Evil

In my devotions, this caught my eye. Frederick Buechner writes,

"God is all- powerful.
God is all-good.
Terrible things happen.
Yuo can reconcile any two of these prepositions with each other, but you can't reconcile all three. The promble of evil is perhaps the greatest single problem for religious faith." He goes on to describe how various religions attempt to resolve it; by denying the actual reality of evil as an illusion of the mind, or by creating a system of cyclical cause and effect perpetrated through 'reincarnation'.
He continues, "Christianity, on the other hand, ultimately offers no theoretical solution at all. It merely points to the cross and says that, practically speaking, there is no evil so dark and so obscene---not even this---but that God can turn it to good."

Is that not the gift of Christianity? To walk with the suffering, indeed to suffer with the world, in order that the world might know the deeper truth---that suffering is not the last word, but is the penultimate word to God's ultimate Word, which is always and forever LIFE. Should we not affect an end to suffering? By all means. But we also should realize that God himself is deeply intimate with suffering. he knows and feels it, as if it has become part of created reality for some holy purpose. At least, from this side of the cross we can make divine meaning from suffering that points to God's love and life. So when you watch the news and you see innocents suffering today, declare the truth of what you see or who you see. (with the eyes of faith) You see Christ and so you see hope.

In my devotions for today, Marva Dawn asks questions related to the ways in which we try to substitute God for worldly possessions. She writes, "Sometimes we think we can't get along without a certain possession or a certain person or a certain kind of comfort. To insist on these is to make idols out of whatever we desire...
What ambitions become gods for us and distort our visions?...What do we substitute for total dependence on God? What keeps us from trusting God---our need for love, our insecurities, our fears or sufferings or sorrows or doubts about God's character? What prevents us from following Jesus, from relinquishing our control to the Holy Spirit, from relying on the Father? Do we know who we are primarily because we are the beloved of God?"

Good questions. Ponder these--or any one of them, for that matter-- today. And then make a prayerful commitment to receive the Holy Spirit anew.

World Vision

I believe that Christians are called to stand with the least. In so doing we are serving Christ himself (Matthew 25). Often the least are the most beautiful children who are born into the slavery of poverty. Millions of children will not live past the age of five because of preventable illness. We can and should do something about it. You will find the World Vision button under my links column to the right. This link will take you directly to World Vision's Child Sponsorship page. For $30.00 a month you can raise the quality of life for a child in a developing country. Help make poverty history and sponsor a child. World Vision is the organization that sponsors "the 30 hour famine", an event we take part in every March to raise money and awareness in th fight to end hunger.

A Word for Today

"Raising genuinely Christian children in a culture tht chooses many idolatries to try to assuage or repress its restless hunger is NOT a lost cause IF the church stands as an alternative community, incarnating-though imperfectly now-the kingdom of God for which everyone most deeply yearns. We must help our children to understand that the materialistic consumerism, desire for ease, craving for entertainment, passivity, violence, and sexual immorality of the society around us all arise out of vain attempts to quench life's deepest thirst. We must equip them with skills to resist the deceptions, to rememebr the truth that God alone will satisfy their deepest longings, and to reach out with love to neighbors searching for the living water of eternal life." --Marva Dawn, "Morning by Morning", p.236.

God's Word in Worship

August 27, 2006
12th Sunday after Pentecost

Joshua 24:1-2a,14-18
Psalm 34:15-22
Ephesians 6:10-20
Gospel: John 6:56-69

Covenant players

Join us on Sunday at 10:30 am for a special performance by Jim and Jan Mcguinness, members of the international drama group, Covenant Players. This ministry has been around for nearly forty years. Its mission is to communicate the gospel through drama. They will bring us the response to God's Word on Sunday in drama.

UNBELIEF

"Unbelief is as much a choice as belief is.What makes it in many ways more appealing is that whereas belief in something requires some measure of understanding and effort, not to believe doesn't require much of anything at all."--Frederick Buechner, "Listening to your life,"p. 218.

Imitating God

Paul writes, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2

As a father, I’m keenly aware that my son listens to my words and views my actions in order to learn how to be. On more than one occasion, Jonah has imitated my speech or actions. So I am careful of how I speak and act around him, because he is learning.
Paul tells us that God has drawn near to us and shown us how to be like Him through the speech and action of Jesus. He has done this in order to restore justice, beauty, peace, and life to the world.

