Talk About...

2008-02-05T22:47:00.000-05:00

What do you do when people are actively and intentionally fighting against ministry. I love my older adult Sunday School class, but they are fighting against the success of the contemporary service. They are lying about the pastor (and refusing to confront him) to try and run him off.

I feel like by being in that class I'm supporting (by association) what they are doing. I also feel that I've accomplished as much change as they will have.

Can I justify staying?
boink

2008-01-24T12:36:00.001-05:00

I like the point that ministry needs to be specialized when you're young and then it will grow with you...mostly. You're dead on that 70-something people don't "get" a postmodern lesson - though they're living in a postmodern world so there will be some bleedover - still, it's generally the traditional "Get out your Bibles and the lesson book - Ezra chapter 2... Okay - question #1 is..." in the older crowd. I still like to learn that way - I'm in the gap, I guess - since I'm probably a global learner...

Still, I hear gripes from the old people that "all the programing is for the young people," who say "all the programing is for the old people" - so who's getting all this programing? Here's my point again - ALL programing is age targeted. We have Sunday school classes for all ages here - and people group according to grade (if in school) or to, well, other people their age. The 20-30 somethings have a class that is missional focused and disciple building and, no surprise, is video based. The 30-50 somethings have a class that reads a variety of books and discusses them (I got them to read Erwin McManus and they LOVED it). The 50pluses have the very traditional little booklet of lessons for Bible study.

Point? The classes are taught by people in those age groups.

So - again, postmodern worship, by and large, ought to be led by postmodern people, eh? Dare I say it? Youth ministry ought to be led (that is - content guided) by GASP youth.

Children ought to have some kind of say in HOW they are taught, too.

But it's all about framework. It doesn't help for me to say, "Okay you 20 somethings. You think there's nothing here for you at church . What do you WANT?" Um...heh...uh...

How about, "Okay - we're starting a new worship service...bible study...small group...for people your age. How should we do it? What would engage you? What would make you come in the first place? What would make you come back?"

Um...not sure any of that said much of anything...

*boink*

2008-01-21T13:40:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it feels like everything in the church is done for the 50+ crowd. I know it isn't, but it sure feels that way sometimes.

My friend Rebecca and I went to see 27 dresses. We hated it. Every woman over 50 I have talked to has loved it. I think they made the movie for a younger crowd, but failed - and found an audience in the older gang.

The stereotype of "the Bingo church" is fading away, slowly. At one point I can't help but believe that Bingo was wildly popular for the youngins. I'm sure that it was hip at one point.

I guess what I'm trying to say is - ministry should be specialized when you're young because it will grow with you. My Sunday School class couldn't handle a postmodern lesson plan, but the kids need it. When they are old they'll still be needing that same lesson plan.

I'm kinda random. Do you think I'm on the right track?
Boink.

2008-01-15T11:19:00.001-05:00

Oh crap - there's the problem. Wisdom... comes with experience. Especially failure.

I've got no problem with age targeted ministry. My problem is with people who say to me, "YOU give me what I want/need/like whatever..."

Here's my unscientific case-study:

The crossing - coffeehouse with minstries targeting folks 20-40 (though everyone is welcome) being planned and executed (the ministries that is) by people who are...are you ready for this...in their 20s and 30s.

50 something divorced woman whines to me. "Why do THEY get what they want. What about stuff for single parents? What about stuff for divorced people? Who's going to do that for us?"

My answer? Um...you?

*boink*

2008-01-14T18:08:00.001-05:00

I couldn't possibly agree more ... but what is this, a political debate? I'd like to thank my beautiful wife and CNN?

I think that ministry is best when intergenerational ... but ... I feel that I could be talking about communism - I love it in theory; I haven't seen it work yet.

In my uber conservative class we talked about Jackson Pollock. The teacher was just too old and too conservative to get it. He saw no beauty ... and couldn't even admit that it was art. I was so pissed off I wanted to vomit (well, I wanted to vomit because I was sick, but his analysis didn't help.) I think sometimes that the leadership of the church is too old to understand what I need. And yeah, I'll be the first to say that it's self centered to think in these terms, but I can't help but think that any other thought is equally disasterous.

If we keep doing what we're doing we'll have no church in another 30 years.

So - my idea is simple. New churches that cater specifically to young people. My generation is the king of start-ups. We don't want to have to fight great aunt mildred for the right to play a damn guitar solo ... we want something new and fresh that speaks to us ... now ... how to temper that with wisdom?
boink

2008-01-14T09:39:00.000-05:00

Funny thing is...one of the reasons that I thought of "young adult ministries" is that some of the really successful "youth groups" here in Warren have kids hanging on into their mid-twenties... THAT can't be healthy...

I'm not talking about "mixer games and cosmic bowling" as young adult ministries. We're more looking at "alternatives to bars" to hang out and offering age level appropriate Bible studies. You gotta understand, too, that here "young adult" is stretched into the late 30s...

You're right in this - we have to target young people with children. But we also have to target young people without children (that was where First UMC was roundly criticized a couple years ago - stuff for kids, middle-aged people, older people, young people WITH kids...but that little group - and here it IS a little group - felt left out...of course, most of the stuff offered for "middle aged" was really for "all ages"...)

Hmmm - that little stream of consciousness bit made me realize that we're dealing with a bit of a "it's all about me" entitlement mentality. That which is offered for "everybody" isn't tailored enough for "me".

So - why have ANY age defined categories?

*boink*

2008-01-11T11:44:00.000-05:00

I've been wrestling with this issue. I think that a time of separationg is healthy. I think that we should focus young adult ministries on young families. It's weird that I'm not pushing for college age ministries, but I think that it promotes the idea that "youth group" should continue well into adulthood. I think that a break during college years ultimately helps people become healthy adults in the church.

I think the key is drawing young families and singles into the church after the time of separation.
Boink.

Young Adults - Why Go to Church?

2008-01-11T08:34:00.000-05:00

Okay - here's one thought. One of the reasons that we're trying to set up this "coffeehouse" here in Warren is that, frankly, we don't have a lot of young adults in church and we're thinking that maybe "church" as we have done it for the last 100 or so years isn't really "working" for people, say, under 40 quite as well is it is for people, say, over 60...

So - I want to try to distill church down to the God-honoring core - and offer THAT to those in their 20s and 30s...

*boink* to you Michael...

2008-01-10T22:39:00.000-05:00

So, topic for discussion. Young Adults in the church; yes or no.

Um WT(ahem)H(eck)?

2008-01-04T09:39:00.001-05:00

Wow - I've been away too long. I didn't even realize the world had ended... Does that mean I was...gasp...Left Behind tm ?

Mike - what the heck was this all about. I mean, Fox News...yeah...but...what?

Great picture, though :)

I love Foxnews.com

2007-12-04T11:42:00.001-05:00

I swear to God; this is the last day of human existence. The world will end. Soon.

Doom! Doom! Doom!

2007-12-02T14:57:00.000-05:00

Matthias Replace Judas
:Showbread

it is so that my transgressions have born a withered fruit,
the sun has scorched the rising plans;
alas they have no root, the bleached bones of animals bound by leather strips,
dance through the air with laughter as i wield this wicked whip,
as you did warn me carpenter, this world has weakened my heart,
so easily i disparage, self-seeking the work of my art,
and there you have come to me at the moment i bathe in my sorrow,
so in love with myself, sought after avoiding tomorrow,
where do you find the love to offer he who betrays you?
and offer to wash my feet as i offer to disobey you,
your beauty does bereave me, and how my words do fail,
so faithfully and dutifully i award you with betrayal,
the weak and the down trodden fall on broken legs,
as i walk past a smile i cast, fervor in my stead,
but my bones like plastic, do buckle backward now,
i lay in this field by Judas' bowels and anticipate the plow,
i can not be forgiven; my wages will be paid,
for those more lovely and admirable is least among the saved,
and where would i fit Jesus?
what place is left for me?
the price of atonement is more than i've found to offer up as my plea,
Jesus my heart is all i have to give to you, so weak and so unworthy,
this simply will not do, no alabaster jar, no diamond in the rough,
for your body that was broken, how can this be enough?
by me you were abandoned, by me you were betrayed,
yet in your arms and in your heart forever i have stayed

Your glory illuminates my life, and no darkness will descend,
for you have loved me forever, and your love will never end

So Hard to Say...

2007-11-05T07:24:00.000-05:00

"Ani Difranko saw the venomous unloving side of Christianity on her way into that building..."

That sentence shouldn't be possible to write. When did we twist and pervert the love of God and the grace of God into something that anyone could interpret as venomous and unloving? What in the world are we doing? God help us! We're not Christians anymore - we're just another religion, just another set of beliefs and creeds that we don't really believe or affirm. We need more Christians in abortion clinics - and in lawyers offices and in classrooms and...and in churches. Really. What does destroying someone with words outside of a clinic have to do with the one who died for our sins? The one who said, "Father forgive them, they don't know what they're doing." Why would any Christian expect someone who doesn't know Christ to live like they do? What kind of idiocy is that?

Um...the normal kind, unfortunately...

Are there really no better ways to oppose abortion than with hate?

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you... Where's the hate?

Jesus loves you...is that really so hard to say?

2007-10-28T22:39:00.000-05:00

What if we had more Christians working in abortion clinics?

It’s a scandalous question, but when I have shied away from a little controversy? There’s a song by Ani Difranko that tells of her abortion. She describes the picket lines of people yelling at her, and the cost and pain of the abortion procedure. It’s a very moving song, but one of the lines grips like no other.

“she offered her hand for me to hold
she offered stability and calm
and I was crushing her palm
through the pinch pull wincing
my smile unconvincing
on that sterile battlefield that sees
only casualties
never heros
my heart hit absolute zero
Lucille, your voice still sounds in me
mine was a relatively easy tragedy.”

It builds a haunting mental picture. Ani remembers two sets of people from that day: the Christians protesting her right to choose and the gentle woman who held her hand throughout the procedure.

Now that you see where the question comes from let’s get to the question. What if Christians weren’t the ones spewing hate, holding picket signs? What if Lucille had been a Christian? What if Ani had left that clinic with an understanding that Christians are caring, deeply compassionate people? Ani Difranko saw the venomous unloving side of Christianity on her way into that building, but what if the woman holding her hand had explained to her the grace and forgiveness of Christ?

It’s a scandalous question; but it’s also a scandalous grace.

The Leftover Communion Bread

2007-10-03T14:32:00.000-05:00

It had been just bread, but we blessed it and we consecrated it and now it was, for us, the body of Christ – or a symbol of that body, or something in-between. We ate of it with tears of sorrow, joy, emotion, shame, and love. It was beautiful.

And that which was left was left with me. I had two options. I could eat the rest or throw it to the birds. These fit nicely with our theology, I was told. I neither ate the bread nor threw it to the birds.

I was afraid that if I ate it I would eat it wrong. Is it okay to eat the Savior with PB&J? Can I toast the Risen one without offense? I was afraid that I would commit a sacrilege so I didn’t eat the bread.

I was afraid to feed the birds. My neighbors already think I’m nuts. Who is this mighty madman Methodist out feeding the birds with half a loaf of bread? I imagined I would wait till dark and do it in the secret of the night. But, I put it off, and put it off, and put if off some more.

Until one day I came upon the bread. Now stale and moldy, it resembled not the Lord I had known. I forgot all my reasons for not eating the remainder of the bread or for not throwing it to the birds. I only saw the stale, moldy bread.

I only saw my own life. When I was afraid to live in the joy of the life of Christ for fear of what other would say. When I was afraid to tell others that they would think me ridiculous. I watched the tough, green bread and saw not the Christ, but rather – my own life.

Simpsonize Me

2007-09-19T11:30:00.001-05:00

Christians...they don't understand me. You know, MOST of them, anyway. I'm not conservative enough - not liberal enough - 22% less judgmental than "Regular Christians..." Um...maybe make that 17% less...

Oh well, I gave up trying to impress people a while ago. If I can make God happy, I'll be happy. If I can help someone come to know Christ a little better, I'll be happy.

So - here's how I feel today : Simpsonized :)

2007-09-11T13:42:00.000-05:00

Do you ever get tired of Christians? I get tired of spending so much time around Christians. I bore of trite cliches. I'm sick of theological discussions. I am exhausted because I fail to see the light of Christ in many of the Christians around me.

Not all Christians. I try and surround myself with many Christians who are filled with His Holy Spirit, who speak the truth in love, and who are willing to live out their faith in every day life. But, there are many Christians of whom I grow weary.

I volunteered to teach a Sunday School class of middle aged adults using the book "No Perfect People Allowed" by John Burke. I love the book, but it's so outside of the box. I'm nervous that the people in the class will label it (and me) liberal - it does speak of a church that openly accepts gays and lesbians in non-leadership roles in the church.

I get in funky moods where I just don't want to be around any more Christians. I don't want people to pray for me (and much less for them to say they will pray for me and not mean it) and I don't want people to ask me if I am a calvinist.

I'm in one of those moods. I can't stand the people around me ... but ... (wait for it) ... "I love them in the Lord."

