  I believe that I make it through those days with God's strength.  I even slept last night (much to my surprise!)

Here are two things I cling to when I have a bad day.

1. Romans 8:26 says "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words." 
When all you can do is cry, God understands what you mean and what you need.  You don't even need to voice it. 
2. I try to remember to pray "not my will, but Thy will be done."  When things are all going wrong I don't always know what is the right thing to do.  I don't always know what to pray for.  I trust that God does know what is best.  There have been many times when what seemed like a tragedy at the time, turned out to be the best thing in the world.  For example:  Because Baylor temporarily lost my application, I wound up going to Vandy where I met my husband. 


I trust that even if God did not cause my troubles, that God CAN make good come out of them if only I ask.  "Thy will be done Lord!"  Then, comes the hard part:  actually letting go and letting God.  May you have a blessed day, even if it is "One of Those Days."
 

Slow to Speak: When Biting Your Tongue is best

"You must understand this, my beloved; let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God's righteousness." James 1:12-20

     This is one of the scriptures I will be preaching on Sunday.  I actually had to take my own sermon advice last night.  It was kind of humbling for the teacher to have to learn the lesson, too.

     I have teenage boys.  Even when I do listen, sometimes the tone or the sarcastic way something is said pushes all the wrong buttons.  Last night I asked what I thought was an innocent question.  "How are the college application essays coming?"  The response I got was a frustrated rant on how many essays he had to write for school.  What I heard (as opposed to what he actually said) was "I don't have time for that."

     My first instinct was to go up and yell about priorities and why had he wasted the past three weeks before school started playing video games and hanging out with friends.  I wanted to chuck his X-Box over the balcony rail and disconnect his YouTube account.  Fortunately, I had been working on my sermon earlier in the day and realized that getting angry was really messing with my perspective.  My anger was not producing God's righteousness, and going up there ranting and raving would not have done anything but make my son angry, too.

     So, I took at forty-five minute brisk walk.  I did not speak to him at all before I left.  It gave me time to think things through and calm down a little.  It also gave him time to finish the Language Arts homework that he had been grumbling about.  When I got back I calmly told him we need to talk.  I explained how I was worried about his priorities being out of order.  He explained that he had planned on writing both essays over the long weekend.  Since his homework was done, he worked on outlines for his essays asking for my input.

     James was right, anger would have made the situation much worse.  I thank God that the lectionary had me dealing with this passage this week.  For my son: Being a mother is a lot like being a pastor.  I do the best I can from day to day, not always knowing if I got it right.  For the times I do let anger do my talking for me, I apologize.  I am striving to do better.

   In the Gospel lesson that goes with the sermon Jesus says that it is not what goes into a person that defiles them, but what comes out of their heart.  Reacting in anger defiles.  Taking the time to diffuse the anger and be able to listen made me more compassionate.  That can be important, especially with friends who are on the opposite side politically.  I sense that I will need to memorize and recite this verse from James many times before November.

Blessings!

Non-Random Acts of Kindness

     I saw something today that made me want to stand up and applaud.  It was pouring down rain as I was driving home from the church.  As I came to the intersection at Hwy 67 the traffic slowed to a crawl.  A car was stalled in the busy intersection.  Cars were having to squeeze past it.  The driver was obviously either scared to get out in the rain and the traffic, or was unwilling to abandon the car in the middle of the intersection.

     A Cedar Hill Fire Station Ambulance was going the other way.  These men saw what was going on and pulled over into a bank parking lot and got out of their ambulance.  They donned yellow hazard vests in the pouring rain.  They indicated that traffic should stop.  (Which amazingly it did!)  Then, these three men pushed the car from the intersection to a gas station where the stranded motorist could get help.  As they crossed back I applauded and shouted bravo!  Of course with my windows up and the heavens doing the best to convince us to build an ark, I don't think they heard me.  But if any of you know someone who works at the Cedar Hill Fire Station, let them know that they were noticed doing good!

     All the way home I thought about what they did and it reminded me of those bumper stickers that you used to see, "Commit Random Acts of Kindness."  But this one didn't seem all that random.  I doubt that someone called the fire station and said there is a motorist stuck in an intersection, please come help.  We expect help from Firemen.  They are in the business of helping others.  Shouldn't it be the same for Christians?

     Jesus told us that the two most important commandments were to love God and love our neighbor.  His illustration for who is our neighbor was someone helping a stranger.  Jesus showed compassion to all who needed help or were in pain.  We are called to follow.  Our acts of kindness shouldn't be random.  They should be calculated, intentional, and consistent.  I know that we are sinful human beings and are going to miss lots of opportunities to show kindness to our neighbors, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't try.  Try practicing purposeful, intentional acts of kindness.  If we really love God then loving our neighbor, whomever they are, should take a top priority in our lives.

