Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Pearls on 6th


Note: I am reading Psalm 42 this morning for quiet time.

There is something inside me wanting Scripture to resolve itself within the daily reading. I can handle the psalmist asking, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?” as long as the answer quickly comes sometime in the next few verses. I want my quiet times to work like the run of the mill American sitcom. It should open with an everyday problem many families face, proceed through some token conflict and misunderstanding, and conclude with an acceptable resolution for all. It doesn’t hurt to have a puppy, a group hug and sentimental music. All of it is wrapped up in a short period of time and we’re free to go on with our lives assuming all is humming along in Mayberry.

What do we do when our problems are not easily solved in 20 minutes and God doesn’t give us the easy out? What do we do when the Scripture passage offers no reassurances things are going to be all right and work out in the end? What do we do when we’re stuck on Good Friday without any knowledge Easter Sunday is anywhere close?

What do we do with “Deep calls to deep?”

Even our praise music betrays the psalmist when we just sing the beginning of Psalm 42. “As the dear panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after you. You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship you.” Why don’t we sing about tears being our food both day and night? Why don’t we talk about feeling absent from God? It’s not in another Biblical book or another psalm. It’s the very next verse, but it doesn’t sound quite as nice as the lovely imagery of a fawn thirsting for a cool drink.

The psalmist concludes today’s reading with the introspective question, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.” We look within to see what we are without. We look to the past to remind us God holds the future. We find our help when we hope in our God.

We might not be able to tie it together neatly in 20 minutes, but this is real life and not reality television. There is no denying we all have problems, big and small. However we worship and believe in a God who is bigger and better than our worries.

The Lord is my help and my God.

Sunday, April 03, 2011

Chapter Two - The Church in History

Chapter Two – The Church in History

I appreciate Moltmann’s reminder that the church’s first word is not the church but is always Christ. This is a challenging reminder to any pastor who is given the charge to “grow the church”. What this really means is the minister is supposed to grow the congregation’s numbers. Ambrose said, “The church is like the moon, which has no light of its own or for itself. If it is the true church, the light that is reflected on its face is the light of Christ, which reflects the glory of God, and it shines on the face of the church for the people who are seeking their way to freedom in darkness.”

I have always struggled with paradox and Moltmann deals a lot with it talking about the essence of the church and the form of the church. I will do my best to unpack this. Do we look at the church as top – down or bottom – up? The church is both a historical entity and something that is completely out of time that looks and hopes for the completion of all things. In this way, it mirrors the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and the hope of his coming glory. “The remissio peccatorum liberates men from the power of the past and therefore opens up the new future of righteous and eternal life.” The author talks a great deal later on about transformation of the individual and the church. It is interesting to note all the times “creative” is used in describing God. It is a concept lost on me for the most part and I wonder why we don’t focus on it more. The God who creates, who recreates, must be creative. I had a friend who mentioned God must have a sense of humor because he made the porcupine. God’s creative power goes beyond the creatures called forth in Genesis.

The musician Bruce Hornsby rose up the charts with his 80’s diddy, “The Way It Is.” He sings that many things in this life – injustices, inhumanity, etc will never change. The church cannot accept itself as simply “what it is” as long as the promise of Christ’s Kingdom goes unfulfilled. We must take on the Christ who was crucified, the Christ who was resurrected, the Christ who is with us and the Christ who will come again in glory. When we ignore any of these, we miss the mark. Of course, we will never completely be who we are called to be. However, this is not an excuse to do nothing with weak resignation assuming any efforts amount to Sisyphus. We are called to keep on working, even if the true mark is always outside of our grasp.

Moltmann talks about our “sacramental identity” throughout the book. Rememberence of the past and a hope for the future is linked together in the sacraments we participate in the present. “This definite event which ‘makes the church the church’ is a sacramental event. We mean by this the preaching of the Word of God in the human word, the presence of the coming of Christ in bread and wine, and the coming of the Sprit in baptism. To such an extent the church is what it is in the light of this event.” The history of Christ always points to eschatology.