An Addendum

2007-08-31T09:07:00.000-05:00

This is from one of those "not quite Christian enough for the CCM industry" bands from the 90's - but I think the lyrics say a lot about faith and self-righteousness - and doubt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfEzfQnNMQM

Violent Blue

Hey, don't I know you from some other life?
you were wide-eyed and green and a little bit taller
and you didn't look away when spoken to

Do you still take two sugars?
you seem a little tense
and I can't help but notice how hard you appear
when I look into your eyes

a violent blue

Was it sudden? was it clean?
were there a lot of shades in between?

Step away
let off
throw it down
and lose yourself

Hey, are you in there?
or don't you recall when the perfume of belief was all we needed
it was all we needed to set our sights
So when did you throw out the rest of the world
deaf from the din of your self-righteous babble?
I think you've been blinded
by your own light

Was it hatred? was it pride?
or did you just have a lot to hide?

Come away
throw down
let it burn
and lose yourself

Passion
to ashes
to smouldering ruins
are you in there?
are you in there?

Am I boring you?
I could say more
we were destined for somewhere
but that was before you traded in your peace sign for a finger

And I don't believe it's the way you were raised
or the cards you were dealt
or a poor self-image
I think you love yourself too much

You want to rule some sovereign state?
you want to smother in all that hate?

Get away
lay down
strip it off
and lose yourself

Call Me Saint Bill...

2007-08-31T07:23:00.000-05:00

Too much we're taught that doubt is the opposite of faith - that "real" Christians never experience doubt.

Faith is born in doubt.

Every so often I think just how ludicrous this whole faith thing really seems.

Think about it - we trust some unseen presence to forgive us of sins that that unseen presence imposed on us to begin with - and we have to completely surrender...and...and...what about blood? I mean, why does someone else have to die for me? And what about...what about the miraculous? Huh? Where's MY miracle? And...well, there's a bunch of stuff that in my dark days I think to myself, "This can't possibly even be true."

And yet out of those moments faith blossoms.

Because I struggle with this great Truth that has been handed on to us. And I struggle with what it really means to follow Christ. And, God help me, I struggle with sin. Of course I'm in good company, right? "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." And still I wonder...and still I have doubts...

Doubt is not the opposite of faith. Yeah, we're taught it is. We have Doubting Thomas to beat up on. But, in the end, he falls to his knees and he's the first of the Twelve to confess that Jesus really is God - "My Lord, and My God!" And, man, there's another thing I can't wrap my head around...God - three in one - what? How?

Doubt is not the opposite of faith.

Tennyson wrote, "Faith lives in honest doubt."

Anne Lamott wrote in an article a couple years ago,

"The opposite of faith is not doubt: It is certainty. It is madness. You can tell you have created God in your own image when it turns out that he or she hates all the same people you do. The first holy truth in God 101 is that men and women of true faith have always had to accept the mystery of God's identity and love and ways."

(here - though the quote may also appear in her book Traveling Mercies).

Certianty is the opposite of faith.

Faith is born in doubt.

If that's so, go ahead and call me Saint Bill...'cause I'm deep in the dark of doubt right now...

2007-08-30T10:04:00.000-05:00

Time had an interesting article on Mother Teresa this week. Her collected letters and confessions was recently released to the public, and it occasionally shows a glimpse of spiritual darkness - sometimes a prolonged spiritual darkness.

The author of the article didn't get it. He (or she) worked from the assumption that for a saint to doubt is wrong. That assumption is wrong. Mother Teresa would never have become a saint if she hadn't doubted. It is in the valleys of faith that we grow in Christian character.

American Christians assume that if they have doubt they are failing God. We assume that if we dont' feel like we are growing it is time to switch churches. We believe that the valleys are sub-Christian. We think that being in the valley, the desert place, for any extended period of time reflects poorly on us as Christians. We hold that the mountain top is where the Christian life should be lived. If we aren't smiling we aren't saved. If we can't answer passerby's inquiries with "rejoicing in the Lord" we have failed to grasp the joy that He brings.

All of these assumptions are wrong. It is in the darkness of doubt that our faith becomes real. It is in stagnant swamp of mediocrity that we find our lack of control and need to surrender all. It is in the valley that we learn what it truly means to be a Christian. It is when we want to anser a "how you doin'?" with a "my life sucks" that we embrace honesty.

Mother Teresa didn't have extraordinary doubt. Mother Teresa had extraordinary honesty. If the American church could embrace the honesty that woman held, we too could share our stories of doubt and grief. We too could become saints boldly following Jesus.

Labelmaker

2007-08-24T11:37:00.000-05:00

I guess I'd be Post-Evangelical - though I'm not sure I'd use the term here in Northwestern PA. Liberal, Conservative, Evangelical, Emerging, Christian, Believer, Seeker, whatever... Not sure labels are all that helpful anymore. We live in such a polarized culture that saying "Post Evangelical" around here is like saying "Foaming at the Mouth Liberal" - though that's not what I would mean by it - nor would that be an acceptable definition...

Say Republican or Democrat and you're suddenly a stereotype. Christian, Postmodern, Evangelical (or, worse, Evangelistic)... it's all about cliche and common (mis)conception...

Oh well.

I have the least systematic theology of anybody that I know - yet I know who I believe...who I trust...where my hope is... I'll continue to screw up the details...

C.S. Lewis allegedly said that Grace is the one thing that separates the Christian faith from all other religions. I'm banking on Grace...

So - call me... Grace.

Confessions of a Post-evangelical

2007-08-21T14:48:00.000-05:00

I have made a long journey to the place that I find myself. I was always afraid to deny evangelicalism. I felt that if I did that I would have to deny Christ as well. I have realized that I can leave evangelicalism and find Christ.

Salvation isn't the end. It isn't about getting people saved. Numbers don't matter. It's about disciples. Converts never matter unless they are trained to change the world.

Politics are increasingly unimportant. Liberal/conservative divides are exactly that - divides. They are not of Christ. I'm still a liberal, but it's secondary.

You will never argue a person into the Kingdom. Life is about dialogue. Meeting people where they are. Taking them where God leads.

Acceptance of all Christians' thoughts, opinions, theologies, and beliefs. I don't have it all together. Neither does anyone else. How dare I judge someone's deeply held beliefs just because I don't hold them myself.

I'm changing in my faith and beliefs. I'm pretty sure it's in the right direction.

Party inthe Kingdom...

2007-08-15T12:43:00.001-05:00

Sometimes is has to be about me. But it isn't ALL about me, right. I'm sick and tired of both it's only about me and God and it's only about how we love other people and God. It's about us and God, right? And we all screw it up pretty badly. My liberal friends are all wrong. My conservative friends are all wrong. And lest you think me arrogant, I am all wrong, too.

"I feel like a failure for God, but I'm oddly okay with that."

Me too. Every day.

Welcome to the Kingdom of God: failures, sinners, broken people, the uncertain, the uncaring, the unloved and the unloving... We're all coming into the Kingdom.

Suppose a guy gave a party for his son and when it came time for everyone to come, nobody showed up? Oh, they all had excuses. I got a new car and I'm giving it a test drive. Oh I have stuff to do.

So the guy says, "Let's invite the people who never get to go to a party. Let's invite the ugly and the nerdy and the smelly and the not too smart. Let's fill this place with people who will be happy they're at the party."

I didn't deserve the invite, but I'm glad I'm there...and I'm glad you are too...

2007-08-14T23:12:00.001-05:00

I'm embarrased to label myself a Christian. I'm embarrased to lump myself in with the people who hand out tracks, the pastors who yell at their congregations, and the televangelists. I want to put a real face on Christianity, but I find only failure in my footprints.

I'm beginning to see that failure is often the greatest source of freedom. I've opened my life to a lot of people. I've let them see the bruising and the scarring. I've loved them fiercely and unapologetically. I have shared my love of the savior with them. But ... it hurts. It isn't fun. It's emotionally draining and ... deep down, at the end of the day, I do want something to be about me. I feel like I give and give and give and I have nothing to show for it.

I preach a gospel of grace and forgiveness and those who hear only hear that they can be slutty and get forgiven. I love openly and people discard me. I live honestly and people condemn me. I know this is where I should be, but it brakes my heart all the same.

Some days I have enough passion to change the world - other days I don't have enough passion to get out of bed. I lack self-control.

... Last year I had a person tell me that although i am a liberal I could still get into heaven, but I could never hear "well done thou good and faithful servant." It broke my heart. My heart is still broken by his comment. I feel that I am doing so much good - and it makes me so sad that good Christian people don't see that.

I feel like I'm right where I should be. I feel like a failure for God. I watched Les Mis last night. I realized that the only thing scarier than losing your life is not having a cause worth losing your life for. I feel like a failure for God, but I'm oddly okay with that. God knows my heart.

On the Kingdom of Me...

2007-08-14T17:40:00.000-05:00

Hey Michael,

What did you find in Russia and India that confirmed to you, "Yep, I am called to be a missionary." You know it isn't something you sit down one day and say, "Gee, I'd like to travel. Hey, I know, I'll become a missionary." It's something, somehow, that God puts on your heart and you respond to.

(Oh - I'll respond to the whole culturally Jewish/religiously Jewish thing later...this is more important to me right now).

I'm pretty sure that what you're "uber cynical" about is not really Christians and Christianity (though I may be wrong) but how we've twisted and broken the truth of the Kingdom of God into the kingdom of me.

I'm also pretty sure that if you go to Africa or India or wherever else God leads you, what you will find is a tiny base of people really living out their faith - really loving like God loves - really trying to live in this great mystery that we call faith. Yes, you'll go to villages, regions, heck - nations - that have no Church to speak of - and you'll share the truth of the Gospel - which has nothing at all to do with drinking or not drinking Coke - and everything to do with inviting people into your life and letting them see that the love of God is your guiding principle - AND that you don't live it out perfectly. The last thing anybody needs to see is somebody so spiritually arrogant to think that they really have all their...um...stuff together.

We're too conditioned to McDonalds here - everything is for convienence - even our faith. It's packaged neatly into hour long increments - woe be to the worship leader/Bible study teacher/whoever who goes over that sacred hour mark. But what you'll see in much of the rest of the world is people for whom faith is an everyday reality. Yes, many of those people will have faith in other gods, but I think there's something to be learned from the dedication of a muslim or a hindu or a buddist - of their faithfulness to what they believe in. Be inspired by that to be committed more to the image of Christ (which, again has nothing to do with doing/not doing this or that - but has everything to do with forming that relationship - praying, reading, writing, thinking about, living in love... - with Christ). But don't beat yourself up that you're not there yet. Who of us is?

My favorite Christian in the world was Mother Teresa. Here's a quote from her Nobel Prize lecture (yep, this is something she said when she won the Nobel Prize for being, well, basically the most perfect human being on earth):

The poor are very wonderful people. One evening we went out and we picked up four people from the street. And one of them was in a most terrible condition - and I told the Sisters: You take care of the other three, I take of this one that looked worse. So I did for her all that my love can do. I put her in bed, and there was such a beautiful smile on her face. She took hold of my hand, as she said one word only: Thank you - and she died.

I could not help but examine my conscience before her, and I asked what would I say if I was in her place. And my answer was very simple. I would have tried to draw a little attention to myself, I would have said I am hungry, that I am dying, I am cold, I am in pain, or something, but she gave me much more - she gave me her grateful love. And she died with a smile on her face.

She never really did have her...stuff...together, but she knew deeply the love of God in Christ and she lived it - in every moment that she could. And she still screwed it up sometimes. But she never really claimed to have it all together - just that she knew the One who does. That's Kingdom of God - not kingdom of me - stuff.

Stop trying to be legalistic about...well...anything. Have a Coke (sorry Rachel), read the Gospel of John (or your favorite) and fall in love with Jesus again.

2007-08-14T11:38:00.000-05:00

I read about people in Islamic cultures who give up everything to follow Jesus and I just think, "Oh hell, I can't even give up Coke to save my life." (literally - Rachel has put my friend John and I on a Soda free diet. We are both currently going through pretty severe withdrawal.)

Rachel is Jewish culturally ... but her friends are Jewish religiously. I don't want to seem like I'm coming in to change everything ... but that's exactly what a missionary does. I don't know if I can do that for the rest of my life. For the next few decades I will be; coming from a country that can't give up hummers and hamburgers to feed the homeless, going to countries that have a number of religions and religious conflicts anyways, and trying to change the hearts of a few toward Jesus.

It scares me to think about that. At my school we always talk about the fact that our number one goal is to find out how Jesus has revealed Himself in a native culture and to move from there; to only change the things that are strictly against scripture. We also always talk about the fact that missionaries are not "super spiritual" Christians - we're people ... struggling to stay afloat in a culture other than our own that a few might hear the good news.

That scares me. I don't feel like I'm a "good enough" Christian to serve as a missionary. I understand the fatally flawed logic behind that statement, but I can't shake the feeling's presence. I feel like I would panic overseas and instead of living out my faith in a loving way I would go overboard and freak out and try and change the culture to fit my own.

