tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35705183364209808582024-03-13T10:10:02.401-07:00Straight from the dryer: Thoughts on LentFriar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-9175227775829523352014-03-24T10:42:00.000-07:002014-03-24T10:42:58.951-07:00Christian Practices - Sabbath<br />
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" 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</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lent</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> is a time to take a broad view of our faith and the ways we practice it. Focusing on Christian Practices allows us to consider not just our heritage as believers, but also the manner in which we live out our lives in Christ. Craig Dykstra writes, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Christian practices are not activities we do to make something spiritual happen in our lives. Nor are they duties we undertake to be obedient to God. Rather, they are patterns of communal action that create openings in our lives where the grace, mercy, and presence of God may be made known to us. They are places where the power of God is experienced. In the end, these are not ultimately our practices but forms of participation in the practice of God."<a href="file:///C:/Users/Michael/Documents/Practicing%20Our%20Faith/Blog%20Christian%20Practices.docx" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #445566;">[i]</span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a data-ved="0CAYQjRw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=DLWoG-R43TKc5M&tbnid=AyNjVyTs8WO0-M:&ved=0CAYQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.yahwehbenyahweh.com%2Fsabbath.htm&ei=Mm4wU5-kC4mayQH7iIGYBg&bvm=bv.62922401,d.aWc&psig=AFQjCNF0py_aQt6Zr3NnlE3QTlRbn8af2w&ust=1395769066843066" id="irc_mil" style="border: 0px currentColor; clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img class="irc_mut" height="320" id="irc_mi" src="http://www.yahwehbenyahweh.com/images/sabbath.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="296" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Giving attention to the Sabbath is a place to begin. Dorothy Bass explains, “Sabbath keeping is not about taking a day off but about being recalled to our knowledge of and gratitude for God's activity in creating the world, giving liberty to captives, and overcoming the powers of death.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Michael/Documents/Practicing%20Our%20Faith/Blog%20Christian%20Practices.docx" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #445566;">[ii]</span></span></span></a> In Judaism, </span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sabbath comes from the Hebrew <em>shabbat</em>, which means primarily to cease or desist. The Hebrews were instructed to cease work on the Sabbath – see Lev. 23:3 – in order to honor the covenant God. The key to experiencing the Sabbath is in recognizing the rhythm of once every seven days. There is relief in knowing that there is one day in every seven on which we can cease our working.</span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The message of Scripture is that our value lies not in what we produce or how much we have, but in the fact we are loved by God. Isaiah reminds us,” I have summoned you by name; you are mine. <b> </b>When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Isa 43:1-4)</span></span><br />
<a data-ved="0CAYQjRw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=TCquEWqKzq9HHM&tbnid=MRgTzxSP1V_iBM:&ved=0CAYQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftaste-of-torah.blogspot.com%2F2013%2F03%2Fyou-think-its-so-easy-to-rest-vayakhel.html&ei=b24wU7zSEOnEyQHg94D4Ag&bvm=bv.62922401,d.aWc&psig=AFQjCNF0py_aQt6Zr3NnlE3QTlRbn8af2w&ust=1395769066843066" id="irc_mil" style="border: 0px currentColor; clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img class="irc_mut" height="235" id="irc_mi" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNeZAanedFL4DTC5Qjvk_tKt-CO7uT5i5msA3RpiMNOnOv9YfA3VmOzvTkabG31wMl3V8kedqJnGDLvOOWgaw9NdgWEFX2CclTuIkBsJ0CkdTeUJCJYpkGDckb76gUSs1-j-gOQvqq7Ac/s320/rest-van-gogh.jpg" style="margin-top: 20px;" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A second meaning<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of the Hebrew verb <em>shabbat</em> is “to rest.” <span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">A day of complete physical rest gives us extra strength for the tasks of the other six days. Many times Jesus insisted on time apart from his disciples and the crowds. It gave him opportunity for prayer and time with God. To give ourselves a day’s break from emotional and intellectual problems enables us to come back to them with fresh perspectives, creative insights, and renewed spirits.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Practicing Sabbath allows us to stop worrying about accumulating more and to embrace the values of the Kingdom of God. The grace of God offers stability for our lives; the word of God provides authority; the fellowship of the church offers intimacy. These supports help us find a sense of order, direction and hope in a chaotic world. What would it take for you to practice Sabbath for a day, a half-day, or even two hours a week?</span><br />
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/Michael/Documents/Practicing%20Our%20Faith/Blog%20Christian%20Practices.docx" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #445566;">[i]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;"> Dykstra, Craig<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Practicingourfaith.org</span></div>
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/Michael/Documents/Practicing%20Our%20Faith/Blog%20Christian%20Practices.docx" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #445566;">[ii]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;"> Bass, Dorothy C<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ibid</span></div>
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Pastor Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12033220146218366086noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-36641944114599922822014-03-24T10:20:00.001-07:002014-03-24T10:20:32.205-07:00Tears
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Tears<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">“</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Those
who sow in tears will reap in shouts of joy” (Psalm 126:5)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">The other
night I came home from our Lenten Study time to put the kids down to bed. As I
walked in the door Jennifer asked me, “So, how did it go?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">“Really
good. I think the spirit was moving. I don’t know how talking about Old
Testament Hebrew feasts translates to the Spirit’s moving, but it did,” I
replied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">“How is
that,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGw673mAcgHdI1tx3Gt530079uEWOHH4z7evmC9z1ElU-p66mK2BNENI2fr7QrJFlc7unNZNYX9QN3J7f6C8lRJBswcsnyobIfpXRqxLxeO5el8dcZNIDA2kppMSd3Gs81SmH-RR37CK4/s1600/43_-InspireVideo_The-Gift-of-Tears.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGw673mAcgHdI1tx3Gt530079uEWOHH4z7evmC9z1ElU-p66mK2BNENI2fr7QrJFlc7unNZNYX9QN3J7f6C8lRJBswcsnyobIfpXRqxLxeO5el8dcZNIDA2kppMSd3Gs81SmH-RR37CK4/s1600/43_-InspireVideo_The-Gift-of-Tears.jpg" height="186" width="320" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">“Well,
people were moved to tears,” I replied, “I take that back, they were not
crying, they were moved enough emotionally that they were restraining tears as
they shared how they had experienced God’s providence and watch care over them.