When we talk about any part of Christ’s earthly ministry, we are also making a soteriological statement as well. History is important, but so is the promise to which that history points. For the Apostle Paul, all of Christ’s history points to the justification of sinners. “In the eschatological thanksgiving of the new creation the destiny of all created being is fulfilled.”

“The church as the community of justified sinners, the fellowship of those liberated by Christ, who experience salvation and live in thanksgiving, is on the way to fulfilling the meaning of the history of Christ.” History passes into eschatology and eschatology passes into history – the work of the Holy Spirit. Liberation from sin is an entrance into a new life and leads to a new creation.

I don’t know if I read Moltmann using the word “perichoresis” but the concept seems to be present throughout his writings. Christology and Pneumology must be understood in the movement within the Trinity. Likewise, any movement in the church must be seen in this triune movement.

We are a part of the church that has always been influenced by the signs of the times. This language appears to echo many of our intro readings in the Gospel and Culture sequence. We exist as a part of the culture, but cannot be ruled by that which surrounds us. I loved Moltmann’s writings comparing the Mosaic understanding of “signs and wonders” with the prevalent end time approach to “signs and wonders.” I am wearied by all the religious talking heads proclaiming the impending coming end of world on television shows, radio programs and internet articles. The coming end times will be announced through earthquakes in Haiti, tsunamis in Japan and wars in the Middle East. I appreciate his discussion of “signs and wonders” as a call to look back to the God who led God’s people out of Egypt and into a land flowing with milk and honey. “The modern orientation of the church towards ‘the signs of the times’ really follows both biblical traditions, arriving at diametrically opposite notions, depending on whether the present is read in accordance with the apocalyptic timetable of in remembrance of the exodus tradition.”

How should we view revolutions around the world? Are they signs of the end of time or a steady moving forward of God’s plan for God’s kingdom on this earth? Moltmann argues for a messianic orientation to everything going on around us. I don’t know if that will “Play in Peoria” but it certainly resonates with me as someone who is wearied by apocalyptic overload. “God ultimately desires the state, the perfected sate, the moral kingdom of God on earth, because he wants people who have arrived at full maturity. Once this is achieved the church will have become superfluous, since it was a transitional institution, designed for the education of men. Its goal has been reached, for it is there not for its own sake or for its own expansion but for the sake of the kingdom of God.” This quote resonates with me as the goal of our whole being. The church should do so well that there is no longer a need for the church because the world was transformed. This is a utopian view, but it is still our goal.

Christ remains our hope as the signs of the times continue to change rapidly around us. The church lives in the today of Christ’s presence, remembering his life and looking forward to his future glory. “For it is not world crisis that leas to Christ’s parousia; it is Christ parousia that brings this world with its crises to an end.” These are signs of history, not signs of the end.

“Without an understanding of the particular church in the framework of the universal history of God’s dealings with the world, ecclesiology remains abstract and the church’s self-understanding blind”

Does the salvation of the world come through the church or does the church come out of the salvation of the world? We stand in the middle of this movement – not at its beginning and not at its end. We are like a ship on the ocean that must look to God as a set star in the heavens guiding our path.

Ibid p. 19
Ibid p. 22
Ibid p. 27
Ibid p. 33
Ibid p. 33
Ibid p. 41
Ibid p. 46
Ibid p. 50
Ibid p. 51

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Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Ash Wednesday Service

Ash Wednesday - Matthew 6

Concerning Almsgiving
6‘Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Concerning Prayer
‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Concerning Fasting
‘And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

I can still hear her voice ringing in my ears: “Who were you trying to impress?” This is a question my mother used to ask – usually after I had done something foolish in my younger years. In most cases, I had put the opinion of friends and their praise over my identity as a member of my family and what I knew was right. My mother always said the same thing to me and my brothers when we went out on a weekend night. “Remember you are a Burgess.” She was driving home the point that all my actions, both good and bad, reflected on our whole family.

In Jesus’ day, the question was not so much who you were trying to impress as much as it was who weren’t you trying to impress? The goal of any good work was to get noticed by your neighbors, get their approval and ultimately gain status points. The main reason for doing anything good in that culture was to be seen and collect another gold star of praise. It is not unlike the major corporation that gives a $100,000 check to help the cause de jour and then spends millions of dollars in advertising telling the world about it.