It doesn't help that I'm uber cynical about Christians and Christianity. It doesn't help that I have no faith left of my own and I'm only holding on by the faith of others. It doesn't help that the message I am hearing from Christians around me is that doubt is of the devil.

Is it okay for my faith to hang freely from my doubts? Can they be one and the same?

Vikings4Jesus

2007-08-13T13:16:00.001-05:00

I have so many questions...not for you, Michael...so many questions about faith and God... No answers for so many of them, either.

Like: Why blood? I mean, if salvation could come any way you want it to (and if you are the creator of all that is) then why not water? I mean, why does something have do die? Why does God have to die?

Or: If God is Almighty, why did the Jewish people keep getting wiped out?

and on and on and on...

So, your friends are happy being Jewish. That just sounds so strange to me. I'm happy being half Swedish...um... Should I be on the lookout for Vikings4Jesus?

I don't think anybody loses their cultural identity by coming to Christ anymore - unless we're introducing people to a different Jesus. Time was that you had to embrace Western European culture to be a Christian. Not so, anymore...I think...I hope...

Are your friends Jewish by culture or by faith? There's a huge difference. Jews by faith can become Chrsitians by faith and retain pretty much all of their traditions and history. I know a number of Christians who celebrate the Jewish holidays faithfully. You can live a life that upholds the Torah and still be a Christian. What we're talking about here is having a relationship with Jesus. He doesn't ask you to wear a cross or put up a Christmas tree - He asks you to trust Him with your life. No culture, just a changed heart. "Just" - as if that's easy. But we can chuck the church services and the bumper stickers and the worship CDs and live our lives honoring the Messiah - Jesus. And I know that Messiah is a culturally loaded word, too.

Okay - I got interrupted and lost my train of thought...

Here's the thing. I don't think you have to take on a whole new cultural identity (per se) to be a Christian. You take on a whole new being. And there may be things from your past that you will find you want to change - and isn't that what sin and redemption are really about anyway?

Jews4Jesus. Lemme ask you - why were your friends so upset? What is it about being Jewish that they really like? How would coming to saving faith in Jesus change that?

So...

Here's fodder for the conversation:

"Your concept of salvation can't be bigger than your concept of sin."

2007-08-13T09:15:00.001-05:00

The Michael Prayer ... I like that.

I was out with my friends in downtown St. Louis the other night. We were having a fun time just chilling. My friends here are mostly jewish. There were people on every street handing out tracts. The tracts were being handed out by Jews 4 Jesus. My friends were really upset.

I'm going through one of my weird phases. The one where I can't decide if I really want to be a missionary. I don't want to convert any of my friends here. They are really happy being Jewish. If I were to convert them they would lose their cultural identity. I love my friends and I want them to be happy. It's just that their happy being Jewish.

I still believe all of the things that I always have. I still believe that Jesus is the way the truth and the life. I can't get around that. I justify my thoughts by saying that I want to give everyone the oppertunity to respond to the gospel. But, it feels less than real.

I'm really confused by church right now. I feel like I need a vacation from Jesus. Is that normal?

Spider Pig...for no reason whatsoever...

2007-08-10T21:49:00.001-05:00

Must...not...take...the...bait....

D'oh!!!

Once saved always saved? ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What does that even mean? So, I say the sinner's prayer and then I can go ahead and live my life like nothing has changed?

Once married always married? Um...

Once breathing always breathing? Uh...

Once 19 always 19? Duh...

One of my favorite lines from Paul is "thieves...quit stealing..." heh. Yeah, I know that I'm supposed to do everything I do to honor God, and since I'm a thief, well, I'll steal to the very best of my ability, to God be the glory, and I'll give God ten percent...um...

Is it more about relationship?

I've been offline for almost a month - yet Michael and I have relationship. We are friends. I don't hesitate to tell people about my good friend Michael and all the cool stuff going on in his life. Yet, we haven't had a "real" conversation in, like, a year or something...

It's not like I said the "Michael prayer" one fine day (heh - what would that sound like?) and then never talked to him again - or read his blog posts - or whatever... Relationship is interactive (even at this great distance) and interdependent. It's not something I just claim and then hold on to.

You know - I've "hung out with" Superchic[k] and Whitecross and Scott Krippayne (for those who don't know - these are Christian bands and a Christian artist - oh, and by "hung out with" I mean drove to the airport/hotel/set up and tore down equipment with...heh...) but I can't really call them my friends. I could have 1700 friends on MySpace (heh, I think I have 8) but how many really are?

Oh well...took the bait....

SPIDER PIG

Does whatever a SPIDER PIG does

Can he swing

From a web

No he cant

He's a pig

LOOK OOOUUUTTT!!!!

He is a SPIDER PIG!!

2007-08-09T14:47:00.000-05:00

Bill Beatty might be dead. There has been no blog activity for an extended period of time. That ... or ... he could be spending more time with his wife and kids. I'll keep y'all updated if I find out either way.

If you're still there, Bill. Once saved always saved? Go.

An invitation that demands a decision

2007-07-29T14:47:00.000-05:00

We had weekly altar calls at Camp Glisson. Older campers didn't need to be encouraged to come forward. Come Thursday night it was expected that most would come forward to the altar. This was an expected part of the Glisson experience.

We decided to mix things up once. It was a middle school week - still plyable in mind and adaptable to change. We removed the altar from the equation. Thursday night we arrainged the pews to face the center of the chapel and stored the pews, stacked one on top of the other, in a corner of the stage. We offered the youth the grace of God - and explained that it was a decision of the heart. They could sit in the pews and ask Jesus into their heart. It wasn't about the location of their knees, but about the trust in their heart.

It backfired. Horribly. Wonderfully? The youth crawled over one another to the stacked altars. They unstacked them and knelt at the altars. There's something compelling about that altar. It is the place where faith is formed.

We have been trying to open the altar up for prayer during our contemporary service. All attempts have failed. We couldn't fix the first problem ... what success can we have with this one?

2007-07-09T15:36:00.000-05:00

You stand, you sit, you stand, you kneel, you take a shot. What could this possibly describe but church? (Bill has effectively argued the similarities between a Friday Showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but I'll leave that one alone.)

There is really very little scriptural framework provided for what a church service should contain. A weekly altar call is never called for. The pastoral prayer is not commanded in scripture. The collection of tithes and offerings is not given as a weekly activity. Communion is highly recommended, we know that the early Christians sang songs together, and we hear numerous sermons given at church meetings. But we aren't told there was a sermon every week. We don't know how many songs people sang. It probably lasted for longer than an hour. (I can see hundreds of Baptists getting up to leave before the meat of my message after that comment.)

My degree is in two fields, primarily. Figuring out cultures and figuring out how Jesus fits into those cultures. Here is a quick overview of what I've learned so far.
* Churches don't need to have a steeple.
* Missionaries shouldn't import hymns.
* Find bridges between the native stories and the Gospel message
* Don't allow American theology to block the absorption of the gospel.
* Don't change the message - change the media.

We as the American church are worshipping a foreign God. We have never taken the gospel message to heart in such a fashion that it became our own. We are worshipping using the same forms as our anscestors even though the forms are meaningless to us.

We take communion using bread and wine/grape juice. In Jesus day these were the staples of life. In Irian Jaya the people only ate sweet potato - so communion was sweet potato and water. Why don't we southreners have cornbread and sweet tea to commemorate the sacrifice of our savior?

Why do our churches look like they do? Why are we using pipe organs or, for the contemporary crowd, tambourines? Why is our worship not indiginous? Christians are always a step behind the mainstream.

So let's consider doing church differently. Why not go intergenerational? Why not try NOT taking up an offering? Small groups anyone? Small groups in place of worship? What about a talk show format - or an Oprah-esque dialogue? Why not ditch the sermon entirely and just worship for an hour one Sunday? Why not ditch the worship music and worship God by praying for one another?

There are so many things we just aren't trying. Anyone else naive enough to want to give them a whirl?

2007-07-07T13:36:00.000-05:00

Michael,
I LOVE it when you make me laugh when I read your posts in my office - not so fond of the funny looks I get...heh, but that's another story.

I wanna get the "it" - I really do. Some days yes, some days no. I guess yesterday was a "no" day. Thanks for the "atta boy" though.

I just read your "I want to change the world but I can't stop channel surfing" post. I think we're all there - some days it's too much to even change the channel...

I have this longing to make a difference, but something about my day to day sucks the life out of me - and it's all I can do some days to keep the status quo...

I guess that's ordinary. And I guess there are moments - yes, I am very proud to have been able to take a song about a guy leaving his girlfriend and connect with a grieving group of people who needed to hear the Gospel in their language - and I'm proud to say that it had very little to do with me... I actuallly went into the service with no notes (okay, I had the lyrics of Free Bird and a note about when Skynyrd's plane went down and half the band died) but I went in having spent hours in prayer.

And that's the end of it for me. I come to the end of me - and God is there. I find I'm at the edge of who I am, what I know, what I can do, and God is there.

And some days it takes really good friends who are 800 miles away to remind me of that.

Grace and Peace, Michael.

So incredibly ordinary ... and yet ...

2007-07-06T17:09:00.000-05:00

We're all so incredibly ordinary. Every one of us is similar in more ways to every other human being than we would like to admit. Even a slight differential, such as skin color, can throw a geographic region into a tizzy for decades.

Yet it is the differences that make us human. It is the uniqueness of our lives that seperates us from potential robot races.

What's your special characteristic that makes you a phenomenal pastor, Bill? You get it. ... not in some weird "bible professor" sort of way, not that you know all the answers, not that your theology textbooks will sell millions .... but in an entirely different and un-definable way.

You preached a message of hope and forgiveness and grace at a funeral for a biker with a joint in his hand. The majority of pastors, those who would remain at all after seeing the joint, would have preached a message of hellfire and damnation. There's a reason the family asked for less of the God stuff - they've heard it before. You get it. It's what makes you unique.

As much as you hate it when my posts make you laugh when you're at the office ... I hate it even more when your posts make me cry when I'm at the coffee shop. I recently witnessed two Christians refuse to communicate with work associates because the latter were not Christians. They refused to make contact with people because they are outside of the family of God. My grandmother proudly proclaimed last weekend that Ellen "Degenerate" would never be welcomed in her church because she's a "pervert." (Not that this is an issue or that Ellen is dying to get into my Grandmother's church) I see a lot of Christians who just don't "get it." I couldn't begin to number the pastor's who would have left that funeral or asked the family to remove the joint.

You're real with people. You're real with me. You get the illusive "it" factor in Christianity.

There are billions of ordinary people ... you're one of them ... but ordinary has rarely appeared this good.

Self Esteem Booster #14

2007-07-06T12:16:00.000-05:00

I want to be...different. Not in the pants up to the armpits or pierced...um...body parts kind of different. I just want to be unique, somehow. But I'm not.

Oh, I know, "Everybody's special." As supermom says in the Incredibles. But sometimes I feel just like the kid, who responds, "That's just another way of saying nobody is."

I'm not very good at social interaction. Okay, so why did you choose to be a pastor? Well, I don't have the gift of small talk, but so what? I'm not extroverted. So what? I believe I have other gifts. Besides, who ever said I CHOSE to be a pastor.

It's not like I took one of those "You'd be really good at this kind of job" tests and it came up "zookeeper or pastor" and I thought, hmmm, I don't really like animals - people...well, they're easier to ignore, right? (According to one online poll, here's my top five jobs: Author, Graphics Designer, Teacher, Web Designer, Chef - not bad, considering I've done all those jobs, but never as a profession - except teacher...hmmm...also not bad considering it was less than ten questions....)

So, I'm a pastor. But I'm really not much different than the other 600 pastors in the conference... So, what unique gifts and abilities do I have to offer a congregation? Sigh...nope, not any too different than anybody else.

Look, I don't want to be rich, I don't want to be famous, I don't have this desperate need to be accepted, I don't define myself by what I do... But I'd like to be special...

And then I go home at the end of a really long and crappy day...and I am special. Sometimes Elie hugs me so hard I have to recover from it and Rachel almost always wants picked up and hugged and kissed. And Lori stops what she's doing to make sure I know that I'm special... And, it turns out, almost every day that's enough.

And today I feel special to God - not because God rained money on me or because I had some miraculous moment or vision - but there are some words that Jesus heard at His baptism that I think God says to all of us - and they're running through my head - and my heart - right now. "This is my little boy. I'm so proud of him."

So, yeah, maybe I am special...even when I don't feel like it...

Let's Talk About Sex!

2007-06-23T08:26:00.000-05:00

Now that I have your attention, I would just like to say that I am a statistical anomaly. "According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 96 percent of Americans over the age of 20 have had sex." - Foxnews.com That's right. I am now officially a minority. All these frustrating years of being in the majority in every possible way (as a straight, white, protestant male I don't have a single affirmative action playing card) have not been in vain. I am finally part of a minority - a very small minority at that.

But, this isn't about me. That would be awkward. This is specifically about sex-ed. Few things piss me off more than conservatives' fight to teach abstinence only sex education. It's just so unrealistic. If only 96% of the American public is sexually active what's the problem right? I mean, obviously all those abstinence pledge cards are working.