Blessings!

All I Need To Know I Learned From "The Sound of Music"

I woke up this morning singing the theme from "The Sound of Music."  This musical holds a special place in my heart.  From the time I was three or four and my parents took me to a special showing in the local movie theater I was in love.  It got me interested in singing and acting.  My favorite doll, I named Liesl.  My first dramatic role was Louisa in a community production, and I can practically quote the whole thing.

So what does this have to do with our faith?  I think I learned a lot of good Christian habits from "The Sound of Music."  So for fun, I thought I would share some of them with you.

First and foremost:  When God closes a door, somewhere He opens a window.  (Thank you, Reverend Mother.)  Another way to look at it is that God's plans for you might not be what you planned, but they will be good.  God might need you to be the mother of seven children more than a nun.

Second, when things look really overwhelming it is OK to say, "Oh Help!"  God promises to hear our prayers and goes with us when we think we have gotten in way over our head.

Third, Music is a proper response for practically anything: fear, joy, sorrow.  It will chase away thunderstorms, make boo boos feel better, and heal sorrow and loss.  Just look at some of the Psalms.  There are happy Psalms of praise, there are angry Psalms, there are Psalms of lament.  If you can't put what you feel into the words of a prayer, try looking to music.  God will understand.

Fourth, and close to my heart, when a child puts frogs in your pocket or spiders in your bed, they may just be looking for someone to love them for who they are.  That was my whole philosophy of Youth Ministry for sixteen years.  Some of those mischievous youth that made me want to pull my hair out have grown into wonderful, mature Christian adults.

Finally, sometimes there are evil forces or people that have to be stood up to.  When the Hitlers of the world say that you have to join them, you must find the strength to say "no."  It may cost you to stand for your beliefs.  There may be mountains to cross.  "Climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow, until you find your dream."

May your day be filled with blessings and song!

How Do We Treat Those We Disagree With?

I have gotten pretty upset over the past couple of days because of the whole Chick-fil-a thing.  It is not because of the issue itself!  I have close friends and family on BOTH sides of the debate.  My problem is the really mean and hateful posts that my friends have been putting on their time lines.  Even my clergy friends have not been immune.  They call each other names and post terrible things about their brothers and sisters with whom they disagree.  That is not the Christian way to do things!  No wonder the world thinks Christians are hypocrites or just plain fanatics.  Just because we don't always agree doesn't mean that the person you disagree with is evil or that you can treat them like garbage.  So here are a few thoughts:

1.  We are all sinners.  We all mess up.  We are all wrong some of the time.  Consider how you would want to be treated if you were the one who was wrong.  Do you want to be trashed publicly all over the Internet?  Would you rather have a friend say to you privately, "I hear where you are coming from, but this is what I think..."  When I disagree with someone, I always try to remember that I may be the one in the wrong.  I try to be understanding, forgiving, and gracious.

2.  Have you ever seen anyone change their mind on a topic because they were yelled at and called names?  I haven't.  In fact on divisive topics like same sex marriage you probably won't be able to win over your opponent no matter how kind, intelligent, and beautiful your argument is.  We can't change people's hearts.  Only God can change your heart.  I have changed my view on many controversial topics over the years.  I think it is part of becoming more mature.  But it was not friends arguing with me that changed my mind.  It was prayer and thoughtful study that let God change my heart!

3.  How are we as Christians supposed to treat one another?  First and foremost we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.  In Jesus' illustration of this concept his neighbor, the Samaritan, was not only of a different faith, but he was also from another country with a different government and political climate.  He still acted in compassion and love for his neighbor.  If he can be kind, then surely liberals and conservatives should be able to react to each other in compassion. 

But we are more than just neighbors.  We are brothers and sisters in Christ.  So we are held to a higher standard.  In Matthew 18 Jesus gives us an example of how to reconcile with someone who has sinned against you.  First go talk to the person alone and tell them what is bothering you.  If they refuse to listen... (Note: If they are understanding and listen with an open mind and still disagree it should be over.  Accept it and move on!)  Then, discuss it with them and two or three others.  Even though the next part sounds like a condemnation it isn't.  You are to treat them as a gentile or a tax collector...  How does Jesus treat Gentiles and tax collectors?  He calls them to be disciples, he heals them, he eats with them, and he loves them!