There was a time when a large percentage of people in our country flocked to the church. They came to hear the Word of God preached. They came to hear the choir sing. They came to Sunday school, Vacation Bible School and Church Picnics. Even the outside world left Sunday alone – it belonged to the church and the family.
The culture has changed. The stream of people who used to run outside our church at 6th and Pearl has long since diverted and now runs by the concerns of the suburbs, the kid’s soccer games and the sale at the mall. Sundays are marked more by the newspaper advertising circulars than they are by the church’s bells. We can no longer simply throw up a new church sign and hope to catch more fish to fill out our pews our net new members for our rolls.

Some mourn this cultural shift. Others are angry that things are not the exact same way they once were. Still others claim this is God’s punishment for not being religious enough.

I do not believe the problem lies in the lack personal piety among believers. The issue for many outside of the worshipping community is our perceived piousness is too often mixed with religious pretention. The world is watching and does not care for what it sees.

William Shakespeare writes these well known words in his play, “As You Like It”,
“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts” (Shakespeare 2.7).

The problem in Jesus’ day (and our own age) is that so many Christians wear one face in church and another one in the world. The Greek word “Hypokritēs” from which we get Hypocrite literally means actor. The religious types of that age were more concerned with playing the part than living out their faith. The word hypocrite appears 21 times in the Bible but comes up 13 times in Matthew’s gospel. The writer was driving the point home that we should never do good deeds merely for the sake of appearances. Of course, the problem of hypocrisy in our time is one of the major reasons people give for staying away from the church in droves.

So, what are we supposed to do? I believe we all want to deepen our spirituality and do good things but we also live very public lives. Jesus addresses this concern by telling his followers to pray in private. Many people in our age don’t want to pray out loud while others take the time of prayer to show off their deep theological vocabulary. My brother Scott tells a story of a trip he made to India with my missionary Aunt. They went from small village to small village offering medical care. Scott mentioned how impressed he was one of the missionaries who prayed a long prayer, filled with various Scripture passages and exhortations of God. Scott’s positive impression waned when he heard the same prayer in the second village and the third. He mentioned the prayer was primarily there to impress the crowds and ultimately had little to do with God. Jesus encourages us to find a place where God alone can hear us, lest we fall into the trap of thinking louder voices and longer words impresses God.

Prayer is not the only thing we should do in private. Jesus also instructs his followers to give in secret. Some people make their donations to charities with giant checks and great fanfare. We’re supposed to give freely and secretly – not letting the one hand know what the other one is doing.
Finally, we are instructed to live pious lives not with sackcloth and ashes, but with a smile and a joy filled life. Have you ever been around someone who loves to share how much they have given up to be a Christian? They wear their faith like they would wear a thorny crown. God is more interested in the generosity of your heart and less concerned with your religious presentation.

Many people wear political buttons around election time - some identify as Republican or Democrat, pro-life or pro-choice, in favor of this issue or against that one. The only one I normally wear simply says “I voted.” Do you remember when the Iraqis had their first election? Everyone who voted dipped their fingers in a purple die. It kept them from voting more than once, but more importantly, it let people around them know they had voted. They would not let the threat of terror keep them from exercising their citizenship in their country.

The mark you receive today is not for your finger – it is for your forehead. It is not a mark from a political election, but one that points to God’s election of humanity through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is an acknowledgement that you too belong to a kingdom. It is not a kingdom of the earth, run by men or women. We receive the ashes to acknowledge a citizenship in God’s empire. We are called to act as Kingdom People. We do not do this to gain the approval of our neighbors – we should behave in such a way that those around us do not know what we are up to. What we do in private echoes in the heavens. Others will be drawn to the church not because of our religion, but because of our love for God.

In the coming 40 days, God presents us with the opportunity to give more, pray more and go without some of the little luxuries we surround ourselves with. It is a gift that God calls us to do more when we are surrounded by less. Let this mark on your forehead also mark our hearts.

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Thoughts on The Church in the Power of the Spirit

Preface, Introduction and Chapter One


The first thing I noticed when reading through the preface and the first chapters was how prophetic Moltmann was in describing the current situation of the church. The book was first published in 1975 – a time when many in our denomination and downtown church would describe as the “Good Ole Days.” It is interesting to hear the author describe many of the fissures that have become modern day cracks in our foundation.