Tears, or almost tears, I think, is often a good sign that the Spirit is at
work, in my experience.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">She nodded
and smiled. Ask Jennifer to share her testimony of faith in Christ, and she can
hardly get through a paragraph without being reduced to tears. Still, it is the
Spirit’s work in her life is that real and that raw for her. It is truly a
beautiful thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Ancient Church
Father Evagrius said that tears “soften the savage hardness in your soul”<a href="file:///C:/Users/UnitedChurchesPastor/Documents/Tears.docx" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">I, like some
of those folks on Wednesday night, have an aversion to shedding tears in
public. To be honest, I have an aversion to shedding tears anywhere. I don’t
like tears because they represent, for me, a loss of control. A failure to
master my own tear ducts, so to speak. This may be part of why believers,
throughout history, including myself, have seen the appearance of being moved
in some direction toward tears as a sign of the Spirit’s moving. Because, in
the right time and the right place, this sense of being out of control is the
evidence of the Spirit taking control.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"><img class="mainImage" src="http://godspeaksilisten.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/tears-in-a-bottle-best.png" style="background-color: white; height: 182px; width: 276px;" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">I used to
organize youth gatherings during my days as a youth pastor. We would bring
together teenagers from around the state, we would sleep on the floors of a
church, and we would play, worship, and pray together. And, inevitably there
would be a service where the power of God would be at work, and there would be
tears. For some, it was coming to terms with the grief of the pain they were
dealing with, and letting God minister to them with his love in the midst of
the heartache they felt. Other times, it was a deep sense of regret over sin
and personal failure, and seeking God’s help them make meaningful change in
their lives. It was often in response to something unplanned that this sort of
thing would come about, so that none of us could take credit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">As we walk
toward the cross this Lenten season, let us open ourselves to the Spirit’s work
among us. Let him renew our faith and cleanse our hearts, so that Easter hope
may once again be born in our hearts and lives through a renewed relationship
with him. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Amen.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Ford, Marcia,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Traditions of the Ancients, p.9</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-91927302661399080692014-03-23T17:20:00.000-07:002014-03-23T17:20:05.230-07:00I'm not sure what to do here. I have spent so much time on Facebook that I generally only think in status mode.
I talk about how cute and awesome and funny my 7-year-old nephew is and how we can all do things to change the world and how social justice is how I believe God is calling us to live and love. Oh, and bacon. I talk about bacon. And tea. And how I would like to grow things but don't. And grad school. Well, I've mostly quit talking about that because I'm like a kid and I don't know what I want to be when I grow up and I'm not sure that a PhD in Communication is part of the plan.
I've done a miserable job with Lent this year. I'm not focused on anything. My mind is flitting from one thing to another and therefor so are my hands. A little of this, a little of that. Perhaps being a part of this blog will help me settle and focus.
This isn't profound or entertaining or well, I don't know what it is but here's to the beginning. My God's sacrifice pull me to my own sacrifices that I should make in my life.rubyslipperladyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13106784936760328911noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-74383313336961366632014-03-22T09:42:00.002-07:002014-03-22T09:43:02.399-07:00Christian Practices - Forgiveness<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What do you need to do to receive God's forgiveness? What do others need to do to receive yours?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the years after 586 BC, the populace of Jerusalem finds itself in trouble. The Temple has been destroyed and much of the population has been carried into captivity in Babylon. The dilemma it faces is this. The Temple, the dwelling of God, is no more. With no Temple there is no opportunity for sacrifice, and thus no way to find reconciliation with God. In the face of their hopelessness and despair <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ezekiel, priest turned prophet, challenges the former approach to reassurance. By steering away from retelling the old stories of God's mighty works, he turns instead to relating the true nature of the Judeans. They have taken God for granted, worshiping idols and playing fast and loose with God's mercy. This offense to God has resulted in their exile.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The path to restoration, according to Ezekiel, lies in awareness of sin, repentance, and the formation of communities (which will become the synagogues that replace the Temple) that hold dear the word of the Lord. The Lord gives Ezekiel <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a scroll and instructs him to eat the words so they become part of him, and then to proclaim the words to the House of Israel in captivity. And as a counterpoint to the words of judgment and condemnation there is hope:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">"This is what the Sovereign Lord <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>says: 'I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.' </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh." (Ezek 11:17-19)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It really is another hint we have that God's interest lies in spiritual rather than legalistic renewal. What Israel needed – what we need – is the heart of God within us. What Israel needed – what we need – is God's forgiveness. And that’s the promise: “I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.“ (Jer 33:7-9)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And so Jesus comes granting forgiveness to the paralytic (Mark 2:1 ff) and instructs the disciples to forgive repeatedly (Matt 18:21ff). Why is that so challenging? Peter asks, “How often <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">must</i> I forgive my brother?” (Not “how often am I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">allowed</i> to forgive him”!) Jesus basically responds by saying, "There is no limit," and later prays that God will forgive the crowd that crucifies him (Luke 23:34). And as with the paralytic and others, he does so before they ask, and before they repent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">God <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>insists that we forgive and love unconditionally. At times it sounds conditional.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." (Mark 11:24-25) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But in what sense? That God is some sort of accountant, keeping records of our actions and dealing out reward or punishment in turn?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">More correctly, we simply cannot understand the forgiveness of God until we have pursued it ourselves. We are encouraged to experience how hard it is to forgive the ones who insult us, steal our material goods, threaten or take the lives of our loved ones, by forgiving them and loving them before they love us. We may not be successful, but we're to try, with God's help, repeatedly. From the counter-intuitive perspective of the Gospel it is forgiveness that leads to repentance, and not the other way around. In other words, we are called to respond to those around us with the heart of God. Then we begin to grasp the depth of God's sacrificial love for us so we can make it our own.</span></div>
<br />Pastor Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12033220146218366086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-74609107536110259752014-03-14T09:00:00.003-07:002014-03-14T09:01:35.622-07:00Christian Practices - Hospitality<br /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Martin Copenhaver argues that no Christian practice is more necessary today than hospitality.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Michael/Documents/Practicing%20Our%20Faith/Blog%20Christian%20Practices.docx" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> He points out that in Biblical times it was common practice to offer hospitality, because travel in the ancient east was so dangerous. You were morally obligated to supply food and safe travel to a stranger – or an enemy – who came to your door asking for help or shelter. Marjorie Thompson says, “All sorts of people had to travel at times through ‘enemy territory,’ which meant that hospitality to strangers was a matter of mutual survival.”</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Michael/Documents/Practicing%20Our%20Faith/Blog%20Christian%20Practices.docx" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> Or as Copenhaver puts it, “Remember that the next time you may be the stranger in need of hospitality. This time you may be the host, but next time you may be the guest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>… It is a reminder that you never know which role you may be required to play next.