How does our congregation imitate God? How do we live in the love of Christ—a self-giving, sacrificial love?
Why is it important for us to be mindful of our own personal and/or corporate speech and action, our own public image as a congregation? What image of God do we want to show others? How can we do that?

God's Word in Worship August 20

God's Word in Worship
August 20, 2006
11th Sunday after Pentecost

Proverbs 9:1-6
Psalm 34:9-14
Ephesians 5:15-20
Gospel: John 6:51-58.

Today's word

Wine
"Unfermented grape juice is a bland and pleasant drink, especially on a warm afternoon mixed half-and-half with ginger ale. It is a ghastly symbol of the life blood of Jesus Christ, especially when served in individual antiseptic, thimble-sized glasses. Wine is booze, which means it is dangerous and drunkmaking. It makes the timid brave and the reserved amorous. It loosens the tongue and breaks the ice especailly when served in a loving cup. It kills germs. As symbols go, it is a rather splendid one." ---In "Listening to your life" by Frederick Buechner.

A Word for today

"Suffering is increasing in the world today. People are hungry for something more beautiful, for something greater than people round about can give. There is a great hunger for God in the world today. Everywhere there is much suffering, but there is also great huinger for God and love for each other." --from "A Gift for God" by Mother Teresa.

"I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will never thirst." --Jesus, Gospel of John 6:35.

God's Word in Worship
August 13
1 Kings 19:4-8
Psalm 34:1-8
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
Gospel: John 6:35,41-51

This week at Zion

Tonight we have congregational care team.
Tomorrow night we have worship and music team.
Thursday night is church counci.
Sunday morning and Monday night we will convene the new Christian discipelship team.
I am gathering and previewing Sunday morning materials---"Seasons of the Spirit." Its a lectionary based curriculum for all age levels from Logos Publishing. It looks pretty good so far.
I'm also preparing to introduce the "ONE Lutheran" Campaign to end poverty; part of the ONE Campaign to direct an additional 1% of the U.S. budget to meet the most basic needs in poor countries. See the link on the right to learn more.

"Because Hezbollah has positioned itself as the "David" in this war, every day that the killing continues burnishes its reputation within the Arab world. Every day that more of the Lebanese infrastructure is turned to dust, Beirut's fragile democracy becomes weaker, both in its ability to function and in the eyes of its people.

The impact is not limited to Lebanon or Israel. Every day America gives the green light to further Israeli violence, our already tattered reputation sinks even lower. The reluctance of our closest allies in the Middle East even to receive Secretary Rice this week in their capitals attests to this fact.

It is time for the United States to step forward with the authority and balance that this moment requires." So wrote former Secretary of State Warren Christopher on the current crisis in the Mid-East. The following link, A Time to Act, will take you to the complete article in the Washington Post, printed on Friday, July 28th.

In a recent "Christian Century" article on the holy land, Shaul Magid a religious studies teacher and a Jew, commented on the Zionist movement and Jewish sovereignty over the holy land. He wrote, "In recent years, certain Jewish and Christian communities have proclaimed that exclusive Jewidsh sovereighnty over the holy land is a thrological right and necessity, a condition for the unfolding of the messianic era." He then points to previous theological understandings, posited by Martin Buber, that might offer a more plausible proposal for sharing the land. He wrote, "Buber argues that Zionism is, or can be, a unique national movement precisely because it is not based on national rights or a myth of origins, but on dwelling in a land that belongs to no one people precisely because it belongs to God. Israel's mission as caretaker is to make that land a place that mirrors its owner, thereby making those who dwell on it a people who reflect the divine." "Christian Century, July 25, 2006, p.24. Is not the source of most of the tension among Jews and Arabs stemmed from a dark theology of the land? Maybe they should read some Wendell Barry to get a richer perspective on the stewardship of the land.