Moltmann argues we have to move from the large structures seemingly inherent in denominational churches to smaller communities. Further, we have to address passive attendance into active participation. I have thought recently about the number of people who attend the 9:30 worship service at First Presbyterian Church, shake my hand, compliment my sermon and head out into the world. About half of our congregation stays around for the educational hour and their Sunday school class. “Forms of community that are accepted personally and entered into voluntarily are becoming more important.” This is a challenge to Presbyterians who have relied primarily on offspring to fill the church’s rolls. I am encouraged by the thought that we worship a God who does not merely calls us to join together. Moltmann’s purpose is to understand the triune God as the God who is community, who calls community into life and who invites men and women into sociality with him. ”


“Anyone who only talks about a ‘crisis’ without recognizing this implicit opportunity is talking because he is afraid and without hope. Anyone who only wants to have new opportunities without accepting the crisis of previous answers is living an illusion.”

“When its traditions are imperiled by insecurity, the church is thrown back to its roots. It will take its bearings even more emphatically than before from Jesus, his history, his presence and his future. As ‘the church of Jesus Christ’ it is fundamentally dependent on him, and on him alone.”

“Theological insight and the practical experiences I have mentioned would suggest that the book’s practical intention might be formulated as follows: to point away from the pastoral church, that looks after the people to the people’s own communal church among the people.”

“The church is the people of God and will give an account of itself at all times to the God who has called it into being, liberated it and gathered it.”

The church is present before God and before men and women and before the future. Where have we put our emphasis in the past? Do we recognize this, and if we do, do we mix the two spots? “The church of Christ is an ‘open’ church. It is open for God, open for men and open for the future of both God and men. The church atrophies when it surrenders any one of these opennesses and closes itself up against God, men or the future.” I think there is a lot of truth in the need to be an “open” church. It is easy for churches, when faced with adversity, to shut itself off from the outside and hunker in a bunker. It is a contributing factor in the closing of many churches and the relative few new church developments.

Many will blame the cultural upheavals begun in the 1960’s as the basis of the declining membership in mainline denominations. It appears Moltmann would disagree with this thinking. The church ceases to be the church of triune God when it settles into a comfortable routine. “The unrest of the times points it to this inner unrest of its own. The social and cultural upheavals of the present draw its attention to that great upheaval which it itself describes as ‘new creation’, as the ‘new people of God’. It appears that we need to pay attention to the inner unrest within the church and see where we need to move.

We are called to continually go back to the one who called the church into being; Jesus Christ. “It is only where Christ alone rules, and the church listens to his voice only, that the church arrives at its truth and becomes free and a liberating power in the world.” The church’s lone and all embracing reason for existing is the lordship of Christ. Our Christology will determine our ecclesiology. I believe this is a very helpful reminder. It requires all of us to pay attention to the Christ we claim to follow. Whenever we make a statement about Christ, we are also making a statement about the church and towards the messianic kingdom. We have to subordinate our individual interests to the interests of Christ. Of course, this is easier said than done.

I wonder if Moltmann was one of the founding fathers of the “missionary church” movement? It seems like he touches on a number of themes present in current writings. I can only assume many of our modern theologians have read this book and are influenced by its insights. The modern church is beginning to understand that mission is not something exclusively “over there” but a thing that needs to be practiced in our everyday world and lives.

Moltmann identifies the way many churches (including my own) get it wrong. “Call and mission are something that have happened once and for all, then the church today calls no longer, it instructs and teaches Christians and baptizes the children of Christians. In this way it remains within the confines of ‘Christian society’, which continually reproduces itself through infant baptism.”

“The theological interpretation of the church today must absorb these germs of a missionary church in the decay of the corpus christianum. What we have to learn from them is not that the church ‘has” a mission, but the very reverse that the mission of Christ creates its own church. Mission does not come from the church; it is from mission and in the light of mission that the church has to be understood. The preaching (emphasis added) of the gospel does not merely serve to instruct Christians and strengthen their faith; it always serves to call non-Christians at the same time.” I absolutely love this paragraph and believe this is the goal of my whole work in the DMin program. In my 9 years of ministry, I have had very few adult baptisms. I would like this to change and I am hopeful it will. “Evangelism is mission, but mission is not merely evangelization.”