OK so you don't agree on something that you think is vitally important...  You don't have to hang out with them if they are getting on your nerves, but you do need to treat them with compassion, love, and respect.  You must love them as you love yourself.  If one side of the argument HAS to be wrong, remember it might be you.  Be humble.

Our society is becoming so polarized.  It is our duty as Christians to act as an example of how different people can live together in peace. 

Our Brain and the Need for Sabbath

I was watching Attack of the Show last night.  (That is G4's geek news, for those not familiar with it.)  They had on a doctor that was talking about how our brain works and how it learns.  The host asked about multi-tasking.  Dr. Soussa (Sp?) said that a human brain CANNOT multi-task.  It is not capable of focusing on more than one thing at a time.  So when you are multi-tasking what you are really doing is switching your focus between things really fast.  When you do that you always miss something.  So when you are multi-tasking you can get things done, but they will not be as high a quality as if you had given it your full attention.  He suggested that if you focus on one thing at a time it will NOT take you longer than multi-tasking and your efforts will be of higher quality.  Even scarier:  ten to twenty years ago our brains were able to hold seven or eight full thought processes at a time.  Today the average human brain can only hold three to four at a time, and they believe it is because we spend so much time trying to multi-task.

So what does this have to do with our faith?  Well, how do we give our best to God.  In my first church I was not only a general associate pastor who had to preach, etc...  I was also the Christian Educator, the Youth Pastor, and the Choir Director.  (Yes, I was young and stupid and truly believed that I could do that much multi-tasking.)  Whenever one of those areas had something big the others would suffer.  When I had to preach, the choir, my Sunday school lesson, and youth group got less preparation and attention then they deserved.  The same was true when the choir had a big program, or Vacation Bible School rolled around, or the youth had a lock-in.  Nothing ever got my best.  Because I had too many hats. My ministry wound up being OK, but not great.  God never got my best.

Maybe that is why God gave us the Sabbath.  God wants us to take one day a week to focus entirely on our faith and our relationship with God.  It is hard to do.  When we are in church often we are thinking of a project at work, or a homework assignment, or even where to go for lunch.  It doesn't bother us that much because we are used to multi-tasking, right?  We can focus on worship or the Sunday School lesson and still have plenty of brain power left for whatever else we need to think about.  Well according to Dr. Soussa that is wrong!  Divided attention never gives your best to anything.

God wants our best.  That means trying to focus entirely on God for an hour or two on Sunday morning.  Sound tough?  Try taking a whole day of Sabbath.  In my first seminary internship my mentor made me take a whole day of Sabbath each week.  From 9 to 5 I had to unplug the phone and leave the TV off.  I could listen to music if it was religious and meant to help with my faith growth.  I could read, pray, sing, even walk in nature, but the whole 8 hours had to be spent in quality time with God.  It was really hard.  I maybe manage this type of devotion once a year now, when I am on study leave at a Christian conference.  But it is really good for my soul.  All the tension of the world goes away.

I am not saying that you should jump right in and unplug to spend 8 hours with God, but how about for an hour or two on Sunday morning.  Turn off your cell phone and set aside thoughts of what is due tomorrow and what you plan to do that afternoon.  Turn your whole focus on the Bible study in Sunday School or the music and prayers in the worship service.  Give God an hour or two of your undivided attention and you might find that it is easier to give God your best!

Keeping Our Promises

We have a baptism this Sunday!  Baptisms always make me happy.  For those who are not Presbyterian we believe that God reaches out to us in love and grace before we are even able to respond.  Therefore, we baptize babies as a symbol of that unconditional love and we all promise to bring that child up to come to confess Christ as their Lord and Savior.  We all make promises, not just the parents, to that child as it is adopted into God's family.

That is important because parents today need help.  Kids face temptation and danger every day.  Most families need both parents working to make ends meet.  Parents need all the help they can get!  So in the church when we make that promise we become foster Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents.  We PROMISE to help raise that child.

People complain that the children are absent from church, or when they are there they complain that they are disruptive.  One proven statistic from my generation (that is mostly missing from the church) is that those that stayed in the church to adulthood could ALL point to an adult friend in the church that helped with their faith journey.  It is not all on the shoulders of their parents.  We bear a responsibility too!

In every church I have served I have tried to start an adult/youth prayer partner program to connect the children and the adults.  (Look out DeSoto... it is coming...)  The kids need relationships with adults to help their faith mature.  Try talking to the kids on Sunday morning and see what happens.  I am not talking about, "Don't run in the church!" or "You need to be quiet in worship."  Ask them about school or what they are doing for summer vacation.  Take an interest in their lives.  Invite them to sit with you in worship.  If you want them to learn how to behave properly in worship, try modeling it for them!  You should see the difference that the adults in the choir have made in Martin's life by just taking and interest!