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“To understand why I would say that,” says Copenhaver, “I think we need only consider some of the elements of hospitality. For one, we are hospitable when we welcome someone to a safe place. To be sure, we do not live under the same threats as ancient near east travelers. Nevertheless, there are still so few safe places in our own time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Safety means freedom – as President Roosevelt put it, freedom from want, from fear, freedom of worship, of speech. Churches can offer that kind of freedom. My youth group in high school was a safe place, away from competition, being belittled, freeing all in our group to explore who we were for one another and for God. A critical moment for us came when we asked our youth minister if we could have communion when the group next met – in a private home. As far as he knew the group had never been permitted to do that before, but he knew of no reason why we couldn’t. So we did. It was a most intimate, sacred moment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Copenhaver points out that some individuals are themselves a kind of place where you can feel safe enough to let down your guard and be yourself. Their hearts are like sanctuaries. He says Henri Nouwen put it this way: “Hospitality means primarily the creation of a free space... The paradox of hospitality is that it wants to create emptiness, not a fearful emptiness, but a friendly emptiness where strangers can enter and discover themselves as created free, free to sing their own songs, speak their own languages, dance their own dances.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For Copenhaver, hospitality, welcoming the stranger, also means accepting differences. He recalls Will Rogers being remembered for saying, “There are no strangers, just friends I haven’t met yet.” But there are some strangers we would not choose as friends. Perhaps they are strange. But hospitality insists that they be welcomed in and they are not asked to change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This can be a most difficult task for church people. We operate conditionally in the world, and it carries over into the community of faith. Our inclination is to welcome the stranger, but to do so with our hidden agendas. We invite them in on the condition that within a reasonable amount of time they (take<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a shower) (accept Christ) (learn English) (be baptized). We are willing to accept them as they are for a while, but eventually they need to come around. True hospitality makes no such demands.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Copenhaver finally defines generosity as a mark of hospitality. “ I don’t mean the kind of generosity that leads us to share a little bit of what we have with others. Rather, true hospitality requires that we begin to loosen the grip of those distinctions between what is mine and what is yours.” He relates the story in Genesis:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In Copenhaver’s words, Abraham sees three men, three strangers approaching his tent. He doesn’t even wait for them to arrive. Instead, he runs out to meet them and says, “My lords, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and a morsel of bread—just a morsel—that you may refresh yourselves, for I am your servant.” And then, once Abraham is on the other side of the tent door, he says to Sarah, “Quick, get three big sacks of flour and make cakes.” He takes a calf—the one he was saving for a grand occasion—and gives it to his servant to be prepared. Then Abraham takes milk and makes cheese. All of that without a pantry chef. When he is done, he lays the meal before his guests. (Mind you, this is before he knows who these guests are.) And Abraham stands by while the guests eat their fill of that “little morsel” he had promised them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Copenhaver: “For the most part, we are not prepared to recognize the extent to which hospitality requires generosity. We are people who say in a thousand ways that good fences make good neighbors. What is mine is mine, and what is yours is yours. But the hospitable spirit says, What is mine is yours. The hospitable spirit holds possessions with open hands. Understood in this way, hospitality is not a trivial thing, but the quality on which the whole of Christian ethics rests.” In <u>Les Miserables</u> by Victor Hugo, the thief Jean Valjean is granted refuge in a mountain church, but awakens in the night to steal the church’s silver communion settings and run away. Dragged back by the police, he is taken to the priest, who says that the silver wasn’t stolen, but was a gift. And to Valjean: “Here. You forgot the candlesticks.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“The Hasidic masters tell the story of a rabbi who disappeared every Sabbath Eve to commune with God in the forest -- or so his congregation thought. Then one Sabbath night they sent one of their cantors to follow the rabbi and observe the holy encounter. Deeper and deeper into the woods the rabbi went until he came to the small cottage of an old Gentile woman, sick to death and crippled into a painful posture. Once there, the rabbi cooked for her and carried her firewood and swept her floor. When the chores were finished, he returned immediately to his little house next to the synagogue. Back in the village, the people demanded of the one they'd sent to follow him, "Did our rabbi go up to heaven as we thought?" "Oh, no," the cantor answered after a thoughtful pause, "our rabbi went much, much higher than that."”<a href="file:///C:/Users/Michael/Documents/Practicing%20Our%20Faith/Blog%20Christian%20Practices.docx" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hospitality is generous unconditional welcome – and generous service.<br /><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span> <br />
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/Michael/Documents/Practicing%20Our%20Faith/Blog%20Christian%20Practices.docx" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"> Copenhaver, Marvin B. “Practicing Our Faith – Entertain Angels.” Wellesley Congregational Church, March, 1999. Many thanks to Marvin for his attention to the Christian Practices, especially this sermon on hospitality. It and many other resources can be found on the website, <a href="http://www.practicingourfaith.org/">http://www.practicingourfaith.org</a> .</span></div>
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/Michael/Documents/Practicing%20Our%20Faith/Blog%20Christian%20Practices.docx" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"> Ibid</span></div>
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/Michael/Documents/Practicing%20Our%20Faith/Blog%20Christian%20Practices.docx" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Joan Chittister, from "There Is a Season," excerpted from <em><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Spiritual Literacy, Reading the Sacred in Everyday Life</span></em>, p. 343, in Norfleet, Agnes W. “Practicing Hospitality” </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.5pt; line-height: 115%;">North Decatur Presbyterian Church Decatur, Georgia.</span></div>
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Pastor Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12033220146218366086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-66228173774068384452014-03-14T06:08:00.001-07:002014-03-24T10:35:52.676-07:00Songs for Thought♪ You can't run when you're holding suitcases ♪
I think the song "Suitcases" by Dara Maclean is a great song for Lenten introspection. What extra baggage am I carrying that's holding me back from following God?
♪ Anything I put before my God is an idol ♪
Need a song that cuts right to the heart of it? Try Jimmy Needham's "Clear the Stage".
Sometimes, you just need to think in song lyrics.
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/6smGew7dGto" width="560"></iframe><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065031867873538803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-11075490169584401842014-03-13T08:20:00.003-07:002014-03-13T08:20:39.320-07:00Christian Practices - Consumerism<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />Christian Practices are built on the notion that God encourages us to live out our lives in certain ways. Consumerism focuses on how we deal with stuff (material possessions) in ways that deepen our relationship with God, other people, and the whole created world. Christian practices can help us figure out the difference between good stuff and bad stuff and let go of stuff we don’t need. We're told to get jobs that will be fulfilling - monetarily fulfilling, socially fulfilling, stuff fulfilling. You can't be whole without a lot of money, cars, getting all the new gadgets you can, at least one recreational vehicle, a TV in every room, and this list goes on. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of us grew up thinking we needed to own certain things to be whole people. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">George Carlin says that for many the meaning of life is stuff. Carlin says, “A house is just a place with a lid on it to put your stuff,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>while you go out and get more stuff. Sometimes you have to go get a bigger house so you can get even more stuff.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He talks about going on vacation to visit other people and there is no place for your stuff <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>because their stuff is piled everywhere. If you get too much stuff you have to put some of it in storage. There’s a whole industry dedicated to piling up our stuff. When you go on vacation you have to bring some of your stuff with you. Not all of it. Just the stuff you need. Two bags, a carry-on and the stuff in your pockets. So even though you’re a long way from home you’re ok, because you still have some of your stuff.