The thing that astonishes me is that if everyone in the country was tested and treated for STD's and from now on wore condoms unless they were in a long-term monogamous relationship we could virtually eradicate every known STD in a generation. Then, we could all have as much sex as we wanted without having to worry (hint of sarcasm).

There's a deeper issue (deeper than my biting sarcasm you ask?) dealing with sin nature. It is our sin nature to want to have sex. Our churches are teaching that you can overcome your sin nature. (I'm okay with this idea to some extent, "dead to sin alive in Christ", etc.) Our churches are advocating that even non-Christians in public schools can overcome their sin nature. (I have a huge problem with this one. It's impossible to overcome your sin nature apart from Christ.) Not only are we trying to get non-Christians to live like Christians when Christians don't live like Christians; but we are asking them to do something impossible.

I support a full sex education in all public schools. Kids are going to have sex. We need to have abstinence training at our churches in our youth groups and in our families. Our kids are still (more than likely) going to have sex. Beyond abstinence training we need to have grace and forgiveness training. We need to abolish the idea that if you have lost your virginity you are worthless to Christ.

At church camp last summer I had a high school kid confess that he had slept with his girlfriend. He grieved so heavily at his sin that he cried. I have never felt greater joy in my life than when I looked him in the eye and told him. "Your sins are forgiven."

I'll take "Michael Teeters on the Edge of Universalism" for a thousand Alex.

2007-06-18T06:59:00.000-05:00

I don't think bad theology sends people to hell. I believe that God is so intent on saving humanity that he will accept all who choose to follow him. Even those who belong to the "cults" that follow Jesus. The Jehovah Witnesses and the Mormons have views that don't totally line up with orthodoxy. The Catholics, Orthodox, and Liberal Protestant churches don't line up with evangelicalism. The Evangelical and Pentecostal churches are moved more by opinion polls than they would ever like to admit.

None of us have it exactly right. But, I believe that God is less than capricious. I believe that God wants to save sinners from Hell. If he didn't he could have skipped that whole "sending His son to die on the cross thing." I don't believe bad theology sends people to hell.

So...um...it's layers (ogre-esque)

2007-06-10T19:54:00.001-05:00

Aw, shucks, Michael...I'm just a fount of wisdom...heh.

Actually, I really miss those face to face conversations. Sorry I hate phone calls and email is yet another layer removed (heh - and this is, what, seven layers removed...layers...like an OGRE...um....).

Anyway, I'm really glad that you had to go to church today... I've been at Annual Conference since Thursday morning, so I missed this til now. Here's the thing - I don't know what your pastor did - maybe we need to email this one - but I DO know that you don't go there to worship the pastor - and I DO know that God can speak to you even through someone as frail and broken as a sinning pastor... But more importantly, God WILL speak through the readings, prayers, songs, hymns, handshakes, hugs, smiles... And I do know this - of all people I know, you go to church to worship God - to make your offering of your time and your attention and your praises... I know it hurts, and I know that it'll take time to get through whatever happened with your pastor.

Here's the thing - I don't believe in coincidence as a rule. I think God is trying to MAKE you keep going to this church... God has a sense of humor, you know...

So...um...it's layers. Keep going deeper - no matter what. God is there.

2007-06-06T14:49:00.000-05:00

"Remember, Jesus went to the temple that day with the full knowledge that the leaders there would crucify him the next day." - Bill Beatty.

I almost left my childhood church a number of years ago. I didn't like the pastor and I felt I "wasn't being fed." I talked with Bill about it and he gave me that quote. I kept going to church, and am still in love with the church, because of that quote.

I am angry at my pastor. He lied, he cheated, and I don't want to deal with him anymore. I tried so hard to run away. I looked into youth positions at neighboring churches, but none were available. I decided that this Sunday I just wouldn't go. Then, by accident I invited a person to go to church with me and realized that now I have to go to church on Sunday.

I need to remember that quote. I need to reinforce my belief that all pastors are sinners, some just need more grace.

Wow - Pop Goes Theology

2007-06-05T10:28:00.000-05:00

Too much of theology is badly overdubbed Russian bootleg DVDs of marginal movies....um, the funny thing is, I get what you're saying.

I had another (pretty-conservative) pastor in my office and he was thumbing through my copy of Searching the Scriptures: A Feminist Commentary and looked at me like, "Why in the world would you ever have this book in your office?" The thing is, while I don't agree with feminist theology in it's entirety, this commentary and a handful of other feminist and womanist (yes, there's a difference, but don't ask me to try to explain it) sources have helped to shape my theology. Michael would probably be booted from TCS just for having the book in his library, but I think he should have it - and some good liberationist theology, process, neo-orthodox, wild right-wing, wild-left wing, even some of the off the wall theology (thank you Benny Hinn) in his library.

I have yet to quote from Searching the Scriptures but I've used it as a resource for sermons. Having another perspective can only help to open your own perspective.

For example, I just opened the book to page 383 - which is part of Elsa Tamez' article on the book of James. She writes:

A feminist reading of the letter recognized James's patriarchal language. Jas. 1:17 refers to God the Father of lights; 1:14, 15 relates concupiscence (seduction, sin, and death) to woman's pregnancy; to conceive (syllambano), to give birth (tikto), and to engender (apokyeo). By contrast, in 1:18 the Father of lights engenders (apokyeo) with the word of truth...

...and it continues. Now, I don't dispute that the Bible was written in a very partriarchal culture and that most of the writers were, as we would call them in our contemporary culture, sexist. And, while there may not be anything new in what Tamez wrote, reading it makes me again aware that the language I use, and the language that the Bible uses, can be a barrier to people hearing what God is saying. And I MIGHT even make reference to the fact that James equates pregnancy to sin...not sure what concupiscence is (better not use it in church, it sounds like a dirty word...heh).

My point (oh, there is one?) is that you are absolutely right. We need to experience God in 3-D (heh, maybe in 10-D?) - not just one aspect (which is what every theological movement seems to do - focus in on one aspect of God's character or one issue) but the whole breadth and depth of God - take in as much as we can...

2007-06-04T17:23:00.000-05:00

I'm watching my Russian-dubbed version of the box-office flop, "Garfield."

Before I begin my blog I would like to say that maybe this movie would have been less of a flop if there wasn't a product placement every three freak'n seconds.

Now, the blog.

When I was in Russia where I bought this DVD, this movie had just recently come out in theatres. The movie is very poorly dubbed. There is one male voice doing all of the voices. In a monotone fashion, of course. It's so boring to hear such a divergent range of voices being spoken by one man.

I feel this way about theology, and specifically about my theological training at TFC. The Bible is so expansive, so interesting, and so full of life ... but, when only one point of view is taught it becomes boring and stagnant. Not just that point of view, but the whole Christian faith.

Although I agree, Jesus would probably side with the pro-life camp ... would Jesus ever support big business? We need to think about what we are saying. Our lives and our theology are monotanously one sided. We need some change. Any suggestions?

Snakes and Birds...

2007-05-21T17:50:00.001-05:00

So, here's what I just wrote for the church newsletter.

A Little Less Serpentine, Please

The other day, Elie and I were driving past Beaty park on our way to the church. Elie was watching the kids play and said, “Oooo, Daddy, look! There’s lots of friends at Beaty park today.”
I was struck by the contrast in what Elie and I saw in the park that day. When I take the girls to play, I’m constantly watching the other people there. The girls see a bunch of people who could be new friends; I wonder if those middle school kids are going to swear in front of them, which adult here might be a pedophile, which kid is going to try to trip, scare, punch or otherwise inflict physical or emotional harm on my children. Sigh... I wonder when I got so cynical?
Of course, we’re both right, aren’t we? I mean, I have yet to be at the park and have anyone try to snatch any child, let alone my girls, or have any kind of harm befall either of them greater than someone pushing in line in front of them or, as the girls are likely to say, “being mean.” So, all my eagle-eyed observation is for nothing. Yet...those kinds of things happen, and the girls don’t know about it (well, we do have a rule for them about strangers...and they understand that – but they really don’t know why). And, they discover, not everyone at the playground is a “friend.”
I wonder sometimes if that tension is what Jesus meant when he said, “See, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)
Jesus was preparing the disciples in two ways. First, he was sending them out on a kind of test-mission, to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God. But in a larger sense he was preparing them for what would happen after his death and resurrection. He was warning them that people would persecute them, that people would hate them. But, “be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”
Go out into the world, take people at face value, not everyone has a hidden motive and agenda. But realize that some people do have something sinister going on.
Have we become too cynical? Are we too much “wise as serpents” and not dove-like enough? Jesus told us to “love your neighbor as yourself.” How are we doing at that? How do we look at others? Walk down the street sometime and think to yourself, “Oooo, there’s lots of friends on the street today.” I think it’s worth a try...

2007-05-11T21:32:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I wonder if the United Methodist church is just too old to make a turn-around. I talked with a younger woman today who thinks she might leave the church when our new female associate pastor comes. She was upset that we were going to move the pre-school classrooms and paint the nursery. She doesn't like the contemporary service because it has become dull to her.

I want so badly for United Methodists to see the transforming power I have found in the church. I found a church that teaches Jesus as the destination of life's journey. I found a church that teaches the universal love of Christ. I'm so proud to be a Methodist.

I'm proud to belong to a church that is willing to buck tradition. I'm glad we have female pastors. I'm glad that my church is getting one. I'm praying that people will come to our church because of her, and not the other scenario. I'm praying that Susan will love her and be overjoyed with her as a pastor.

I still see so much hope in the United Methodist Church. There are just a few cobwebs to brush away. Let's get working on that.

Dr. Phil

2007-05-11T10:32:00.000-05:00

After my exam today I was resting by watching Dr. Phil. Every time I watch that show I can't believe that my grandparents watch it. Most of my Sunday School class watches it. Ah! It's glorified Springer, and yet older adults tune in by the drove. I can't believe that no one is sticking up for the idea of a moral compass amidst the mess. For as much as older adults complain about the smut on television these days, it would help if they themselves turned the smut off.

That's right older adults. Turn off the smut.

Ministry Is Dangerous

2007-05-08T13:30:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I've escaped most of the danger of ministry - but the guy who followed me at my last church has has guns pointed at him...

I remember hearing a pastor who was approaching retirement age speak with scorn about having to pick up trash off the restroom floor. It's not my job. We have a custodian to do that. The preaching the sermon, the singing the songs - I gotta tell you, that's not my ministry. That's what I do because God has given me some gifts and talents and opened up a whole world of opportunities for me. The ministry stuff is listening to the staff as they hurt through a family situation or illness. It's watching a couple of the youth in a play. It's meeting with a couple who are on the verge of divorce, and you know they're not going to make it, but you keep trying to help them. Ministry is standing on the roof of a three story house trying to patch a hole before the rain comes. Ministry is drawing a personal moral line in the sand and saying I will not cross it. Ministry is crying with and loving on those around you have crossed their lines. Ministry gets you close to people with AIDS, people with problems, people who smell, people who might break into your house, people who drink too much, talk too loud, hurt too much, hide too much, feel too little.

It's all dangerous. You can lose yourself in ministry. You can lose your family in ministry. You can lose your life in ministry - your sanity, your comfort, your health, your job. Truth is, you can probably lose your soul in ministry, too.

It's all dangerous - but it's all worth it. Ministry is when I'm closest to God. It's when Jesus is most real to me. The closer I am to the edge, the more aware of God I am.

It's time for me to move out of the center - out of the comfort of my office and my regular schedule and my oh-so-predictable life.

Erwin McManus writes:

You've heard it said that the safest place to be is in the center of God's will. I am sure this promise was well intended, but it is neither true nor innocuous. When we believe that God's purpose, intention, or promise is that we will be safe from harm, we are utterly disconnected from the movement and power of God...

The truth of the matter is that the center of God's will is not a safe place but the most dangerous place in the world! God fears nothing and no one! God moves with intentionality and pwoer. To live outside God's will puts us in danger; to live in his will makes us dangerous.

My new prayer: Make me dangerous. Draw me into the center of your will and make me dangerous.

Inter-generational ministry is dangerous

2007-04-29T13:12:00.000-05:00

(Quick note: I think Bill Beatty might be dead ... or dead tired. Either way we miss him and are praying for him.)

I have been working towards an intergenerational ministry at my church. We segregated based on age groupings, and I don't think it's beneficial for anyone. The drama team I lead was working on a video and we were including three older adults. The youth had written the scenes themselves. The final scene we were shooting was of a crazy man trying to help a little old woman across the street.

Alma is a great lady who very few of the youth know. She's amazing. She is competing with my grandparents for my favorite older adult right now. (If Virgil and Elaine are reading this, more cookies would help your chances!) She was doing a great job hamming up the scene, which was funny to begin with, when she placed her cane infront of her foot and tripped. She fell hard. Really hard. Then she rolled into a busy street.

It was terrifying. She could have easily broken a hip. She could have been bruised from top to bottom. She was fine, thank God. We helped her up and she laughed about it. She didn't have a single bruise and went shopping the next day.