What do you do if a friend of yours misses church several Sundays in a row?  You call them to make sure everything is OK.  Have you ever thought of doing that for a child.  Call them to see why they aren't here.  Tell them that you miss them when they are gone!  Some of these kids have parents who have to work some Sunday mornings.  You could offer to pick them up!  Take them to breakfast.

They say it takes a village to raise a child.  To raise a mature Christian Adult it takes a church.  The whole church should be involved in the nurture of a child.  They should think of the church as the place where they see their adult friends.  They should think of the church as part of their family.

Come as You Are

In the past few months I have had three separate people come to me worried about whether their clothes were appropriate for worship or not.  Most of the congregation were dressed dressier than they were and with the economy as it is they couldn't afford to buy a new wardrobe just for church.

My answer;  You are fine just as you are.  God doesn't care what is on the outside.  God cares what is in your heart.

"It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth that defiles." Matthew 15:11

This is actually about clean hands, but I think it still fits.  Here are a couple illustrations of how I think that scripture applies here.

A church worked hard at evangelizing the neighborhood children.  The children who lived around the church were from the families of blue collar factory workers.  Their parents were not Christian and did not really appreciate their kids coming to church, but they came faithfully anyway.  They sat in the front row so that they could take notes on the sermon.  Then they would bring their notes and their questions up to the pastor afterward.  It was nothing short of a miracle.  But within a month or two a motion was brought before the session.  "Those children must be told how to dress properly for church or be asked to leave."  The youth pastor argued vehemently that their families couldn't afford to buy them fancy clothes, and that the parents would use the request as a reason to tell them that they couldn't come."

Who was doing the defiling in this story???

A church formed a praise band and started a contemporary service with the specific intent of attracting college students and the unchurched 20 somethings in the neighborhood.  With that in mind they specifically decided to dress casually; shorts, jeans, t-shirts, tennis shoes, and sandals.  They wanted to dress like those they were trying to attract.  It was working, slowly but surely.  Then, they were told that their attire was inappropriate.  It reflected poorly on the church and the congregation.  They were told that if they wanted to keep their service that they must at least wear khakis, and polo shirts; no jeans, shorts, t-shirts, tennis shoes, and the men could definitely not wear sandals... 

Ummmm, what kind of foot wear did Jesus and the disciples wear?  They wore sandals! 

My current congregation decided to have a Pentecost picnic and invite all of the neighbors.  For a whole month we explained that we wanted everyone to come in picnic clothes; jeans or shorts.  We want the neighbors to feel welcome and comfortable.  Not everyone in the congregation was comfortable with that decision, but I still feel that it is the right one.

So many people are leaving or being turned away from Jesus because the church only looks at what is on the outside.  Jesus cares about what is on the inside.  He reached out to the poor, to the common worker, to the woman at the well.  He came for those in society where God's word was most needed.  Jesus was accused of being unwashed and inappropriate too.

I believe that Jesus would say to us all, "come as you are."

Knowledge or Wisdom

A friend of mine posted a cute saying the other day, that I thought was worth sharing.  It said, "Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.  Wisdom is knowing NOT to use it in a fruit salad."  It occurs to me that there is a bit of a problem in differentiating between knowledge and wisdom in the church today.

As we work our way through the lectionary, we are coming to the end of the king David stories and approaching the King Solomon stories.  When God asked what he could give Solomon, he didn't ask for money or power.  He asked for the wisdom to be a good ruler.  Which to me shows he was already pretty wise to begin with.  How many politicians today if they were told that God would grant them anything, would ask for the wisdom to be a good ruler?  I would hope some would, but I would not hold my breath.

In the New Testament stories the Pharisees studies the Bible backwards and forwards.  They were probably the most knowledgeable people around, but they had a lot of trouble with Jesus.  They lacked the wisdom to see that Jesus was the Messiah that the scripture pointed to.  They could tell you that scripture said that our God was a God of love, compassion, and grace, but could not make the leap to see that meant that we should show love and compassion, too.

They would sit there and complain that the disciples didn't wash their hands before eating (when they were out in the middle of a field somewhere with no running water).  They didn't see that the disciples were serving the people and doing God's will.  They complained when Jesus healed on the Sabbath, completely blind to the fact that it was God doing the healing.