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So what is the deal? What is this obsession over materials? And how does being Christian fit in with it all? How can we be a Christian in a society that insists that money is everything, social status is everything, and having everything we want is a normal feeling? How do we balance career, family, goals, and being a Christian? What does the church say about stuff and money?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Think about how we use our money and stuff. Do we hoard it? Are we frivolously spending what we earn? Are we willing to help those in need- whoever they are? And what about the Bible? What does it have to say about money? Jesus talks about money a lot, and in many different ways. For example, we are told that a widow gives all that she has while others only give of some (Mark 12:41-44); a rich man is to give all that he has (Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18:18-30); it is hard for a rich person to get into heaven (Mark 10:24-25, Luke 21:1-4); and that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jesus tells this parable in Matthew 25:14-27:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">14 "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">19 "After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.' </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">21 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' 22 "The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.' 23 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">24 "Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' 26 "His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How would you summarize this teaching? In our culture, how do our possessions define us? How does Jesus define his servants?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We might be defined by the kind of car we drive, the clothes we wear, the house we live in. Jesus defines his servants on the basis of their willingness to risk for the benefit of their master.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Paul says to Timothy (</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1 Tim 6:17-19)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Paul is affirming than an attitude of faith leads to a lifestyle of kindness, generosity, and sharing. What stands in the way of that lifestyle? What are the “realities” that cause us to hold back our resources for our own benefit?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Consumerism is about choices. We look for ways to be Christians in the world we live in, at home, in the work place, as we walk down the street, while we grocery shop. In fact, the very stuff we have and the money we earn can be and is a part of how we can be and are Christians in the world. And just because we do not have money or stuff to give to others, we always have ourselves to give. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We use our gifts to help those in need, be it through our money, our stuff, or even our bare hands. As we live and work in the world, we can be mindful of what we have been given and who has given these gifts to us. And the best way to use these gifts is to share with those around us. We can share the stuff that we have, and the money we have earned, in a way that will serve God and serve other people in this world. That is what God has given us: the talents we bring to this world to use in our relationships, not only with God, but also with everyone we meet. Ask yourself, how do I use my stuff, my money, my talents? How can I use them to help out my fellow human being-no matter their background? Who is my neighbor? How can I help those in need? <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></div>
<br />Pastor Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12033220146218366086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-16432927833338113492014-03-05T10:30:00.001-08:002014-03-24T10:22:39.570-07:00Ash Wednesday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-48727681824735642042013-03-08T10:45:00.001-08:002013-03-08T10:45:17.574-08:00Joy on the Way to the Cross<br />
<img height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUcS2CBu4kzcbkU6_bYmoWwHv8VIGQORTn3xEg-wQr1LPyGsOTSubUhasaaGuvacvthYYbmMvJSkJakPknQggcPlxT0xsoKAESR1eBdTAQl-ywzNYpq7T8oFmGGX9SCagbtQjwK22V_4xW/s320/isaiah-43-18-19-copy-1024x768.jpg" width="320" /><br />
It is interesting. As I read the lections for March 17 and try to find appropriate readings, that I notice that many of them are so very joyful and hopeful.<br />
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Is 43: 16-31--"I am about to do a new thing"<br />
Ps. 126--When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion<br />
Phil 2:4-14--I press on toward the upward calling<br />
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only the gospel text hints at the coming of the crucifixion through the words and actions of Jesus.<br />
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From this side of the cross, we view difficulty of holy week with both trepidation and joyful anticipation, We know that while we remember the horror of the crucifixion, Friday is not the final word. Easter Sunday is the final word. We must not forget the cross, but thank God from our perspective we know that the cross is not the end of the story. And thank God, that even through the lectionary readings, we are reminded of this truth.Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-10368827362451307922013-03-06T16:10:00.002-08:002013-03-06T16:10:56.845-08:00Lenten Discipline and the Name It Claim It Pseudo-GospelRecently I preached a sermon focused on one of the seven churches of Revelation. The Scripture (in Revelation 2) said to the church, encouraged the people that "although they were poor, they were rich". Meaning that even though they were experiencing present economic and political hardship as a congregation, they were rich in the things that really mattered, such as faith, love, and honor.<br />
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One of the members of our worshiping community also attends a congregation that preaches an extreme form of the prosperity gospel. If anything bad happens to you, or if anything is difficult for you, or if you are not wealthy, it is because somehow you have failed spiritually. Somehow this text spoke to him about how wrongheaded the gospel of "name it and claim it" is.<br />
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Interestingly, my friend shared with me another experience. He is teaching youth spiritual disciplines. He approached this pastor about teaching about fasting during the season of Lent. The pastor reacted very strongly against any mention of the season of Lent, calling it "legalism". Why would this pastor reject Lent? At first, I thought because of its relationship to liturgical and Catholic teaching. Now I think different. I think this pastor rejected Lenten discipline because Lent trains the body and the soul in the healing and redemptive nature of self-denial and suffering. By embracing the fast of Lent, or any fast for that matter, one has to believe that going without something one loves or desires helps one grow, has the potential to bring one closer to Christ, and to help one understand how to be rich while experience the "poverty" of something.<br />
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Lent is about going to the cross with Christ. The prosperity gospel is about escaping the cruciform nature of the life of discipleship. The name and claim it gospel, in fact, attempts to treat the cross as a candy-dispenser of grace, forget about the suffering savior, and run directly to the empty tomb in triumph. As a result, the movement preaches a bastard half-gospel of salvation that attempts to transform the God of the universe into a step and fetch it bitch of the faithful instead of the Sovereign Master of all.<br />
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So I encourage you, as you embrace a Lenten fast, to take the opportunity to remember that God is God, and you are not.<br />
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<br />Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-68302651126829788832013-02-18T06:20:00.000-08:002013-02-18T06:20:15.253-08:00Spiritual Discipline In our congregation, it's the youth who really "get" Lent. Sometimes, it has seemed like the older folks in the congregation haven't even heard of Lent before. We've always tried to encourage the youth to dig into the Lenten season, more than just "giving something up" but really understanding why we do what we do and really getting ready for Easter.
This year, some of the youth are giving things up for Lent. My son, for example, is giving up sweets. He is having a very difficult time with this. On Valentine's Day, faced with so many delicious goodies that were out of reach, the idea of giving up sweets literally brought him to tears. His dad has graciously agreed to give up sweets with him, and that support has seemed to help a lot. It also opened a "teachable moment" to talk about Christ and what He gave up for us.
However, with the youth this year, we're also trying something new. A pastor friend of ours suggested that Lent could be a time to add a new spiritual discipline to our lives. So, several of us are "adding" instead of "giving up". For example, I've added reading to my morning devotions (2 chapters of the Bible and a study book). My husband is adding a random act of kindness each day. My daughter is adding liturgical dance to her worship time each day.
But here is the most unusual thing about Lent in our congregation this year: everybody's doing it.
That's right; the whole congregation is on board this year.
Our new pastor (his second year with us) offered an Ash Wednesday service again this year. There was a great turn-out -- nearly as many as we have on Sunday morning! Not only was attendance good, but we also had many people "on board" with the idea of "giving up" something for Lent (or adding spiritual disciplines).
Our little church may not be growing astronomically in number, but we are slowly making spiritual growth. And really, isn't that what it's all about?