Links

Today more than ever, the home is the primary place of faith development. It can and must become for families, a place of unity and solitude, a shelter and a source of strength. Parents must provide this for their kids' health and faith. It is the only place of refuge from the chaos we call 21st century North American culture. Lutheran writer, Marva Dawn, has two books that all sould read. "Keeping the Sabbath Wholly" and "Reaching out without dumbing Down". These books are edgy when it comes to anti-culture, but intelligent and thought provoking. I dare say, possibly life changing! At any rate, one of my callings is to equip families to live in safety and health under the loing rule of Jesus. I will provide resources for basic use in the home in order to instill faith, peace, joy, hope, and health---what the Jews call Shalom. A total wholeness that is Spiritual and physical.

For some initial faith in the home stuff, click on my "daily discipleship" link on the right.

discipleship at Zion

“If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed.” 1 Timothy 4:6.
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:14-15

Disciples are called out to follow the Lord Jesus. God’s Word makes believers and disciples. They are trained and equipped in the works of ministry to which the church is called; to baptize and teach, to share the good news, to worship, pray, and study; to serve all people according to their needs, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.

Discipleship is a lifelong faith journey that begins with Holy Baptism and ends when God welcomes His people into the Kingdom of heaven. The journey is both personal and communal. The church is the collective body of pilgrims, making the journey of discipleship together.

So how do we make disciples? How do we invite people into relationship with Jesus, train them to follow Him, and free them to serve in His name?
I have given a lot of thought to our current ministry model. I think we can improve some things and be more effective in forming disciples. Here is my vision for Sunday morning learning beginning in September. Using a lectionary-based curriculum called “Seasons of the Spirit” we invite people of all ages to join us from 9:15 to 10:15 am. Every week, we gather in large group (all ages) in the sanctuary at 9:15 for an opening celebration. Pastor will lead it. The week’s lesson/theme will be introduced with prayer, song, and occasional skit. Then we break out into respective classes until 10:05. I envision four or five classes: pre-K, school-age (maybe two groups?), teens, and adults. We close with a summary and a blessing in the fellowship hall at 10:05. One of the gifts of using this material is that it ties us together through the lectionary readings, while also tying us to worship. Everyone will be studying the same stories throughout the year with developmentally appropriate material. And, the material can be used in a rotation workshop model for kids! A goal for 2006-2007 should be to increase participation on Sunday morning. Another goal may be to better equip people for ministry in daily life.

True Humility

"True humility doesn't consist of thinking ill of yourself but of not thinking of yourself much differently from the way you'd be apt to think of anybody else."-Frederick Buechner, "Listening to Your Life", p. 197.

For you

Welcome. Everyday I intend to share some thoughts for reflection that might somehow provide growth in your walk of faith. Please feel free to comment/dialogue with me on these things.

Baptisms

Yesterday my son, Luke, and four other children were baptized at Zion. Pastor Dave Fisher, assistant to our Bishop baptized my son. I did not ask him to do so because I am a heretic who believes that if I baptized my own son it wouldn't take effect or something. I asked him to do so, so that I could be his father and not his pastor.
I thought the celebration was wonderful yesterday. What did you think? Baptizing four kids is always awesome. I took the opporunity to preach on the power and grace of infant baptism. I tried to bring out the significance of the moment. I used the story of "The Lion King" as illustration of the two fold effect of baptism: to make one a child of God and to give that child a divine purpose and mission in the world. Since we were both baptizing and recognizing the affirmation of faith of four teens it was appropriate to utilize a story that sugggested both identity and mission as two sides of the baptismal coin. Often I think Lutherans have focused attention on the identity side of the coin, but have failed to deliver an inspiring sense of baptismal mission. I hope we teach both in our words and actions here.
Oh, and watch "The Lion King". The part where Simba sees his father reflected in the water and Rafiki says, "He lives in you," will give you chills. At the beginning of the movie the infant Simba is anointed with some kind of oil and dust. I immediately saw the connection between the anointing at Baptism and Ash Wednesday. WOW. Anyway, the themes of identity and mission found in the movie are outstanding. Not to mention the fact that it is one of Disney's best animated features. See it again I say!

blogging

What is the point of it? If no one is reading, then why write? I only blog to communicate. I intend for this blog to be a source of learning for a community of faith. If its not being read, I might as well stop writing.
I was asked to comment about blogging to a news reporter doing a story on pastors who blog. I was the youngest one, surprisingly. But none of the others are intentional about the purpose for their blog. I hope to include more content and material on the blog in the months ahead.