Intergenerational ministry is dangerous for a lot of reasons. There are differences of opinion that could seriously damage young Christians. Disapproving eyes can trample on the dreams of the young. Cultural differences can be too much for both youth and older adults.

It's worth it.

On ministry

2007-04-15T23:01:00.000-05:00

It seems like I was the only one who did anything to get ready for the canoe trip this weekend. I had a little help from three of the professors, but it feels like I did everything else my self. I had to get the canoes by myself, I had to pay for the food, I had to print out and hang up the fliers, me, I, me, I, I, I, me, me, me. We had fewer people this year than we did last year. It was colder than last year, and I think that was a big deciding factor. We had a really great time. I know that a few of the guys had major breakthroughs because of the speaker and the fellowship. I know that we grew closer together as male mission majors. Dustin, after hearing the speaker, wrote out his experience of being called into missions. I sat at my dining room table and cried reading it.

Today, I taught Sunday school, enjoyed the video clip I had prepared during the week, started shooting video for the next project, went to youth group, and signed up to be part of the summer prayer team.

Sunday school went well and I think the youth got the message - what else can I ask for?, everyone enjoyed the video clip, none of the video footage that we took today made the tape, youth group sucked, and I'm having second thoughts about the summer prayer team. You win some you lose some would be the adage I would want to use ... but ... that doesn't seem to fit. I consider ministry a victory. We had a discussion time with the youth, in which one youth answered one question (and that was the extent of youth involvment) in the twenty minutes we discussed a video clip ... but, I can't help but think that God will use that discussion time. Maybe one of the youth will realize that the adults are there for him. Maybe, amidst the rambling and the noise the adults made in semi-coherent thoughts spoken outloud before fully formed, one youth had the words he needed spoken into his life. Maybe.

But, as I explained in my Sunday school lesson - we as Christians are a people of hope. We have hope that no matter what happens - no matter what goes wrong- God is in control. I'm filled with hope.

My parade story

2007-04-02T15:51:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading about how much you hate parades, and I couldn't resist retelling this story.

I love parades.

When I was in Russia I marched in a parade. They don't have firetrucks or zem-zems so all the people march in the parades. I went and watched, and when I saw some of my friends I started marching with them. It was exciting. It was Easter Sunday, so I figured I was marching in an Easter parade. It wasn't. It was definetly a parade /political protest to get the government to return to Communism. In all of the excitement I had failed to read the signs (or realize that my friends were all carrying Communist flags!) and I marched in a huge political parade. It was the talk of the town that week that the American had even marched in support of restoring Communism.

I still love parades.

A Moment

2007-04-02T08:49:00.000-05:00

I had a moment of sinlessness. It was great. I had confessed everything I could think of...and, for good measure, asked to be cleansed of stuff I didn't even know I had done. I was perfect. Without spot of blemish. I was sinless....

Then Rachel spilled chocolate milk on her brand new shirt and I became a crazy man...

Sigh...

And I bit Lori's head off when she suggested I over reacted and I told Elie to go away...

It was a fleeting moment of perfection...

I'm still a work in progress...

And God won't let me go - so today, I'm hanging on by my fingernails...but I'm hanging on...

How literal?

2007-03-24T00:22:00.000-05:00

Love your neighbors ... who is my neighbor? We've been having some discussion at my school over Jesus answer. Jesus champions a Samaritan. Samaritans were despised by Jews. Some of us have taken this passage and (with the thought of "who is despised") contextualized it and made the case that homosexuals are our neighbors. Others feel that we have taken it too far. Jesus was talking about a neighboring country - so maybe he just meant that the idea of "neighbor" goes farther, geographically, than we already think. How literaly should we interpret the Bible when applying it to daily life. How literal?

The Essenes knew that they weren't to work on the Sabbath. They decided that defecating was considered work. They all wore white robes on the Sabbath to "prove" that they hadn't worked in any way. Pharisees weren't allowed to spit on the ground because it might "plow the field" in one very small way. How literal?

When David Lake was a relatively new pastor, in the late 80s, he took his youth group on a mission trip. The college interns did a skit. They did a modern retelling of the good samaritan.
The good samaritan was replaced by a good comunist. A man in the crowd stood up and started screaming "These kids need good American role models. How dare you take the side of those commies. (etc.)" David told the college interns to do the same skit the next night. That was the whole point of the story. Despised.

This wasn't just an answer. Jesus could have said "even the evil samaritans are your neighbor and you should treat them with love" (which would have been radical) but, he chose to go all out and paint a picture of a Samaritan hero. When the leaders of the Jewish faith fail miserably there is a Samaritan there to pick up where they failed. In a time when the Jews needed good Jewish men and women as heroes this homeless Rabbi is teaching that a Samaritan saves the day?

Is it a stretch to put a homosexual in the place of the Samaritan. Not at all. They are, by and large, despised by the Christian community. In interpreting any text I think it is important to understand that Jesus spoke the language of the people. If Jesus were here today he would be telling stories using the internet and fixed rate mortages to explain the Gospel of the Kingdom. We're not making a stretch hear - we're getting to the words that Jesus would have us to understand. Jesus doesn't want us to understand the fact that in Biblical times Samaritans were disliked - Jesus wants us to understand that any person you despise is immediately your neighbor.

Scripture interprets scripture. We can't just look for prooftexts to support what we believe. We've become too concerned with interpreting every word just right - and we end up missing the point. We follow a homeless carpenter who loved all people enough to challenge them and die for them. We forget that. We institutionalize that. We build walls around that.

We have a pasty white Jesus who wants us to love Canadians (our neighbors to the North) and Mexicans (our neighbors to the South) because geographically they are our neighbor. We don't see a Savio, revolutionary, or lover. We see another idol to add to our shelves.

I'm not too concerned with people having a less than literal translation of a text. If they take it to every extreme - and believe that everyone is their neighbor ... well, maybe that was the point all along. I'm not an Essene - I'm taking off my white robe. I don't need anyone to think I'm sinless.

2007-03-19T19:20:00.000-05:00

I have to write a paper on the topic of "Should women hold offices in the church?" It's a scandalous assignment for most writers. I just think it's funny. After 50 years of women in full time ministry in the United Methodist church ... I can't think of a reason good enough to stop. I honestly think that a person could logically prove to me with the Bible (using and explaining the original Greek) where Paul specifically states that females should not be pastors ... and it wouldn't matter to me.

Beyond the obvious Biblical examples of women leading - I see too many good female pastors to believe that God would have it any other way.

I'm seriously considering handing in a paper on the topic of "Should gays and lesbians be allowed to hold offices in the church?" and see what the professor has to say. If I don't do that I will at least use Beth Stroud as an example of a good female pastor.

We had a MAJOR presentation today and then I took a really long nap. Now I'm going to go visit friends and lollygag around. I will return home and watch a movie. I'll probably turn in by midnight and sleep for the recommended 8 hours. I just wanted to give you a sample of my normal schedule to compare and contrast with yours!

WWJD? (What Would Jesus Drive?)*

2007-03-15T09:18:00.000-05:00

Hey Michael,

It's still a good question. Where's your anchor? Jesus? So...how do you know Jesus? Your experience? Is that more reliable than the Bible? What other people tell you?

You know, I get what you're saying - the Bible is the Bible - it's not God. I used to get really goofy about not setting anything on top of my Bible and not letting it get wet (even on rainy days) and...well, you get the picture. I mean, that was pretty crazy, superstitious stuff... It's a book - but it's more, too...

I'm not jumping on you here...but I just gotta know...if you don't trust the Bible, how do you know Jesus really DID hang out with the poor?

*oh, the title comes from www.thechurchyouknow.com and one of their "infomercials" about the church... (he would, of course, drive a Hummer)

2007-03-14T22:33:00.000-05:00

My professors have been getting on my case. Even the professors I like. My favorite professor is (upset isn't the word) displeased with my current stance on scripture. He wants to know where my anchor is if it isn't in scripture. Well, my anchor is in Jesus. He counters well. "Jesus said to live a holy life. What's holy to me might be different than what's holy to you. I look to the Holy Bible to see what God's standard of holiness is." It was a great rebuttall. All I had was a squiggling run around about my acceptance of all of the Old Testament (Jesus acknowledges it as scripture) and Mark and Luke (Matthew is Midrash and less reliable - though I'm keeping the sermon on the mount - and John differs too wildly from the synoptics with no confirmation of any apostle as to it being the word of God- but I sure do like a lot of the verses.) I lost the argument.

But, it wasn't an argument. I knew that at the end of the fight Dr. Smith would still know I was a Christian and I would still respect him. I don't think it's right to put scripture on such a high level that it competes for the fourth spot of the trinity. I understand that it is all we have that points us to who God really is, but I can't defend it's quadratarian status.

I believe in a God so powerful that He doesn't need a book, but so in tune with his creation that he gave us one because of our needs.

Well, we've twisted that Bible so much that I don't know if I can take any of it as "gospel truth" anymore. We have (and still are) defended our hate with it. Even after a person has read the whole Bible it's still possible for him or her to take a few favorite verses and shape a whole theology around it. I once, on a dare, defended abortion using scripture.

But, it doesn't affect my life. I believe that Jesus hung out with the poor (all 4 gospels account for this) but, I don't do it myself. I myself am an either-or kind of guy. Either you stick to all scripture (women can't wear jewelry or braided hair, etc.) or you leave a little wiggle room. I'm still in flux on this issue - and I'm okay with that.

Heresy and Reformation

2007-03-14T12:18:00.000-05:00

Yep - that's EXACTLY how all heresy gets started. It's also how all reformations get started...

It starts with the idea that maybe we've got it wrong somehow. Something isn't lining up with what the Bible really says.

You know, the beginning of Romans talks about how we'll be judged by how much of God has been revealed to us. That's not to say that all roads lead to God - but that those who have never heard of Jesus will be judged differently than those of us who have. God loves us enough to give us the choice to choose to love him - but he is so just that he will not penalize those who have never heard.

I went to a Presbyterian seminary and I remember mocking the Presbyterians for their "predestination" stance that can be twisted to say, "why evangelize? If God chose 'em, they're in."

And, to take your argument further - why do it at all if people will be judged differently if they've never heard? In other words, why put them on the spot to even take the chance of rejecting Jesus and thus separating themselves from God (on this, search YouTube for the blasphemy challenge)?

Because God isn't in the business of "getting us to heaven" God's in the business of "bringing heaven to us." The whole Kingdom of God thing in the Gospels seems to me to be how we need to relate to each other here and now. How if we would really take the Commandments to Love God and Love People seriously, we'd be living in just the kind of world that Jesus says is coming in Revelation - where tears are wiped away and where need is cared for. Where the hungry are fed and the naked clothed. Not everyone equal in a pure marxist sense, but everyone valued and counted.

I'm so less worried about people's "eternal" destiny than I am their present condition. It's a new twist on the old question, "How is it with your soul?"

Yep, that's how heresy starts - and reformation. Every reform was heresy once...

Daily Heresy!

2007-03-11T22:42:00.000-05:00

This might be heretical. No, I'm pretty sure this is heresy.

I don't believe that everyone who doesn't accept Christ goes to Hell. Wait, hear me out. I don't think that everyone goes to Heaven.

(Good Joke:
Dan: I'm a Universalist - everyone is going to heaven ... (pregnant pause) ... even conservatives.)

First, I don't think we have a proper understanding of Hell. We think of fire and brimstone, which is okay - but Collier teaches that when Jesus died and went to Hell he didn't go to that hell - he went to a different hell. It is just a place under ground where people went because they couldn't ever get truly right with God. I guess that like the two people who didn't die, but rather ascended, went to heaven and everyone else went to this little underground place to wait for the Messiah. Abraham's Bossom? I don't know, I wish I had kept better Collier notes!

Second, our God is just. Sending people who have never heard the Gospel to a hell of fire and brimstone and eternal damnation just isn't just. I don't care what scriptures you might have - it isn't just. It also isn't just for all of the tribesman who have never heard to get a free card in to heaven - because then when we bring the "good news" the people who reject would go to hell when they would have wound up in heaven. It's all very complicated.

So, bear with me. Hypothetically: People who accept Jesus go to Heaven. No exceptions - Even if you lose your salvation you still end up in Heaven. People who outright reject Christ end up in Hell. Fire, brimstone, damnation - the whole 9 yards. People who have never heard or never had the Gospel fully explained go to this underground place where they are separated from God, but they will eventually be in Heaven - not a purgatory, mind you, just a less dramatic Hell.

Of course, this flies in the face of the great missionary thrust. We need to save the heathens from the pits of Hell. Well, I think our emphasis is in the wrong place. I don't think we are doing this for the lost people ... I think we should be doing it for Jesus. God is glorified when people accept his grace. In this hypothetical case, God will redeem those who never call on His name, but that isn't the intended plan. God is much happier when we go by the original plan.

This would be a just system, could possibly be biblical (it would take some work, but it's possible), and would circumnavigate some of evangelicalisms rough water.

Is this how all heresy gets started?