Today we are often just as bad as the Pharisees.  We sit here arguing over the translation of one tiny phrase in the Bible or worse yet in the Book of Order and completely ignore the ministry we should be doing.  We are sure that our "knowledge" is correct and that means that we are wise.  If you look at the Bible through the lens of Jesus' life it is clear that God would rather the 5000 get fed, even if they were served with unwashed hands.  God would rather that the sick be healed even if it meant working on the Sabbath.  The Bible clearly tells us that God's wisdom is foolishness to the world.

Yes, Jesus did teach us what to do.  He did tell people to go and sin no more.  Jesus knew his scripture as well as any Pharisee.  But Jesus always fell on the side of compassion, not on the side of rule mongering.  The Pharisees hated him for it.  Do we?  Would we rather uphold the rules with no regard for who we step on or hurt, or do we err on the side of compassion.

I believe that we will be held accountable for our choices and our actions.  We are all sinners.  But God did the compassionate thing in sending Jesus to die for our sins.  If I am going to err, I would much rather err on the side of compassion than by heartlessly following the rules.  If that is wrong, well, I know that my redeemer lives and that I am forgiven.

Godly Politics

OK, it is the 4th of July; Our Independence Day!  Instead of rewriting  something new, I am going to recycle a part of last Sunday's sermon that I think is appropriate.  God bless you and bless our nation.

God loves all of us the same.  It doesn’t matter what party you belong to.  God loves both President Obama and Mitt Romney.  God loves George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.  God loved Reagan just as much as God loves Jimmy Carter.  God loves all of his children, and we need to act like it.

            God loved Saul even though he had strayed from God’s will.  God loved David even though he had issues with coveting other men’s wives.  God loves our President even if his decisions are not always the one God would have wanted him to make.

            So as Christians it is OK to participate in the wonderful, political freedom we have here in the US.  Our freedom to elect whom we choose, worship as we choose, and pray as we choose was won through blood and struggle, just as Saul and David fought for God’s people to be free.  As Christians we should exercise our freedom to vote.  But remember what our own church says.  No one can bind our conscience.  Our decision is between us and God.  There will be many good Christians, who have prayerfully looked at the issues, believe they are voting they way that God would want them to vote, that vote the opposite way you do.  In fact, I am sure that there will be brothers and sisters right here in our own church family that vote opposite sides of every issue.  They are still our brothers and sisters.  God loves us each the same.  God doesn’t want us hurting each other, or even mourning over something that in the long run doesn’t matter.

            Human politics will come and go.  There will be good leaders and bad leaders.  Our calling is to reflect the grace of Jesus Christ.  David reflected God’s love and grace by being sympathetic to the people’s needs, and being respectful to Saul and Jonathan’s memories.  We can reflect God’s grace by discussing issues with respect for our neighbors, praying for our leaders, and treating everyone as a beloved child of God.

            Maybe if we are grace filled and respectful, it will catch on.  Imagine a campaign season with no name calling, only respectfully discussing the issues…  It may not make as exciting television coverage, but it would help with the love and peace that God desires.

Thoughts on the General Assembly

The 220th General Assembly of our denomination will convien on June 30th.  I wish I could go to Pittsburgh with them, but I was not chosen this time...  But I hope to go some day.  Each presbytery elects elder and minister deligates and sends them with their blessing.  The Presbytery can't tell them how to vote.  Their church can't tell them how to vote.  No one can bind a person's conscience.  Your prayerful decisions are between you and God. 

In our flavor of the Presbyterian church we believe that a group of people prayerfully making decisions can better find the will of God than individuals alone.  That is why an elected session is in charge of the church, not the pastor; why the presbytery is run by its members, not the executive; and the General Assembly is run by the delegates not the moderator.  So if you don't like the decisions, don't go villanizing the moderator.  It is on our heads!

Now, if you thought the last General Assembly was controversial...  There are some very sensitive issues up for vote again this year.  Many are worried if the General Assembly will make the right decision.  That is where we have to trust our political process.  Can the Assembly make a wrong decision?  Yes, it is made up of sinful human beings just like us.  But we trust that the wisdom of the body will be better than a single individual.

Our denomination is almost as clearly divided on issues as our country itself.  So there will probably be 40% or more who will believe that the wrong decision has been made.  So what do we do?  Many say, "Well if the vote doesn't go my way, I am leaving the denomination!"  That did happen in a few cases last time.  It is painful and unpleasant, because ir seldom will be a whole congregation that leaves.  Many churches split over it.  Suddenly they believe that they can't sit and worship together if they do not agree on such and such an issue.  "I can't take communion with that person."  They wash their hands of the brothers and sisters that they have loved for years.  It makes me sad.  I know it makes God sad.