<i>(By the way, if you have a book you'd recommend I study personally, let me know. I've finished my first book, Paul Tillich's Dynamics of Faith, and need suggestions.)</i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065031867873538803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-52344684770004565962013-02-14T09:35:00.003-08:002013-02-14T09:35:50.774-08:00Resisting Consumer Spirituality<img height="298" src="https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/308095_10151249031846372_2009211002_n.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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If one devotional is good, isn't ten better? Not necessarily, but this has been my mentality often times as I attempt to get focused with my devotional life. Why not, instead of doing just one set of devotions, try and do several? Why not get all you can get?<br />
<br />
I have improved in the last several months in the discipline of having a daily devotional time. My problem is, I am awfully unfocused. For instance, one week I do the Common Prayer devotional from Shane Claiborne et. al. The next week I use the Divine Hours. Then I use the Daily Feast devotional with my Explore! book of the liturgical readings for the year all printed out. Then I may pick up some reading plan for a week. Then the Book of Common Worship's daily devotional guide. The guide to prayer for ministers and other servants sits next to my computer. And my desire to know and experience everything waters down my experience of any one devotional.<br />
<br />
But this is the way I, and I suspect a few others, experience our spiritual journeys. Lets get in on all the experiences! Lets get in on every committee!. Lets go to every service! And why belong to one church when you can just flitter along and visit all of them?<br />
<br />
The problem is, this attitude leads us to a lack of focus. We skim the surface of a lot of things, but we never really go deep with anything in particular. We have a lot of ideas, but we don't let the truth seep down past the topsoil of our soul and really take root. We live as consumers instead of disciples. We become connoisseurs instead of committed. It really isn't healthy.<br />
<br />
<b>During Lent will you join me in going deep instead of skimming the surface of our faith? Will you identify consumer spirituality in your life, and begin to eliminate it and replace it with committed discipleship? I hope you will!</b><br />
<br />
<br />Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-62860176388366431632013-02-13T15:50:00.001-08:002013-02-13T15:50:17.492-08:00Ash Wednesday Sermon--Psalm 51--The Excellency of a Broken Heart<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Most of you know that I like books. If you have any doubt
about the fact, all you need to do is to look at the walls of my office, or the
basement of our house, or the bookshelf in our bedroom, or the desk in the
living room….I digress. Having said that, there are a few books that have had a
huge impact on my life, my thought, my beliefs. One of those books is called
“The Acceptable Sacrifice”, and it is a book by John Bunyan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The name John Bunyan may be familiar to some of you. (He
is no relation to Paul Bunyan, the mythical logger with statues built in his
honor in Minnesota).He was a rather well-known rabble rouser of a preacher in
his time, as well as a well-known author after he died. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">John was converted from a self-serving, pleasure-seeking
life to a life surrendered to Jesus Christ when he was 25. He quickly became a
deacon, and after a while, a preacher of the gospel in the Independent and
Baptist churches that he preached in. Since it was, at his time, illegal to
lead a church that was not a part of the church of England, and illegal to
preach the gospel in places like fields and prairies, he was arrested for his
activities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Once Bunyan ended up in jails in England, he began to
write in order to instruct people in faith while he was a prisoner. One of the
books he wrote was a book called Pilgrims Progress, an allegory of the
Christian life that rates second in book sales in the English language all time
(the Bible ranks first all time).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The book I hold in my hand is a book he was writing
before he died. It is shorter than most books for that reason. And it was
published four years after his death. “The Acceptable Sacrifice” looks at Psalm
51 as a guide for Christian spiritual formation. And what Bunyan concluded, in
a way that runs counter-cultural to his time and ours, is that one of God’s
greatest gifts is a broken heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Well, as much as I tried to argue with his points, I
could not really do it. Bunyan’s words were firmly grounded in this Psalm of
David. They are firmly grounded not in this passage, but throughout Scripture.
God’s seems to best in cracked pots, in hearts that allow God to break them, in
the contrite, the needy, the desperate, and those who are lost without Christ,
and wholly dependent on him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is helpful to see what sacrifices are less important
to God. Look at verse 16. Sacrifice is not as important. Burnt offerings are
not what God desires. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In other words, in contemporary English, a broken and
contrite heart is more valuable to God than what you can do for him. A broken
spirit is a better gift to God than any amount you can throw in the offering
plate. A broken heart is more honored by God than any words you can say, any
song you can sing, any prayer you can squeak out. Instead of any of these
things, God wants to see you humbled and needy, broken and helpless.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When David wrote Psalm 51, he wrote it after he had been
confronted about the sin and the deceit that was present in his life. Everyone
had seen it, but him. Everyone had noticed his apathy and selfishness, his sin
and the evil way he had treated people with but Him. And when he was confronted
with his sin, when he had his face rubbed in the truth of his wrongdoing by
someone who cared enough to risk life and limb to confront him, he wrote this
Psalm. He realized that it all started with a contrite heart. A broken spirit.
His life changed when he had to come to God helpless, without excuses, without
bravado, with nothing to offer, and nothing that could make up for anything
that he had done wrong, and simply admit that he could not do life, at least a
good life on his own. He needed to place his life in God’s hands, and let God
do with it as he wished.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We are more like David than we care to admit. I am not
talking about the Psalm 51 David that is full of repentance. I am talking about
the pre-Psalm 51David who paid no attention to the fact that he mistreated
Bathsheba, committed adultery, and then to cover up adultery committed
murder—even though everyone else noticed and shook their heads. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We have a tremendous propensity to ignore, forget about,
avoid, and push away dealing with our own sinfulness. Furthermore, we have a
way of minimizing, justifying, and sometimes even celebrating those sins we
cannot simply ignore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We can only hope that God sends us someone who stops dead
in our tracks, and holds up a mirror to our lives, and helps us realize just
how lost, wretched and helpless we are. We can only help that somehow God stops
us in our tracks and challenges us to turn around and change.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We tell ourselves that our sin doesn’t matter, and it
rots our souls from the inside out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We tell ourselves that our sin doesn’t hurt anyone, but
our angry outbursts, and our unhealthy habits poison our relationships, our
work, and our world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The sacrifice God finds acceptable is a broken heart. A
broken and contrite spirit. The author of the Psalm says this in direct
relationship to the sin he had treasured and ignored in his own life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If we cannot look at the sin in our own lives, if we
cannot look at God, and see how our sin has broken his heart, has prevented us
from being able to have the impact and influence in his kingdom that he wanted
us to have, then we need to examine ourselves a little further.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If we cannot look at how the sin in our lives has hurt
and pained the ones we hold most dear, and let that break our hearts, we need
to pray that God will teach us humility and give us hope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And so we begin the journey of Lent. The journey with
Jesus toward the cross. Many of us take on a spiritual practice of fasting from
something we love, or adding a habit we need in our lives during this season.