“The real point is not to spread the church but to spread the kingdom. The goal is not the glorification of the church but the glorification of the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.” I think we all have to hold ourselves accountable to this standard.

I am looking forward to reading further about the concepts of ecumenism and the political church. These are two hot button topics with many people in the pews and I do not know if I have a complete grasp on them yet. “Generally speaking, the theology of revolution understands ‘revolution’ as the outward correspondence of man’s inner repentance.” Moltmann begins to talk a lot about liberation theology and the need to read the Bible through those with full eyes and empty bellies. If we are working for liberation, we must take sides with the poor and the oppressed. I just read an article that stated that most evangelical Christians in America are in favor of cutting support to foreign countries and slashing Federal aid to the many social programs that benefit the poorest in our land.


Moltmann p. xiii
Ibid p. xv
Ibid p. xvii
Ibid p. xviii
Ibid p. xx
Ibid p. 1
Ibid p. 2
Ibid p. 3
Ibid p. 5
Ibid p. 9
Ibid p. 9
Ibid p. 10
Ibid p. 16

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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

40 Days to the Cross

I have always liked Johnny Cash. Even though I grew up in the age of big hair bands and Seattle grunge, it was always popular to like "The Man in Black" So, why am I bringing up Johnny Cash on Ash Wednesday, you ask? Lent is a countdown of sorts where we intentionally mark the time until Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. I kept thinking about Johnny Cash's song, "25 Minutes to Go" that he performed during his famous concert in Folsom Prison. If you're not familiar with the song, it's about a man marking his time as he prepares to go to the gallows. We do not know his crime, only his sentence.



We rarely mark the important times in our life. More often than not, we are too busy hurrying from here to there or too distracted to take note.

Lent gives us all of us a chance to mark the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter. Like the convict in the song, Jesus would make his way to the gallows on Good Friday. Of course, that's not the end of the story!

We've got 40 days to go...

The scripture for the day is located here.


Prayer for the day: Pray for a fruitful 40 days and a meaningful today.

Psalm 27

1The LORD is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life;

of whom shall I be afraid?

2When evildoers assail me

to devour my flesh —

my adversaries and foes —

they shall stumble and fall.

3Though an army encamp against me,

my heart shall not fear;

though war rise up against me,

yet I will be confident.

4One thing I asked of the LORD,

that will I seek after:

to live in the house of the LORD

all the days of my life,

to behold the beauty of the LORD,

and to inquire in his temple.

5For he will hide me in his shelter

in the day of trouble;

he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;

he will set me high on a rock.

6Now my head is lifted up

above my enemies all around me,

and I will offer in his tent

sacrifices with shouts of joy;

I will sing and make melody to the LORD.

7Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud,

be gracious to me and answer me!

8"Come," my heart says, "seek his face!"

Your face, LORD, do I seek.

9Do not hide your face from me.

Do not turn your servant away in anger,

you who have been my help.

Do not cast me off, do not forsake me,

O God of my salvation!

10If my father and mother forsake me,

the LORD will take me up.

11Teach me your way, O LORD,

and lead me on a level path

because of my enemies.

12Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,

for false witnesses have risen against me,

and they are breathing out violence.

13I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD

in the land of the living.

14Wait for the LORD;

be strong, and let your heart take courage;

wait for the LORD!
Psalm 51

1Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy

blot out my transgressions.

2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin.

3For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is ever before me.

4Against you, you alone, have I sinned,

and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you are justified in your sentence

and blameless when you pass judgment.

5Indeed, I was born guilty,

a sinner when my mother conceived me.

6You desire truth in the inward being;

therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.

9Hide your face from my sins,

and blot out all my iniquities.

10Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and put a new and right spirit within me.

11Do not cast me away from your presence,

and do not take your holy spirit from me.

12Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and sustain in me a willing spirit.

13Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will return to you.

14Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,

O God of my salvation,

and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.