2007-03-07T22:20:00.000-05:00

I have these lofty ideals. I think, "Why don't we try a church that breaks all the traditions?" But, they I realize that I need those traditions to feel like I'm in church.

In the 1600-1700s we didn't know what air was comprised of. Empty space awed us. It was something that we didn't have an explanation for. So, we built our churches with lots of empty space - It evoked the thoughts: we are small compared to God, God's untaimable spirit is present in church, and the sense of awe in a God we cannot fully understand. Well, today we get air - we understand the percents behind it, the molecular strutcure, etc. We also understand that having huge empty spaces costs a lot of money to heat. But, it's our tradition - so, we'll probably keep it.

I picked up a "street Bible" in the Library today. The 23 Psalm started, "You are, like, a good probation officer, I don't need anything else..." I put it down. I understand why some people fight for a KJV only translation - I don't fight with them, but I can understand.

My good friend Andy is leaving my church to serve as a college pastor. He's a great associate pastor. He said the one thing he won't miss is the phrase "well, that's not how we have always done it." We're like 4th graders with a substitute teacher - but Ms. Smith doesn't do it like that. The Rev. Claude Smithmire did it this way. I try and shake things up sometimes. I encouraged my Sunday School class to sign up to work in the Nursery. They staunchly refused. After some heavy encouragement I got 5 or 6 to sign up. Their first reply was that when they were younger it was the mothers who all took turns in the nursery. A new paradigm just wouldn't do.

I told them that there is no retirement age for ministry. I know that I'm probably overstepping my bounds with that one, but I don't care. If I don't do something now there will be no one left to tell me the same thing in 50 years. When these women had young children none of them worked, but today almost all of the young mothers work. Many of the young mothers are new to the church or just returning to the church. If we make them take rotations they will all suffer burn-out and stop coming. I'm not done yet. When I'm finished there's going to be an older adult in the Nursery every weekend.

I'm up for breaking some traditions, but I've realized that the ones we need to break are the ones that are contributing to our shrinking church size. Traditional music can still work and be attractive to a young audience. Slow, boring, repetitive traditional won't. I realize that in every church I attend I want to make the worship a little for effective, the church run a little more smoothly, and the facilities a little more inviting. I've realized that I have two more years of ministry left in Toccoa. I want to make them effective.

The End of the World (as we know it)????

2007-03-05T09:43:00.000-05:00

I was surfing iTunes (actually as part of prepping for my sermon this Sunday) and came across a CD called "Pickin' on Led Zeppelin" - instrumental BLUEGRASS versions of Zeppelin songs...

You can't hear it here...but you could BUY it here...heh

http://www.homegrownmusic.net/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=LedPickin&Category_Code=Bluetributes

Could be the end of Western Civilization as we know it...would that be such a bad thing? :)

Oh - and it gets better (better?) - Pickin' on Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Dave Matthews...

Sadly - I'll probably buy some of these...

An open letter to those called to ministry (including myself)

2007-03-02T12:27:00.000-05:00

Don't give up.

I was doing homework for a class I hate. I had to write something out for an Old Testament prophesy. It was in II Samuel. Part of the prophecy said, "When he does wrong I will punish him" and then it said "I will not turn my back on Him."

Well, this goes against the NT. We believe that Jesus never sinned and we believe that when the weight of the sins of the world was on Jesus "even God could look no more" (My God, My God why hast thou forsaken me?)

I asked these questions in my paper - my last question was. If there isn't a good explanation for these prophecies, I can't justify the idea that the OT and NT flow harmoniously - how can we justifiably call the testaments harmonious?

The professor gave me a short answer. "Very Harmoniously." WTF?

I know I've already blogged about this, but I can't get it out of my mind. He gave up. He stopped trying. My view of inerrancy and infallibility hung on his answer to my question - and he wasn't trying that day.

Don't give up. When ministry seems so humdrum and usual don't give up. When kids ask questions that don't contribute to the discussion please remember that their very faith might hang in the answer to that question. Don't be afraid to take time, to promise an answer later, or to schedule it in. I have become pretty depressed since I recieved that answer. I don't know why. I hate the Bible and Theology department at my school. I put a lot of hope in this particular professor. I thought he would be different, but he wasn't.

I recieved a good answer (from Dr. Smith, the director of the School of World Missions who mentors me) but, I just can't shake the feeling I get that I will never find any resolution with the Bible and Theology Department.

Be different. Change the world. Change the church. Swear in a sermon. Say no to something you don't want to do. Take time, not just to be Holy, but to answer the simple questions and the difficult one. Never look down on someone for understanding less of the Bible.

Don't give up.

Chapter 3 - The Pastor

2007-02-24T18:47:00.000-05:00

(Yep, still going with my (old) new series!)

“You’re the kind of person who pastors hate, because you’re so damn valuable to the church, but you’re a pain in the ass.” – a good friend, about me, said in much love and laughter.

It’s true. I know that it’s true. The associate pastor at my church is one of my best friends. I go in to his office and talk with him anytime I just “need to talk” about an issue. When I’m struggling with my school’s ridiculous theology, when I have car problems, or even if I’m just bored I will stop by his office. I could describe every aspect of his office so well that if anything is ever stolen I will be the first to know. Andy has a 18 month baby at home, but I would feel no shame calling him at 3 in the morning if I had a problem. No shame.

Matthew Turner writes about his many experiences with pastors. He writes about the balding fat pastor who came into his town to start a new church, the pastor who asks on a visitor’s first Sunday if he or she believes in tithing, and the pastor who has his own stylist. He also deals with the issue of “pastor worship.”

I love my pastors. When I graduated high school I invited 11 United Methodist pastors to my party. When I graduate college I will invite at least 3 more.

As a child Rod was the pastor and finisher of my faith. He was the only pastor I knew and all truth was contained within him. He was a phenomenal pastor on every level. He could have easily been a CEO of a major company, but he chose to follow God’s plan and became a pastor. He coached the High School team and took them far every year. He seemed omni-present and we knew that he walked on water in his spare time.

Our next pastor was the Reverend Dr. Deryl Kent Larsen. He was a very intelligent man with a passion for God, but he wasn’t Rod. We immediately rejected him.

My home church’s current pastor is David Lake. I love him and his family. I pray for his ministry in Kane all the time.

Bill Beatty and I share a blog. He’s my godfather (if my parent’s had died before I turned 18 Bill and Lori would have inherited my sister and I – this is long past, but I know they still love me.) My mom agonized over who to put in a will as the caretaker for her children. Mom couldn’t put a family member because if it weren’t an Airgood my dad’s mom would be furious. She wanted someone who would love my sister and I as she had. She was praying one day and the thought of Bill and Lori popped into her mind. She started crying because she knew it was perfect. My mom and dad took Bill and Lori out to eat. When mom asked the question (from my mother’s story) Bill and Lori both immediately said yes – they didn’t even need to look at each other or confer. Through the changing of pastors at my home church, my trip to college, and my crazy life out on my own I still consider Bill my pastor.

I love the concept of a pastor. The idea of a person guiding you in spiritual matters is so simple and yet so many people don’t take advantage of it. People have “life coaches,” therapists, councilors, and mechanics. My pastors fill all of those shoes. Yes, even mechanic in some cases.

2007-02-13T09:30:00.000-05:00

God save us from ourselves is right. I did have to switch and join the Googlemania, but I am content with that switch. I haven't been blogging as often as of late because I've been trying to think less.

I stand with the bold proposition that an academic knowledge of the Bible is in no way related to our relationship with Jesus. I've taken the Bible classes and I have realized that my brain no longer wants to follow Jesus ... but, thank God, my heart stills longs passionately for my Savior and for His influence daily on my life. My heart wins out.

I'm changing, too. I used to be a rational thinker - and now I am beginning to reject that. Rational thought hasn't given me any great revelations of faith; my heart is content in not fully understanding the grace and forgiveness that Christ offers but accepting it in blind trust.

It's difficult for me - I counted myself among those who think that with enough study we can truly understand God (or atleast get pretty close), but now I understand that my brain is so small in comparison to the Creator God's - and I realize that part of humility is humble accepting the fact that if all of the great minds of our day got together and thought about God for the rest of their lives we would be no closer to understanding God than the child who first understands that God loves her.

That's my theology for the moment. God is love. I don't know about the rest, I'm not entirely convinced that anything else matters, and I'm not so sure that it's a bad line of thinking.

Give me hermeneutics? Give me exegesis? Give me Armenianism? No, for right now I'm going to stick with "Give me Jesus!"

A life in change. God save us from ourselves.

Change

2007-02-12T13:45:00.000-05:00

Okay - nobody likes change, right? And nobody likes to be forced into making a change. In my using Blogger, I've had a lot of trouble with old blogger - crashing, losing posts, etc. So, I changed to New Blogger for the stability... sigh... So now I'm part of the Google universe...which isn't a big deal, I guess...

But - half way through the process, with no turning back, of course, I get this notice that if I have an shared blogs then EVERYBODY who contributes has to sign up for New Blogger and become a part of the Googlesphere...Googleverse...um...?

So, if Michael never posts here again it's because I changed to New Google... I never knew that making that change would affect anybody else...

But that's life, isn't it? I make a change - good, bad, whatever - and it doesn't affect just me. I decide to become a vegitarian (fat chance!!) and suddenly my household isn't the same anymore - meals are different. Lori decides to carpool to work and it affects me (for the better, mind you - less gas expense and she takes my Expedition fewer times because of the roads).

Faith is like that too... When the jailer in Philippi asked what it would take for salvation, Paul's response is:

They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Believe and you and your household will be saved. That's amazing. Is it really that easy? Well, no. But the change affects everyone, doesn't it? There's a little more to the story:

They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

Change affects everyone. But sometimes for the better. If we will live like we really believe what we say we believe - that we really believe WHO we say we believe - then the whole WORLD will change...

But change is hard....and we don't like it...

God, save us from ourselves....

I Am the Church...You Are the Church...We Are the Church Together...everybody sing...

2007-01-22T13:10:00.000-05:00

You know - I struggle with the whole "I can go outside and worship God, thank you very much" attitude (yeah I know that wasn't what you were saying...but I'm on a roll here). While it is true - and I believe (though it's the post modern worship "buzz-phrase") that worship is a lifestlye, and thus we do it (or ought to) in every moment, there's still something important about worshipping in community.

I think you're dead on that one of the main reasons for church to exist is for us to be in community with each other - but if that was the only reason, well I'll take the Lion's club, thank you very much (not as much guilt associated with that) where I can hang out with people and be in community. We even do really great, mission type work there (all kinds of money comes in and goes out to help with sight and hearing - as well as some youth focus stuff). The "stuff they do" at Lion's club is very much like the "stuff they do" at church - but church is (and should be) deeper, richer and more meaningful because we don't just get together for a meal (though we do that a lot) and we don't just get presentations about stuff going on in the community (though we do that a lot, too), we gather around the communion table and draw into the presence of Christ - with each other. And all the things that we disagree on, and all the differences that we have, are a distant second to worshipping the very God of the Universe. And all the good things we do and all the great fellowship we have is a distant second to siimply being in the presence of God. And while I can be in God's presence alone, isn't it more powerful to be together with others?

What makes going to a concert different than listening to a CD (even a live CD)? What makes going to a theater to see a movie different from renting it and watching it alone? Or even renting it and watching it with two or three friends different from watching it alone? Together we are more than we are separately.

I confess I'm still working on this. The reality is that sometimes I get "better" community at the Lion's club meetings than I do at church - but I don't get the spiritual fulfillment that I get when I've worshipped with a dozen or a hundred other people - even if I don't know them - even if I don't like them...

So - church is all about community - but it's not ALL about community...or, something...

Chapter 2: The Church

2007-01-22T09:38:00.002-05:00

People are as young as their dreams and as old as their cynicism. – Tony Campolo

I’m a pretty cynical person. I’ll admit that. I’ll also admit that most days I’m pretty cynical about the church.

The author of this book took it upon himself to church hop for this chapter. He visited nearly 50 churches to spot current trends. He found that many churches think they are being incredibly innovative when they are doing the same things as all the other churches – which are doing secular things … just 3-5 years behind the secular world. It was an interesting read, but I could never do what he did. I couldn’t church hop again. When I was in middle school (and coincidentally around the time that Daryl arrived) I began church hopping. I visited a number of churches and realized that they all had the same problems as my own church.

I’m thoroughly convinced that our need for a church isn’t so much for the act of worship ( I would prefer going out into nature and worshipping by myself) but rather for the sense of community that can only be found at a church – and only by attending actively a church for a period of time.

When I moved into my first place my church was hugely supportive. I don’t think they are done yet. I have a strange feeling that they won’t be done until I have every piece of kitchen equipment imaginable. I know that I am well prayed for and well provided for. I know that some members of my church have asked the pastors if they can help me financially. So far I’ve turned them down in the hopes that that money will go to a FAR better cause.

I love my church. I love my home church, Bill Beatty’s church, my sister’s church, Shane Hinderlighter’s church, and (yes, even) First Baptist of Toccoa. I believe in the idea that people can come together in community with a sense of love and grace and be a Church. I don’t think it happens all the time. It’s an exception at most houses of worship, but I believe it can happen.