We don’t do this in an effort to somehow make God happy with us for a while. We
do this to bring ourselves closer to God. When we strip away that habit or
pleasure we enjoy, we learn to be more humble and broken, and depend on God for
what we need. We find that we lean on thousands of small things for
satisfaction and happiness instead of turning to God. And when we add a
spiritual practice into our lives, we make room for God to enter our lives in a
new way. As we fail and have to begin again in our Lenten journeys, we also
come to a point where we allow God to help us identify and surrender to him
those empty and broken places in our lives. Either way, the practice of Lenten
is not a virtue in itself, it is a path toward the Acceptable Sacrifice, the
broken and humble heart that can be molded by God to do his will. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Amen .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-5265329058885910972012-03-12T08:32:00.003-07:002012-03-12T09:12:04.096-07:00Spiritual Practice vs. Self-ImprovementI decided to try something a little different for Lent this year. I am attempting to give up complaining. When you work in ministry and the bulk of your job is finding volunteers and dealing with people, this may have been a most impossible task.<br /><br />At first, I noticed how much I do it. Then I just kept my mouth shut almost all the time. Then I began to realize that when people close to me (i.e. the ones I can confide in about the struggles of ministry) asked me how I was doing, I had to turn to "lying" in a sense - I couldn't complain. What used to be "I'm really struggling" as an answer, turned into "I'm okay" I knew by answering the first way would lead to complaining.<div><br /></div><div>Even now, I feel like I'm complaining.<br /><br />I've also been struggling with the idea of Lent this year in general... I wrote a 6 week curriculum called <a href="http://www.firstpresbyteriancasagrande.com/multipage.php?id=11733">"The Purpose and Practice of Lent"</a> that the Topical Adult Class is doing on Sunday mornings now.<br /><br />I spent a good part of February researching and writing for the class and it has given me some different perspectives on what I've made Lent out to be and what it actually is. It's not really that I had it wrong - for it is, indeed, about sacrifice. But over the years I neglected one very particularly moving aspect of Lent - the journey. The journey of walking with Christ in the desert. A journey where the sacrifice was not the end-game, but the whole point in the first place.<br /><br />As I was finishing up the curriculum, a friend from college posted a on his blog about Lent and I ended up pondering a particular part of his post: <i>"The stuff we tend to give up for Lent is the stuff you should give up anyway. "Fasting (what we typically mean when we talking of “giving something up”) is not about doing without “something you LOVE,” but doing without something you need. We should be limiting our chocolate and alcohol intake anyway, "</i> he wrote. Which, at first, led me to a lot of righteous indignation. But my pattern is that I always start there when I someone is right and convicting me in my own sin and I simply don't want to admit it.<br /><br />Then the kicker (for me) of what he wrote: <i>"If you’re anything like me, you have to fight making spiritual practice into a self-improvement project."</i> What is so often all too easy for me to do is make it all about me. That's what I've done with Lent, while cloaking it in the idea that I'm making a sacrifice for my Lord.<br /><br />So my journey of not complaining this Lenten season has been a bit frustrating. At first the idea of "giving up" complaining was a compromise. To me, it was also about taking on a spirit of joy and contentment I needed to project to those around me. But i do believe I've failed.<br /><br />In the beginning of the season, it was about how much I felt myself do it, and consciously having to stop. And now that's turned into I may not even notice I'm doing it anymore - which is more bad than the first thing. This is where I'm at on my journey, and I am searching for a way for that block on my heart to be removed, so that, ironically, I can guard my heart against my own sin.<br /><br /><div><span>You can read the complete post from my college friend <a href="http://landonwhitsitt.com/2012/02/19/giving-up-chocolate-and-beer-for-lent-is-not-what-jesus-had-in-mind/">here</a>.</span></div></div>stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14760765831975016535noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-4711463039878940822012-03-05T07:30:00.000-08:002012-03-05T07:30:06.070-08:00Prayer for Lent from the Book of Common PrayerO God, your glory is always to have mercy.<br />
Be gracious to all who hve gone astray from your ways,<br />
and bring them wih penitent hearts and steadfast faith<br />
to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word,<br />
Jesus Christ your Son,<br />
who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reighns,<br />
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-12104553251032356412012-02-27T08:42:00.002-08:002012-02-27T08:42:52.759-08:00A strange lenten discipline<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
I decided to do something a little different for Lent this year. I am shaving every day for Lent.<br />
<br />
This idea came into my head in the middle of leading the Ash Wednesday service at United Churches. The gospel text for Ash Wednesday was the "do not be like the hypocrites" passages from Matthew 6. As I was preparing this in the light of Lent, the idea that is important to be vulnerable to God and others kept running through my mind.<br />
<br />
There are several reasons why I have facial hair most of time. My wife thinks I look sexier with facial hair, and her opinion in this regard is important to me. I don't like to shave. I have a very limited amount of body hair in the first place, and the end of my chin is the only place where it seems to grow well. I have always dreamed of having a full beard, or even a respectable mustache, or a full goatee, but I have consistently failed in this regard. <br />
<br />
First and foremost; however, I grow facial hair at the bottom of my chin because of vanity. I have a round face. When I do not shave, the hair at the bottom of my face breaks up the chubbiness of my face. When I do shave, as I have chosen to do for Lent, my face looks rounder, and a double chin becomes more prominent.<br />
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I chose to shave for Lent in order to be more vulnerable and less vain. I find both concepts difficult to put into practice, and yet important. I see shaving for Lent a good step in the right direction.<br />
<br />
As for the rest of my Lenten discipline...since it does not show itself on my face, I am not going to share it. Something about those Matthew 6 passages tell me secrecy is the better route in that regard.Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-10619062364090548422012-02-15T06:23:00.000-08:002012-02-15T06:23:48.396-08:00Countdown to Ash WednesdayAsh Wednesday is just one week away. Anyone counting down to the beginning of Lent? Or maybe just counting down until Mardi Gras?<br />
<br />
Once again, our church is shying away from "services". Maybe it's just the word "services" that spooks them. At any rate, my hubby and I talk to our youth about Lent. I think the kiddos know more about Lent (and Lenten "services") than the adults of our church!<br />
<br />
Hmm, that sounds like a challenge...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065031867873538803noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-50269109307101777112011-04-01T17:50:00.000-07:002011-04-01T17:50:07.675-07:00Pondering's of People we LoveMark and I made several car trips to Seattle this week that were, of course, during rush hour. Strange conversations can come while you are sitting in traffic...<br />
<br />
Pondering a situation with people we know and love dearly, we debated about if/how we could help. It is one of the truly difficult parts of being in relationships. On the one hand, we truly want to love and accept these people where they are, as they are, with no judgement or strings attached... On the other hand, we can see how easy it is to settle into old thought patterns or choices and not do the hard work they have told us they want to be about. Hmmmm. Risk saying something? Watch as old self-destructive patterns play out?<br />
<br />
Tough stuff really, isn't it? I think this may be one of the toughest conversations we have about community life. When you choose to be involved in a community, you choose, sometimes by default, to have other people "in your business" so to speak. And most everyone I know is carrying the scars of a relationship gone bad. Jesus communities are famous for this. Someone saying something they shouldn't have. Judgement called down. Painful wounds inflicted. Scars carried forever. Someone leaves, sometimes forever.<br />