At the last presidential election I heard people say "If (insert the candidate of your choice here) gets elected, I am moving to Canada!"  I don't know of anyone who actually did.  They stuck it out and waited for the next election, where they will have another say.  That is what I beleive is the faithful response to a General Assembly vote that you do not agree with.  You are still part of the family of God.

I believe that God is bigger than our denomination!  So, if we make a decision that truely goes against God's will for the church, God can fix it!  Look at how many times the disciples got things wrong.  Peter in particular was good at getting things completely backwards.  Jesus just corrected them and moved on.  If we are truely praying for God's will, then things will eventually go along God's plan.  If you just walk out when things don't go your way, then if you are right in what you wanted to happen, then you will miss out on being part of God's solution.  And remember we are all human.  If the vote goes against what you want, you may need to consider that your opinion is the one that would have gone against God's plan.

So what will I do if some votes the General Assembly makes don't go my way?  The same thing I always do... pray, and keep loving and working with my brothers and sisters.  I believe that is what Jesus would want me to do.

"How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity." Psalm 133:1

Where Are Our Priorities? God or Society

"Now therefore revere the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:14-15  (Note:  In the NRSV when LORD is in all caps, it means that it is actually God's personal name Yahweh in the text, not the Hebrew word for Lord)

We have a gracious and loving God who came down in Jesus Christ and suffered and died for our sins.  Surely we would choose Him.  But do we put God first in our lives?

When I was a kid (no that wasn't the dark ages, althogh the 70s were pretty scary) pretty much everyone went to Sunday School and church.  The blue laws were still hanging on a bit, so nothing opened before Noon on Sunday.  Sunday was God's day and you would spend it in church.  Today it doesn't seem so clear cut, and it doesn't help that society has scheduled any number of things for Sunday morning.

God has asked us for one day out of our week for us to spend in praise and fellowship.  To be honest, most churches have boiled that down to somewhere between one and three hours.  Is it really too much to ask for us to focus on our Savior from 9 'til Noon on Sunday?

Now I realize that some of you have to work on Sunday, and your employer doesn't always give you a choice.  The ecconomy is still down.  You are lucky to have a job, and you don't want to rock the boat too much, or you might find  yourself the next one cut.  God understands that.  You don't have a choice.  That is not what I am talking about.

Working with teens for 16 years I started to feel that not only did Jesus and the church not come first, they came dead last!  Sports teams, band practice, going to the lake or the beach, or even sleeping late because you partied too late Saturday night took precedence to worship.  Where are your priorities?  God died for you, what did your coach give up?

Now the one that really gripes me was the partying too late excuse.  In team sports and stuff they can threaten to throw you off the team.  But are you really going to tell me that you put ALCOHOL above God?  Really?  I promise you that no matter how boring you think church is, it is better than throwing up or a hangover.  If you choose partying over Jesus, then you can't really call yourself a disciple.

Teams are trickier, especially your kids teams.  But there should be a way to have your sports and still honor God.  In Orlando most sports teams did not hold games or practices Sunday morning or even Wednesday evening because there was too much of a conflict with church.  It got that way because people complained and the teams accomidated their members!  When Alexander was in Coach Pitch Baseball, they tried to keep the games off Sunday morning, but one week we had to make up a missed game.  The coach set it for Sunday at 10:00 a.m.  Being a pastor that just wouldn't work for us so I walked up to the coach and said, "Alexander will have to miss.  We have church."  The coach said, "OK."  The other parents looked shocked.  They didn't know you could ask off for church.  The coach was suddenly swamped with parents telling him that they couldn't play because of church.  The game got rescheduled for 3:00 p.m.

People just think that they have to live with the schedule that the coach sets.  No one bothers to ask.  Try asking.  What's the worse that could happen?  He or she could say, "no."  But they don't know there is a conflict unless someone says something!  Maybe you might even shop around.  Not all leagues have Sunday morning games.  Support the leagues that let you support your faith!

Then, there is the excuse, "I commune better with God out in the middle of creation, at the lake or in the woods."  OK, I will buy that if you show me that you are really spending that time with God.  What songs of praise did you sing?  What scripture did you meditate on?  What did you pray about?  (No, "Lord let me catch a big one" is not what the type of worship God deserves.)  You can hunt and fish on Saturday, too you know.

What about, "Sunday is our only time to be together as a family."  What better way to build strong family bonds that to worship God together.  Those families who worship together raise stronger, healthier kids than those who don't.  Our family always goes out for a nice lunch after church, and sometimes even to a movie.  Good quality family time that let the kids know that God comes first in our lives.