Chapter 2: The Church

2007-01-22T09:38:00.001-05:00

Chapter 2: The Church

2007-01-22T09:38:00.000-05:00

2007-01-16T18:35:00.000-05:00

This is our 100th post on TalkAboutSomething! I'm so excited I'm going to start a new series.

I'm reading "The Christian Culture Survival Guide" It was recommended by my friend Rachel. For my new series I'm going to discuss each chapter's theme and my own reflections on it. I'm not as cynical as Matthew Paul Turner (although I'm close and not nearly as funny.)

His first chapter is about "Getting Saved and Baptism." He discusses his salvation experience (when he was 4) and his baptism (a terrifying experience for him.) He discussed his Baptist churches scary quasi-military tactics to win souls. He makes it abundantly clear that winning souls is incredibly important and a necessity to the Christian world - but, he criticizes the heavily employed fast-food tactics we Christians use to reach the lost.

I was "saved" when I was 11. I was at Wesley Woods and went forward for an altar call. It was a beautiful time in my life. I became a Christian at the outdoor chapel at a side camp off of Wesley Woods - perhaps the same spot where my mother committed her life to Christ. I was baptized at Creationfest in a pond. I was submerged (like a good Baptist should be). I am glad I waited until I was older and fully understood what I was doing. If my memory serves me right I was confirmed before I was baptized. I became a United Methodist before I was baptized - definetly against the rules.

I feel that evangelism is important - and have, in the past, fallen for the "get people to say the sinner's prayer" to get a "get out of Hell free pass." I don't think that evangelism is the most important thing in a Christian's life. I think it's moe important than most Christian's make it ... but we make it such an extreme that most people can't handle it and give up entirely. Anyone can share his or her faith. When the church makes evangelism anything other than simply sharing our faith with others the church fails. Evangelism isn't going door to door. It isn't shouting at people as they go into porn shops. It's about loving the people that you're close to (saved and unsaved) and patiently explaining the story of Christ with them.

We've screwed up royally on this one. Those who think witnessing is the most important part of being a Christian often take it to unhealthy extremes. Those who don't think it is that important often don't do it at all because they feel they can't compare to those who share so boldly.

We need to bring evangelism back into a proper perspective. We need to teach openly that the only door to door we often need is inviting our neighbors to a football party. Maybe the only shouting we need is when the Steelers (or insert football team name) score a Touchdown.

2007-01-13T19:58:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about this. I'm not adding this to my list of doctrines or anything - but it has been something on my mind that has kept my mind churning. It's a thought process, not a single thought. Here goes:

In China the women riding bicycles wear garbage bags on their arms and giant visors on their heads. All this so that they don't tan. In a land of dark skinned people being white is beautiful. In America women lay in a "cancer coffin" to get their skin darker. In a land of lots of white people dark skin is beautiful. The first time I laughed at this notion and pointed it out to my friends an older friend said, "It's the mark of the beast - it's a sign of our sinful fallen nature."

Blondes want to be redheads, brunettes want to go blond. We want to be anything but what we are. Satan has done a very good job convincing us that whatever it is we are it isn't good enough. I've been wondering if this principal also applies to sin. Is our sincere desire to remove sin from our lives a sign that we truly want to follow God or is it a sign that we want to be anything but what we are? Do we desire to sin less because we fail to love ourselves as Christ loves us?

I'm not saying we should all go out and sin it up like fools. I think that our desires are out of place. Our desire shouldn't be to avoid sin - it should be to follow God. A lot of people would argue that if you are avoiding sin it means you love God ... but there are a lot of reasons why one would try and eradicate sin (most of them pretty selfish.) If you truly try and follow God I believe that eventually the sin in your life will becomes a lot less fun - and your desire to sin will decrease. I don't believe the converse is true. An eradication of sin does not always mean an increased devotion to God.

I've seen too many Christians who make it their life goal to eradicate sin from their lives. I haven't seen many Christians who have made it work. I've seen people who run scared all the time because they fear that they might sin.

If we loved ourselves as Christ does we wouldn't fear our sin. Eradication of sin isn't the ultimate goal of a Christian life. Have we fallen for Satan's trap and made our primary concern of the Christian's life something that isn't all that important? I think that sin is bad, but I know that Christ didn't die on the cross for the sole purpose of watching me struggling all day to try and rid my life of all sin. That's not why he died. He died to give life - and yes, the Christian life does contain an element of sin removal - and give it abundantly. There's a lot more to the Christian life than trying to live without sin.

I don't like the shape of my body. I know I should lose weight, but I also know that I shouldn't hate myself because of my weight.

I don't like my sin. I know that I should sin less, but I also know that I shoudlnt' hate myself because of my sin.

Christ died out of love for mankind. I know that he doesn't want us to hate ourselves because of the sin that he died to forgive. I'm not going to look longingly at the greener grass on the other side of the fence. I'm going to look instead at Christ.

Ministry Things

2007-01-12T01:14:00.000-05:00

"So what do I do? My goal is turn all of the kids into wild, crazy, liberal, Jesus loving Catholics in the next two years." - Mary Sirianni, on youth ministry

Mary and I discussed ministry today. She works with her youth group and does an amazing job. She calls me for ideas and we brainstorm together for ideas. It works really well and we have come up with some great ideas. She wants to instill a passion in the kids and get them to start questioning the faith they have inherited to make it their own. Some pretty lofty goals for a Sophomore. We also discussed what she will do after college. It was fun to talk about some ministry goals.

Diane Miller called me today to discuss some options for my internship. It was really fun to discuss the options and places available for me. I will either go to Russia over a Christmas break and work with a missionary in Moscow and a short term trip from WPA in the Komi Republic or I will spend a summer in Israel/Palestine. It was so exciting to discuss these ideas - Diane's enthusiasm is contageous.

I've been thinking a lot about what ministries I want to work with. I might do the spring youth retreats in Georgia. I want to work with the Youth Group in Toccoa. I hope to do the youth internship. Or, I could apply for the Lavonia job and work with a youth group part time. I'd love to do that - but I'm not sure if that's what God wants for me.

I'm so easily excited by ministry ideas. I'm so bogged down by ministry. Not all the time ... not even most of the time. Just ... sometimes I feel so weary of all of the stuff that goes on.

I love the people who are in ministry for me. I spent a day with my adopted family at church a few months ago and when I was on my way out the door my adopted mom just threw open her arms for a hug. It meant so much to me. I hope that the people I am in ministry for feel the same way. Even when I'm bogged down.

Lemme Whine a Minute

2007-01-08T14:31:00.000-05:00

Last weekend (over New Years) I was part of the leadership team for a youth retreat. I'm so frustrated about it. It wasn't that the retreat wasn't good - it was great. It wasn't because it was over New Years (though we don't want to do that again). It wasn't because I was the tech guy (I actually love doing that, you know - though we had a great guy running sound with my antiquated and completely inadequate sound system - he made the band sound really good). It wasn't my teaching (heh - it was called "A Diamond in the Poop" - no kidding - actually, I was JOKING WHEN I SUGGESTED THAT TITLE RICK...but it stuck...) I really enjoyed teaching - and hearing the guys teach - they are so talented.

I'm frustrated because while I poured all kinds of energy and resources into this event, not a single kid from my youth group went... I don't understand. It was the "big event" for December. I can get 15 kids out to go bowling or a dozen to make candy or take muffins to visit shut-ins - but to go to a retreat where they might actually experience a God moment...not a one...sigh... Well, not true, one girl wanted to go - but she didn't feel comfortable going alone. I understand, though I think she would have had a great time...

We have real commitment-phobia here at First UMC Warren. Not everyone, but quite a few - especially the youth. People don't sign up for events until the day before or the day of or they just show up...even if we needed an RSVP...sigh... Of course it's not just here - but here is where it impacts me.

Oh well...I'll get over it.

Hey, Michael - I'm told that if nobody complains about what you're doing, then what you're doing isn't effective :) Keep it up!!!

2007-01-07T20:44:00.000-05:00

I've never been so unapologetic as today. My sister and I were called before the high council for a meeting after church. Becka and I sat down with the youth during a DIG meeting and gave them an open forum to discuss "whatever they wanted" with some adults closer to their own age. We let the kids know that nothing they said would leave the room. We also said that no one knew why we were there so they didn't need to be nervous that we would tell.

If we had to do it all again the only thing I would have changed was our wording about the nature of the meeting. What bothered me most was Pastor Craig talking down to us. He is paid to lead youth group and has routinely failed us as a youth leader. I love Pastor Craig, but it hurt so much having someone who doesn't even try to do anything create yelling at us for this. I think the kids really enjoyed it and I don't think it was a safe sanctuaries violation.

I would do it again in a heartbeat. I think that we accomplished a lot of ministry in that meeting. I'm sorry if we misscommunicated anything - but I think that the scolding we recieved from the pastors was unneccesary. I want Pastor Craig to have more accountability and to stop dishing it out.

2007-01-02T23:50:00.000-05:00

We're waiting patiently for the rest of the world to return to 1957. The church, that is. Any minute now that long forsaken decade will return to us - we wait patiently for its arrival. Again.

Our churches are failing. Yeah, the suck factor ... we've gone over it and over it. We have audiences instead of congregations, people don't tithe to an institution this irrelevant, people don't even like themselves ... let alone their neighbor, and racism is still openly tolerated in our churches.

But, I feel there's so much more behind our problems. There are a few things that could be out of place. God could have forsaken us, we could have forsaken God, or it could simply be that we need to change our methods. I've basically ruled out the possibility that God has forsaken us. I'm pretty certain that to some degree we have forsaken God. I don't think that our methods alone are the problem. So, it's a combination of the second and third option with no possibility of the first.

It's pretty obvious that as long as there have been humans we have turned our backs on God. A lot of people, especially within the church, want to return to "better times" (aka the 1950s.) Was it the open racism in the deep south that made our country more Christian? Were we better Christians because men could beat their wives without fear of divorce? Was our church fulfilling the great commission because we had more people with unaffected lives? I don't think so. I think we are capable of so much more. Our methods were wrong in the 1950s and (since they haven't changed much) they are still wrong today.

So, here's a very brief list of some methods that need to be addressed:
* Our reliance on the "superpreacher" instead of allowing God to use the losers.
* Our Americanized "Bigger is Better" view of church.
* Our fear of the world.
* Our attempts to change the world before we change our own hearts.
* Our refusal to change our style to fit that of those outside the church.

I know it's not complete, I know I fail to learn from my own teachings, and I know that the church is capable of change. I'm not waiting for the return of that decade. I'm not using the excuse of "waiting on God." I'm ready for some change in our church.

2006-12-29T00:16:00.000-05:00

I love the people of the Young Adult Ministry Team. I love them because they are the church I have been dreaming of. We are all struggling together in the same (general) direction. One of my first blogs was my wish to some day pastor a church with a mission statement along the lines of "a herd of people all struggling together towards Christ." I'm so tired of mission statements that declare that a church (usually of 12-50 ancient white people) will win the entire world for Christ and live every second for His glory and have no distractions ... ever.

We all drink, most of us don't attend a church right now, few have probably opened a Bible in months, and many of us don't feel nearly as close to God as when our spiritual life revolved around showing up for game night at youth group. But, we all love God - and deep down we want to serve Him and His church with more of our heart.

See, young adult ministry is tough. We haven't had an actual "YAMT" for a number of years. We don't have any campus ministries in WPA that are UM sponsored (I could be wrong, but I don't think I am), because of age restrictions we have almost no outlets for young adults in ministry to youth, and we have an increasingly smaller number of young pastors. I don't think I would be willing to make young adult ministry my top priority if I was pastor of a church of 50 people in a small town.

We are now embarking on the "Believe Again!" plan for ministry. What is a proper response from a young adult to the new plan for ministry? What does young adult ministry look like under Believe Again! ?

Wesley Houses in college town? Young Adult pastors at larger churches? Intellectual outreach to the post graduate level students? Starting more new churches - especially in college towns. California University has no United Methodist presence. The United Methodist church (to my knowledge) does no college outreach at Cal U. I think our churches can do better ... but, I also think that our conference can do better - and we can help the young adults to enable themselves.

Believe Again! What does that mean to Young Adults rapidly fleeing from our denomination?

God Giggled

2006-12-22T10:23:00.000-05:00

I found this at
http://www.sundaypapers.org.uk/?p=325
and I had to post it. It's a perfect (and so unusable at my church) statement of what God did in Christ when He was born.

God Giggled
It was the first Christmas and…

God giggled
God farted
God burped
God gurgled
God needed a cuddle
God was a baby…

Christmas reminds us:

That we don’t have to find God – he finds us in our humanity –
We don’t have to go up - he came down
We find God in the physical, in our bodies, in material, in humanity.
God became one of us….

This item was posted by James Hawes

Lived Among the People

2006-12-22T09:12:00.000-05:00

So I'm getting ready for Christmas Eve worship and I'm thinking to myself, "There's nothing new to say. It's all been said before. What could I possibly do at worship that hasn't been done a million times before."