15O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

16For you have no delight in sacrifice;

if I were to give a burnt-offering, you would not be pleased.

17The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

18Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;

rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,

19then you will delight in right sacrifices,

in burnt-offerings and whole burnt-offerings;

then bulls will be offered on your altar.

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Thursday, January 31, 2008

That'll Be The Day

“A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And, maybe, they’d be happy for a while.”

– Don McLean’s American Pie

The beginning of February means a lot of different things for a lot of different people. For some folks (mainly up north) it means Groundhog Day and celebrating the tipping point of winter and the movement towards spring. For the political junkies out there, it marks Super Tuesday and the race for the White House. Growing up it always meant something a little different for me. I was a huge fan of Buddy Holly and, as many of you might know, he died in a plane crash in the early morning hours of February 3rd, 1959. This event was immortalized in song by Don McLean in his song “American Pie” when he referred to the crash as the “day the music died.” It is a nostalgic ballad about the roots of rock or roll and the loss of innocence. It is beautiful, poetic and catchy, but it is also filled with a deep sadness fueled by unfulfilled expectations.

I know that many of us have a melancholy spirit when we look back to the past. There are certainly happy times, but it feels like human nature to focus on the negative. We know that we should be joyous, but we are overcome by memories of poor choices, failed relationships and unfulfilled dreams. It can lead to a lot of anxiety, worry and grief.

The good news is you do not have to live like that. In fact, the Bible tells us that Jesus came that we might live life to the fullest. There will always be hurts from the past, but God has given us God’s Spirit to help us overcome. The Apostle Paul writes the church in Corinth about the Lord’s comfort even in the midst of our most difficult times. “For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ. If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering. Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation (2 Corinthians 1:5-7).”

There are some that believe that when we mess up, God is right there to make us feel guilty. While the Lord’s plan for us is holiness, I do not believe that God wants us to be overcome with guilt. The Lord will convict us of our sin, but only in a call to repentance and to live a more abundant life. We no longer need to be captives to the past, because God owns our future. God’s grace is bigger than your mistakes, no matter what they may be. Paul writes the believers in Rome that, “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more (Romans 5:20).”

February may make you shiver, but take heart, there is good news on your door step. You are not a slave to your past. God owns yesterday, walks with us today and promises to see you through tomorrow.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Keep On Keeping On

It has been awhile since I wrote a blog and for all of my subscribers (I guess that's just Sarah) I am deeply sorry. We have moved to Lower Alabama and I am pastoring at the First Presbyterian Church of Eufaula. I am hoping to share a little wit and wisdom from my time down here.

I have been writing the weekly devotional article for the Eufaula Tribune. I stopped by the office a couple of months ago and offered my assistance whenever they needed an article I received a phone call in December asking me if I would be interested in writing four articles in January. I responded that I was happy to do so and asked if they had any guidelines. The woman responded that every article should be between 500-700 words and that I shouldn't be too political. I thought about that for awhile and had to laugh. How can any meaningful article about faith not be political?

If it's meaningful, it must be political. I'm not going to rant about the Republicans or rail on the Democrats. I'm not going to condemn the pro choice crowd or mock the pro lifers. However, I am going to write something that will make the audience think and possibly change.

I don't have any misconceptions about a weekly article for a small town newspaper. I don't think it will change the world. I don't know how many people read it. In fact, I have a sneaky suspicion that the monthly newsletter, The Miscellany, from my old church in Oceanside might just have a higher circulation. However, there is still a need to write. There is still a need to be a prophetic voice. There is still a need to say something different and maybe difficult to hear.

It did my heart well to hear from one of my church members that he read my recent article and was impressed I included a quote from William Sloane Coffin; that liberal from Yale. Praise be that someone listened. Praise be that someone read. Of course, he also mentioned that I would probably be getting a couple of phone calls later in the week from "concerned" citizens.

I guess the answer is to keep writing. It may be for a church newsletter, small town newspaper or some anonymous blog. It doesn't really matter. The important part is in the writing. I hope I am courageous enough to be that prophetic voice. I hope I am smart enough to know when it is most needed. I hope my blog readership rivals that of the Eufaula Tribune. Dare to dream!

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