<br />
So we shy away from saying anything. But is <i>that</i> the Jesus way? I really don't know. On the one hand, I believe God is big enough to do whatever work is necessary. On the other hand, my life has been truly blessed (and transformation enhanced) by people I love, who took that very risk and spoke <i>with love</i> the hard stuff to me. I can still name the people and the situations. They called me accountable to who I said I wanted to be, and held a mirror up to me. I loved them, and while I was angry for a while, I knew they were telling me the truth and shining light on something I would rather pretend wasn't there.<br />
<br />
But I too have had those other experiences. Where I feel judged, and not enough, and like the yardstick has been placed beside me to show me just how little I am and how far I fall short.<br />
<br />
<i>*SIGH and double sigh*</i><br />
<br />
So I don't really have an answer here. I do know, as Jesus followers, we all are to "take on the mind, spirit and attitude of Christ"** and I know that old destructive patterns <i>are not</i> that attitude. So how do we call each other to be all that we are created to be and leave the judgement in the trash outside? How do we love people into kingdom life? How do we heal old hurts and help each other move further and deeper into Christ? How do we balance "being real" with living "transformed" lives?<br />
<br />
K<br />
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**Philippians 2:5Mark & Kathleen Rambohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02710957485854986203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-72115486489589538712011-03-30T09:10:00.000-07:002011-03-30T09:20:58.615-07:00Already Slacking...Well, we have weeks to go and I am already slacking on my Lenten promise. I have often given up things for lent, sugar, chocolate, etc... The normal type stuff. One year I decided that whenever I walked into a room I would sit in the most uncomfortable chair instead of comfortable ones. That was probably the easiest year because honestly, there just aren't that many really bad chairs out there... Well, this year, instead of giving something up I decided to add something. I added 1 hour a day of prayer/devotions/bible study on top of what I already was doing. It ends up usually to be about 40 minutes in the morning and 20 at night. Yesterday I did the full hour for the first time in 3 days. Yep - I'm a slacker and I feel bad about it. Why do I act like a yo yo with God? He is consistent yet I am so inconsistent in my devotion. The thing that really confuses me is that when I spend all that extra time with God I LOVE it...so why do I have to force myself to do it? I have no idea!reliv4lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09826277628698026256noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-91321155048094872872011-03-26T15:54:00.000-07:002011-03-26T16:40:17.380-07:00Longing<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBghI1HUVS4Sx0ID8vx0-6CTkdKXDDew219UUPThcsDFBiazQYvlIrqC2KsmxbLLwGYrEDKshgLqJoy1JapyeV0rvg3Oz9qm7bIsNsQMFQF-ZWLrdBfY1lQ46ISIPRKpOqg8iB_pfRlkc/s1600/Broken_heart-.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBghI1HUVS4Sx0ID8vx0-6CTkdKXDDew219UUPThcsDFBiazQYvlIrqC2KsmxbLLwGYrEDKshgLqJoy1JapyeV0rvg3Oz9qm7bIsNsQMFQF-ZWLrdBfY1lQ46ISIPRKpOqg8iB_pfRlkc/s200/Broken_heart-.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588537015773650498" /></a> Aside from giving up coffee and soda for Lent, I also gave up going to Starbucks. I love their tea, their smoothies, their lemon loaf... so I would have had many other reasons to go there aside from the "no coffee" rule. <br /><br />I live in a town that has Starbucks in three different grocery stores. I was at one of those stores yesterday, and as I walked through the Bakery section, Starbucks was on the left and the smell hit me. Mmmmmmmm. I love the smell of coffee, especially the smell of Starbucks coffee. It immediately transports me back to seminary, because there was a Starbucks on every corner and it was a great place to study. You could usually find me at one of their locations on Thursday and Sunday nights, as well as Saturday mornings. (I lived in a house with 5 other girls so the house was not the best place to get some work done.)<br /><br />Does anyone else feel their heart hurt when they long for something? I was exploring a Doctorate program at a seminary a few days ago and I got this ache. I feel it when I miss someone, or when I remember a tough time in my life, or I feel it when my heart breaks. It really just does feel like an ache... and painful sense of longing for something that I want to be different in my life. Sometimes it's something I can change, sometimes it's something I can't, sometimes it's something I need to work on, and when it comes to Lent, I recognizing it's something I want to WANT to change. I didn't feel that ache at Starbucks yesterday, but I didn't recognize my emotion as "longing" and it got me thinking.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">How lovely is your dwelling place,<br />O Lord of hosts!<br />My soul longs, yes, faints<br />for the courts of the Lord;<br />my heart and flesh sing for joy<br />to the living God.</span> -Psalm 84:1-2<br /><br />In desiring a grande soy carmel macchiato, I saw that my soul longs for the wrong things. So often, my soul longs for comfort (see my previous post). As I read through Psalm 84 today, I was struck by the last two verses:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">For a day in your courts is better<br />than a thousand elsewhere.<br />I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God<br />than dwell in the tents of wickedness.<br />For the Lord God is a sun and shield;<br />the Lord bestows favor and honor.<br />No good thing does he withhold<br />from those who walk uprightly.<br />O Lord of hosts,<br />blessed is the one who trusts in you</span>! - v. 10-12<br /><br />I think it's no coincidence that the last verse mentions trust in the Lord. It's given me much to pause on this day.stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14760765831975016535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-66332753872057395042011-03-24T08:46:00.000-07:002011-03-24T08:56:14.709-07:00one month to go!I just looked at the calender and realized it is the 24<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">th</span> of March. Exactly one month until Easter. In some ways that seems long - but we know it will be here before we blink. Life has a way of doing that - flying by even when we think we have all the time in the world.<br /><br />Twenty four is a nice number - it is even and two also divides nicely into four. I like nice even numbers. I don't know why - something within me feels peaceful when I see a nice number <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">divisible</span> by 2. Maybe because math was hard for me and 24 seems like a good number to work with. Much better than say 13 or something.<br /><br />My life is like that - I like things to feel good and right. I like it when things are smooth and easy. But let's face it - that is seldom the case. If I have learned anything in my over 42 years on this planet it is that if things are great - just wait a minute. There WILL be a crisis. It is inevitable. I would like to think I am getting better at handling those... but sometimes I still find myself flat on my butt with the rug pulled out from under me.<br /><br />So, one more month of Lent. Wonder where we will be? Wonder if we will have allowed God to do what He wants to in us by April 24<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">th?</span> I pray I listen and don't waste this month. I DO want to be more of who He wants me to be - but am I willing to let go of the easy and comfortable to get there? I pray for bravery to do so.reliv4lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09826277628698026256noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-89005720767488031092011-03-20T20:15:00.000-07:002011-03-20T21:03:12.816-07:00On Again, Off AgainI've got my skype on and one of my friends keeps coming online and then offline due to her connection and there is a box that shows up on my screen each time. <br /><br />On Again, Off Again.<br /><br />It reminds me of my life with God right now. Lent is only 2 weeks in and I've not read my devotions each morning. <br /><br />On Again, Off Again.<br /><br />Wait, let me run to the kitchen table and read my devotion. From two days ago.<br /><br />On Again, Off Again.<br /><br />Someone on the radio (I switch from country, to classic country, to classic rock to Christian, to public) was talking about how we have this wondeful gift in having God's word with us and we aren't even opening the book. I also just finished reading Brother Andrew's <span style="font-style:italic;"></span>God's Smuggler.<span style="font-style:italic;"></span><br /><br />On Again, Off Again.