Where does God rank in your life?  Do you put God first?  Second?  Somewhere after shoping the sales at the mall?  God created us, gave us everything that we can enjoy including lakes, woods, and even sports.  God gave us life!  Jesus gives us eternal life.  What is that worth to you? Is it worth an hour or two of your time?

Parents:  Your kids will not pick up faith on their own.  If you do not make God a priority, neither will they!

Well, now that I have alienated all of my readers:  As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.

The Bible as a Weapon

I have had three different 20 somethings come to me with questions about how the church or individuals were using the Bible to put forward their own agenda.  Since this is the generation that is becoming so disillusioned with the church, I think that it needs to be addressed.  I have gotten permission from one of them to use his questions to spur this blog.  (His name is with held to protect his innocence ;-)

"I have been participating off and on in discussions with a Christians vs. Atheists group on Facebook. As I do, I see a significant number of Christians with little or no education on what is really in the Bible and what is not... I learned a great deal about these subjects and have learned to dig deeper for understanding. Why is it that so many people and their churches seem to avoid learning/teaching these things?"

One answer may be that they don't know any better, and no one has offered to teach them...

But more often, I think that people don't want to know how deep some of these verses are, and how dynamic God's Word can be.  If you really study the Bible, then you know that God's answer is never simple.  You also know that you must take things as a whole and not pull things out of context.  For example if you know that the Pharisees and Sadducee's are fighting over whether or not there is life after death, it makes their trick questions to Jesus much richer.  It helps if you can learn their agenda.

The danger in reading the Bible is that it spanned a great deal of time and covered almost every situation that God's people could face.  That is good, in that you can find help with almost any problem you are facing in your life.  The bad side is that you can prove almost any argument by taking scripture out of context.  The Bible has been used as a "weapon" ever since it was written down.  The Pharisees were using scripture to put people down and make them selves feel superior back in Jesus' day.  That is one of the reasons Jesus argued with them so much.

Throughout history people have used the Bible to justify slavery, war, genocide, racism, sexism, ageism, and practically any other "ism" you can think of.  Those who were anti war pointed to the verse about beating your swords into plowshares.  Those who wanted war, point to the opposite verse telling you to beat your plowshares into swords.  (Yes, that is in there, too.) That is not what the Bible is for.  The Bible tells the story of humanity's relationship with God.  It tells us about the loving, grace filled, God who won't give up on us no matter how far we stray.

As a Presbyterian, I believe that the Word is living and with prayerful study the Holy Spirit can give us God's word for us today.  But I do NOT believe that God means for us to use it to beat each other up.

I will give just one example, then I will stop (because people using the Bible in a way that is driving the next generation away really upsets me and I don't want to turn into one of the ranting lunatics that are driving people away, myself...)

One scripture that is often pulled out of context and used without studying the situation and the time is 1 Corinthians 14:33-34.  (The women be silent in church verses...)  Leaders of the church throughout the ages have used a shallow reading of that verse to say that women can't preach or even teach in the church.  Some churches are still using it today.  If you actually do in-depth Bible study, you will find that Paul was writing to a particular church that was having a particular problem.  You will note that it is ONLY the Corinthians that he tells this.  If you study Corinth in the first century, you will find that one of the most popular religions of the day was a form of goddess worship that involved wailing and cutting yourself with knives.  One problem with the early church (just like today) was that popular culture tried to sneak into the church.  If we had a group of women screaming and cutting themselves while the rest of us where trying to worship, I would tell them to be quiet, too.  So knowing the setting is important.

The other important thing is to look at Paul's writings and ministries as a whole.  Paul was always working with women in his ministry.  In Philippi, he left a clergy couple in charge of the only church he wasn't scolding.  Pracilla and Aquilla were two of his most faithful helpers. In the first century AD, (or CE if you prefer) a man would never address the wife first UNLESS she was the leader, or in this case the pastor of the church.  Also, he mentions them in Romans along side Phoebe who serves at Cenchreae.  In Philippians Paul asks Euodia and Syntyche, his faithful partners in ministry, to put aside their differences because conflict among the church leadership hurts the congregation.  So if you look at Paul's ministry as a whole, he often put women in places of leadership in the churches he founded.  So to take that one sentence of Paul's  and use it to "prove" that God doesn't call women to serve is totally misrepresenting Paul's ministry.

Unfortunately, good Christians do that every day.  They misuse God's word either by ignorance or knowingly so that they can prove their own point.  That is not nourishing to their own souls or to the church as a whole.