<br /><br />Eating healthy.<br /><br />On Again, Off Again.<br /><br />Reading a good book instead of watching <span style="font-style:italic;"></span>Big Bang Theory<span style="font-style:italic;"></span> for the umpeenth time.<br /><br />On Again, Off Again.<br /><br />Talking bad about my job, my boss, my co-workers only to do nothing about it, even when I shouldn't have been talking smack in the first place, knowing it's out of God's desire.<br /><br />On Again, Off Again.<br /><br />Wondering if I am spending more time being OFF AGAIN than ON AGAIN. <br /><br />Sigh.rubyslipperladyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13106784936760328911noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-27162127687099044482011-03-14T08:38:00.000-07:002011-03-14T09:34:46.285-07:00Already... a lessonSo, my first 5 days of Lent started out wonderful.... with me being sicker than a dog.<br /><br />I woke up Wednesday morning without a voice and by the afternoon I was so weak I could do little more than lay on the sofa and feel sorry for myself. I was scheduled to speak at a women's conference on Saturday, as well as lead worship at th e start of the day. So I did whatever I could not to talk in order to save my voice.<br /><br />Saturday morning came and I made it through, though not sounding great at least I had some voice. But after leading worship for 30 minutes, then giving a 45 minutes workshop twice I promptly went home and crashed. When I woke up I was starving (as well as feeling a bit sorry for myself that I wasn’t at my peak that morning in front of over 100 local women). I heated up some leftovers and made a decision: to open and drink that Diet Dr. Pepper I had on the door in my fridge.<br /><br />Let me back up:<br /><br />I gave up coffee and soda for Lent this year. Soda is a common thing for me to give up - I drink far too much of it, it's expensive and it's bad for you anyway. This is the first time I've felt I needed to give up coffee. I'm not a "need a cup every day" kind of person. But I do find myself gravitating toward to more often than I have in the past, so I added it to the list.<br /><br />So... back to Saturday. I opened that can of soda, heard that fizz of carbonation, and thought about Lent. Even before I open the can, as I was puttering around the kitchen making myself a plate of food, I kept thinking "Will I or won't I? Should I or shouldn't I? What does giving something up for Lent really mean, anyway? I'm not sure I really care that I stick to this anyway."<br /><br />I took the first few bites of food and felt this almost sizzle-like feeling in my mouth. I wanted that soda. So I took a drink.<br /><br />And it was disgusting.<br /><br />I hadn't had soda since Tuesday, and my taste-buds had already adjusted. Each time I've given up soda for Lent in the past it's been hard to go back because it simply tastes so syrupy-sweet and decidedly saccharin. I had to ask myself why, when there was tea and water available to me, that soda was where I went for my "default"? And I can't really explain it... other than to say there is this satisfaction that happens in my brain when I take me first few drinks of any kind of carbonation. <br /><br />It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know where I'm going with this. <br /><br />Everyone, in one way or another, has a way they comfort themselves. For some it's taking to a certain friend. For some it's certain kinds of food or exercise. (I had a roommate in seminary who worked out 3 hours a day.) Some people like a good nap or watching a movie as a form of comfort... maybe it's reading a great book with a great cup of tea in your hand. I realized that soda had clearly become a form of that for me. I felt bad. I wanted to feel better. I think soda can do that for me. What was humbling (though not nearly humbling enough, for my great pride got in the way) for me was knowing that I have a much greater source of comfortable available to me. <span style="font-weight:bold;">And this, my friends, is why we celebrate Lent. To discover our idols, knock them off their pedestals and put what rightly belongs on the pedestal in the first place: God.</span><br /><br />The God of great comfort is waiting in the wings, wanting so badly to be the one I run to when I need comfort, satisfaction, and well, just to feel better. And I am choosing soda instead? What is wrong with me? It is in these kinds of revelatory moments that the devastation from the Fall brings me to my knees. I weep and mourn for the brokenness in my heart and in the world.<br /><br />But as the season of Lent doesn’t last forever… neither did the Fall. Jesus is redeeming the world, our hearts, and his people. May I not only live in the light of that fact, but learn to live in the light of his willingness and love for comforting me when I need it the most.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">O LORD, you are my God;<br />I will exalt you; I will praise your name,<br />for you have done wonderful things,<br />plans formed of old, faithful and sure.<br /><br />For you have made the city a heap, <br />the fortified city a ruin;<br />the foreigners’ palace is a city no more;<br />it will never be rebuilt.<br />Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;<br />cities of ruthless nations will fear you.<br /><br />For you have been a stronghold to the poor,<br />a stronghold to the needy in his distress,<br />a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;<br />for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall</span><br /><br /> -Isaiah 25: 1-4stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14760765831975016535noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-37264577449589484002011-03-11T11:17:00.000-08:002011-03-11T11:21:14.692-08:00From Revised Common Lectionary Prayers p. 77Righteous God,<br />in humility and repentance<br />we bring our failures in caring, helping, and loving<br />we bring the pain we have caused others,<br />we bring the injustice in society of which we are a part,<br />to the transforming powerof your grace.<br />Grant us the courage to accept the healing you offer<br />and turn again toward the sunrise of your reign,<br />that we may walk with you in the promise of your peace<br />you have willled for all the children of the earth,<br />and have made known to us in Christ Jesus. AmenFriar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3570518336420980858.post-419590104522750502011-03-10T08:04:00.000-08:002011-03-10T08:28:54.650-08:00from NouwenA friend gave me a Lenten devotional from the lectures of Henri JM Nouwen. I was standing in my kitchen this morning, drinking my tea and reading today's message. I was really struck by this morning's message and thought that even though it is not my own that I would share it with you to see your response. <br /><br />---------<br />From Fear to Love<br />Lenten Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son<br /><br />Every Child is Blessed<br />I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard form my Father. John 15:15<br /><br />We are all blessed in our very creation, and this blessing never leaves us. Our challenge is to claim our "original blessing" as children of the One who gave it to us. We may have been wounded by what is known as original sin, but we are healed by our original blessing. The original blessing, the unconditional love of God, was present in God's mind and heart long before our conception. It touches us from before our beginnings until after our deaths. It embraces us forever. Each of us is "a blessed one." That is our primary identity. <br /><br />Every time we take bread, bless it, break it, and give it, we summarize the whole movement of Divine Love. Jesus also takes (chooses) us, blesses us, breaks us with all our undeserved suffering, and gives us for others. Before we are broken we are blessed. We are not broken because of fault but because we are blessed sons and daughters, like Jesus.<span style="font-style:italic;"> Our brokenness allows us to be given in solidarity with all others in the world, just as bread is broken and given to many.</span> We constantly see Jesus doing this: he takes, he blesses, he breaks and he gives. That's what he does. Let us not forget that. Like Jesus, we also are taken, blest, broken and given, because, like Jesus, we are beloved sons and daughters from our very beginning.<br /><br />----------<br />The italics are mine and that's the line that really speaks to my heart. We are one. One body in Christ. When one suffers we all suffer. Really? Am I suffering with my brothers and sisters around the world? In my own neighborhood? Do I even know enough about them to suffer with them? I pray that the Lord will continue to open my eyes to see the suffering of the world that I may not only suffer with others but be motivated to action from that suffering. Action dictated by God, not me.rubyslipperladyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13106784936760328911noreply@blogger.com0