So, I will close with a quote from the 1st century poet, Petronius:
 "A little learning is a dang'rous thing;

Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:

There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,

And drinking largely sobers us again."

Blessings on your Bible studies!

Thoughts on Father

In the past few years (even decades...yes I am getting older) there have been many people who want to get rid of the image of God as Father.  The Feminists say that it misrepresents God, since God is not male.  Some say that since so many were abused by their earthly father that thinking of God that way is hurtful.  I undestand and sympathize with both these views, but I think we can go too far in the other direction.

I believe that as long as we lift up other images of God, like the mother who would not forsake her suckling child, the bird that shelters you under it's wings, the rock and fortress that protects you, then father is also a helpful image.  I think we need all the images of God to even begin to understand the majesty and Glory of our creator.

A couple of thoughts on the protests.  No, God is not male, God is God.  But there are aspects of the father image that are true and can better help us come to know God.  Also, eartly fathers are human!  None of them live up to the image of God.  If you had a bad father on earth, thinking of God as the perfect father can give hope for a love that was not found here.

As Father's Day approaches I think the most valuable reason to keep the image of God as Father is to give our earthly fathers an example to live up to.  The best human fathers reflect God in the way they care for their families.

For a clear image of God as Father, we just need to look at the Prodigal Son.  (You can find it in Luke, chapter 15, verse 11 and following if you want to read it for yourself.)  The Father was generous.  He gave his ungrateful son half of the inheritance.  He let the son be his own person.  He didn't tell him he shouldn't leave the farm.  He let his son go out and discover his own way.  But in spite of it all the father still truely loved the son.  He went to the gate every day to watch for his return.  He was patient.  The father didn't come after the son when he had been gone too long.  When the son returned, the father was gracious and forgiving.  He welcomed him with open arms, letting the son know that his father truely loved him no matter how much he had messed up.

Finally, the father even took time out of the welcome home party to seek out the older son that was pouting.  He loved all of his children equally, wanted the best for them, and wanted them to be happy.  This is the image of God as Father that is dear to my heart.  I think we lose something if we get rid of this vivid story that helps us understand the nature of God.

For all you fathers out there.  You are blessed, because you have the best role model ever!  Blessings on you this Father's Day.  May you strive to reflect our heavenly Father more and more each day.

Why Blog?

Blogging is not something that comes natural to me.  With the exception of sermons and such I have always been taught that the safe thing to do was to keep my ideas to myself.  It would prevent arguments and hurt feelings, because of course everyone knows that religion is up there with politics as something you shouldn't discuss...

But then one of the preachers at the Festival of Homiletics (that means preaching) pointed out that there are lots of people out there who are blogging about God, Jesus, faith, hope, religion, etc...  Some of them are good, and some of them are giving the world the impression that Christians are crazy extremists.  He suggested that what the Internet needs is just honest expressions of faith.  Someone needs to be shining the light of love and grace to a hurting world.

I am not an expert, just a fellow pilgrim on the journey.  I have spent a lot of time studying, and earned my MDiv, so I may be qualified to help find some answers.  But as a Presbyterian, I believe in the Priesthood of All Believers.  Each of us is able to read scripture and pray to God.

But I am screwing up my courage and putting myself out here so that we can travel this road of faith together.  I hope that our musing together can bring us all closer to the God of love.

On Life, Death, and New Life

I have found out about the deaths of two dear friends in the past week.  Both were too young to go, (at least in my opinion) Both loved the Lord and were faithful disciples, so I know where they are now...

So why am I so sad?  They were both beloved husbands and fathers, so I am sad for their wives and children who will miss them dearly.  I know I am sad because I will miss them, but they are better off now.  They are with Jesus in heaven. 

I think it is because without their witness, the Light of Christ in the world seems a little dimmer...

Tom was an elder.  He was always willing to help out whether it was repairs, cleaning, or even cooking.  He was a scout leader, and showed so many young boys how to be strong men of God.

Darin spent time in the Peace Corps and was a soldier.  But in his career, he worked on bridging gaps, learning to relate to people in their own language and culture, and bringing the understanding that is needed to have peace.

The light of Christ shown brightly in both of them.  They made a difference.  They lived radiating the light of God's love.  So, when they went home to heaven, we lost that bit of light.  Now we have to make up the difference.  The world so desperately needs people who live into hope, light, love and peace.

I thank God that I had the chance to know them both.  Now that they are gone, we have the duty to follow their example and try to let the light of Jesus shine through us as it did through Tom and Darin. That is a huge task.

Thank you, saints, for your faithful service.

I will do my best to keep the light shining until I join you "leaning on the everlasting arms."