Then it hits me (heh, like a Vonage commercial?) - I'm an idiot.

It really isn't about saying something "new" is it? It's telling the truth. It's speaking the love of God that came to us in a very different and transforming way.

It really is a NEW story, though. How many other times has God come to be with people.

I'll wait while you Google that one...

No, not a god dropping out of the sky as the god - but a god coming as a human being?

Google...

No, not a god siring an offspring who becomes half a god. God being fully God and fully human...

Google...

Really - it never happened before Jesus - hasn't happened since Jesus.

And the beauty of Jesus coming in a crap filled cave with dirt poor parents is that even better than Bishop Bickerton:

"He dropped the puck and showed his humanity. He took a few hours and lived among the people ... I think it's something he does most of the time."

THAT'S amazing to me.

My new favorite Christmas song is Adoration by the Newsboys (not that new, but it's still my favorite):

Adoration

I’m here with the others

Who saw the heavens testify

Now I hang back in the shadows

I want to come close

I want to know

She sees me shivering here

She smiles and with a nod

I walk through the mud and straw

To the newborn Son of God

Come, let us adore Him

He has come down to this barren land

Where we live

And all I have to give Him

Is adoration

He raises a wrinkled hand

Through the dust and the flies

Wrapped in rags like we are

And with barely open eyes

He takes my finger

And He won’t let go

It’s nothing like I knew before

And it’s all I need to know

Come, let us adore Him

He has come down to the world we live in

And all I have to give Him

Is adoration

God is with us here

Our Immanuel

God is with us here

Our Immanuel

O come let us adore Him

Jesus, our Immanuel

Is with us here and He won’t let go

2006-12-15T22:29:00.000-05:00

Bishop Bickerton dropped the ceremonial puck at the Otter's game tonight. It gives me a warm feeling (much like Vodka does) to know that my Bishop lives among the people. He sat a few rows behind my family. He didn't get a special box seat, he didn't wear a full suit, and he didn't bring an entourage for the photo op. He's a real person ... living a real life for our Savior.

I surround myself with very real people. I'm tired of people who smile all the time to prove "the joy of Jesus." I have friends who sin boldly - not in the good sense of that, but in the horribly scewed version. I have friends who drink a little too much, who drop the F-bomb, and who occasionally make really big sexual mistakes. I know which of my friends know Jesus and which don't. I know. I know that when they say something they mean it. I don't have to wade through everything they say and try and figure out what's true. I know when they speak the truth.

My associate pastor, Andy, is a real person. His wife brought a lesbian couple with them to church. His wife doesn't like being around other Christians, she just likes telling people about Jesus. Andy is teaching a Bible Study on sharing your faith. He teaches it from a very real perspectives.

That Bible study group passed out hot chocolate during a parade. There were a few floats in the parade that were done by churches. All of the floats bemoaned the fact that we need to "put Christ back in Christmas." Angry Christians yelling about the heathens trying to steal "their" holiday. My church passed out hot chocolate and talked to people.

A lot of pastors would ask to give an invocation at a sporting event. Their lives prove the point that Christians only care about Christian things. Jesus came - not just for personal salvation - but to change the world. Bishop Bickerton didn't say a prayer to satiate the "spiritual aspect" of things. He dropped the puck and showed his humanity. He took a few hours and lived among the people ... I think it's something he does most of the time.

Telling the Truth in love

2006-12-11T23:13:00.000-05:00

A radical departure from the very un-grace full things I would have like to have written about my friend's mother ... a tribute to my Facebook Husband (Facebook is an on-line community of college students, I enjoy fake relationship statuses, and Tony is my current husband."

Tony tells me that it would be really easy for me to lose weight if I exercised. Tony is (obviously) skinny and has (obviously) never tried to lose weight. I realize this statement to be completely untrue and this realization immediately negates most of Tony’s other statements. All of his theological reasoning and political ideology is completely eviscerated because this statement is untrue. Tony made one completely erroneous statement and I disregard everything he has ever defended as fact.

I love Tony and cherish our friendship, but I disagree with a lot of what he says. It was his roommate who yelled at me for being a liberal. When I cried the following day it wasn’t because I failed a final, it wasn’t because a good friend had been violently beaten and raped, and it wasn’t because someone disagreed with me. I cried because Tony didn’t stick up for me. When his roommate made ugly accusations he didn’t defend me. (Take this with a grain of salt – I was an emotional basket case last week.) I still love Tony. Tony and his roommate think that I fail sinners because I won’t harshly confront their sin.

Pastor Charles told a story of a boy caught stealing some penny candy. The store owner made him tell his parents what he had done. He father said, “My son is a criminal.” His mother said, “No he isn’t, my son’s going to be a pastor.” The father told the truth in love. His son had committed a criminal action and the father loved his son enough to tell the truth. But, the mother showed truer love. The mother looked at what was possible. I look at sinners and realize that I was once there (and occasionally find myself there again). I feel that as a Christian it’s my job to let them know that there is a better option. Sin is fun … but not fun enough to compare to God.

I won’t tell a sinner he isn’t allowed to sin because of my morality. I will instead offer him forgiveness and a chance at a life far better than sin. In the story of the prodigal son the father allowed his son to go, knowing that no good would come of it. The father didn’t stop his son to protect him. He let his son choose the wrong path. When I let a sinner do that I’m accused of being unloving. I find that upsetting. Most people don’t understand just how much love it takes to let a child make a mistake. God doesn’t want us to legislate morality. He wants us to grow closer to Him – most often he will let us make some wrong choices and screw up a few times. It’s how we learn best.

I still love Tony, and I know that when he realizes how much love it takes to allow a friend to learn from his or her own mistakes he will understand that I really am taking a loving approach to sinners.

2006-12-09T22:10:00.000-05:00

So, I promise that I'm not dead. I am just moving and suffering the effects of not having the internet all the time. I'm stealing internet from Perk Up (Coffee Shop) right now. I'm not ashamed. We should start the topic of loving people who are Christians but are just annoying to talk to. Well, I'm going to go to Wal-Mart and buy more home supplies. I really want a rake. Much love, your (definetly not dead) friend, Michael.

2006-12-05T13:17:00.000-05:00

I was visiting a friend yesterday and his roomate started yelling at me for being a liberal. I was discussing with my friend the issue of doctrine - and how often in perfecting our doctrine we try and make clear that which the Bible doesn't make clear. I was discussing why I thought that this was not necessary ... it causes division (taking a controversial statement and making Biblical fact can only cause division) and it takes away from that which Jesus made perfectly clear(we debate all day about how many angels can fit on the head of a pin and ... oops we forgot about the poor!).

So, here is his roomate's line of thought. Is God sovereign? Yes. Then you need to trust that the Bible is right and you are wrong. You need to give up your liberalism because the Bible is overwhelmingly conservative.

We discussed a few different points. I finished zero complete thoughts and maybe 4 complete sentences. This boy was so angry at me - just because I existed. The whole time he kept saying a lot of stuff about how Christians need to show love in truth ... well, if he thought that I was wrong he should have tried out his love in truth principles and tried showing me some love.

It was a really painful conversation for me. I saw my friend change in the blink of an eye.

Also, a good friend suffered horribly last night and I failed a presentation today.

So...Something Happened... BAM!

2006-12-04T14:06:00.000-05:00

So, I'm randomly surfing the blogosphere (sort of) and I come across this:
http://nanolog.blogspot.com/2006/11/restaurant-or-cookery-show.html

This guy says he went to church for the first time in years and he really connected with the message and when the service was over...he felt like he wanted to stay connected...to talk about what happened, what he heard, what he was feeling...but the service was over. I can just see it - the lights go up, the people begin to leave...it's done.

He says that he used to look at church like a restaurant - but it's more like a cooking show ("kick it up another notch...BAM!"). In a restaurant, you are immersed in the experience and it is a shared experience and you connect with those around you. In a cooking show - the product may be fantastic - but you're an outsider observing. You're not part of the experience.

That's an image I'm holding on to - I want church to be like a restaurant. Hold the table as long as you want, order a second dessert, talk to the people around you about what a wonderful meal you are having, immerse yourself in the experience, in the fellowship, in all that is going on around you...

God, let church NEVER be a show...

Waiting...

2006-12-04T13:32:00.000-05:00

I'm disappointed today. I don't know why - it's not like I was expecting anything to happen today...just that...well, nothing has happened. Oh, I've been busy - phone calls about people needing help, we're going to work on our copier this afternoon - I got to have lunch with Elie today...all normal stuff...but nothing has really happened today.

I'm in a rut, I guess. Same stuff goes on day after day. Same routine. Not much breaks it - and when something does, well, it's never good...some emergency...some "crisis" or another...

We had communion last night. I never really expected God to show up. You know what... Even though I know that God was there...well, I never walked up and shook His hand. I just went on with the normal stuff of worship... I wonder if anybody experienced God in a real, close and heart affecting way last night? Dunno... [shrug]...I know I didn't...

So we're in this season of anticipation - I'm waiting for something to happen...but I'm not really believing it will, I guess...

The Concept and the Reality

2006-11-30T12:32:00.000-05:00

Hey - if we didn't ALL suck at grace-living Jesus wouldn't have had to die. But, you know it's really easy to endorse a CONCEPT - but it's really hard to live it out. When sin has a face, then we discover what is really in our hearts. I know a couple that would probably be really hard-line anti-gay...if their son wasn't gay... Now, they still see the lifestyle as sinful, but they love their son so very much... I love the concept of grace...I still suck at offering it, at living it... But I have my moments. We all do. What are we going to do? Give up? Nah - that's too easy.

Cross bearing. That's what we do. That means dying to ourselves...daily...

So....

2006-11-27T23:16:00.000-05:00

I say a lot of things I don't really mean. I try so hard to be genuine, but I suck at it (the suck factor is not only in my church - it's also in my life). Here's an (one of the many) example.

I talk all the time about showing grace, forgiveness, mercy, love, acceptance, and some more grace for the fun of it . I talk about grace all the time. I say some radical things - I say that I would let a murderer, gay, or rapist teach my kids Sunday school class. I talk a lot about grace. There's a kid who works with my youth group. (I said some very UN-graceful things) (Suffice it to say that he sinned - majorly) I can't show him grace. It kills me to see him around the girls in youth group. It makes me angry that he is allowed to be a student still. If he was gay he wouldn't be allowed to stay - but his major sexual mistake is easily forgiven. Even written off. It makes me angry.

I talk about grace more than primetime TV ... but when it comes right down to it - I can't live it. I suck at this whole grace thing.

Sin and Marriage...and...whatever...

2006-11-21T18:13:00.000-05:00

So...I'll do one better on the whole sin/marriage issue (maybe).

There's a case in New York right now. A polygamist is on trial. Now, he's on trial, in part, for marrying a 14 year-old. Most people would say that SHOULD be illegal...but the Bible doesn't. So, is it wrong?

And the Bible indicates all kinds of godly men who had more than one wife.

Illegal? Should it be? Is it somehow morally wrong? Why? Who does it hurt? I mean, they really love each other and...well, you get the picture.

Nothing is simple. Moral and ethical questions were never meant to be easy...

What would Jesus do? What DID Jesus do? Hmmm....

Hot Metal Bridge

2006-11-20T18:27:00.000-05:00

Okay - so these guys are my heroes...but go to their discussion board. Great stuff...

http://cybermessageboard.fatcow.com/hotmet/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=6fcfe543968744ee491ad2e789805703

2006-11-20T14:44:00.000-05:00

Well...Jesus was...a-political, in a way, and a revoultionary in a bigger way...

Any church that tells its members how to vote isn't a church at all - it's a political organization... Don't get me started...

Having said that - EVERY church member should be involved in the political process. We should vote for the candidates according to our conscience and even run for office...

But I don't think that any of us should presume to speak for God in the political process. The Bible is pretty clear about one thing: Republicans need to recognize that God put Clinton in the White House and Democrats need to recognize that God put George Bush in the White House (Romans 13).

I will respectfully disagree with you, Michael, when you write:

People who are opposed to gay marriage have a strong scriptural backing. I think that they twist the scripture, that wether it is a sin or not those sinners are still people - loved by God and legally they should be allowed to marry.

I'm not sure what "un-twisted" Scriptures support gay-marriage? I'll need some enightenment... So, sin is okay because we're loved by God? I'm pretty sure that Jesus would have said no thank you to the cross if that really were the case? So, if you're insisting that it is not sin...well, we're opening that can of worms again...which is okay with me...

Having said all of that, I support the idea that our government should probably recognize homosexual couples equal to hetrosexual (non-married) couples... Really, what's the difference? Tax breaks (if any exist), insurance benefits, property settlements, etc. THAT, I support - it's a human rights issue. But gay marriage, I don't support. I'm not being hypocritical. Marriage is not just a legal status - but it is a spirtual status as well. If the government wants to create a legal status for homosexuals to...be a legal couple...fine. But, don't force that on the church, thank you very much. I will fight with every breath in my body to see that people are treated with justice and dignity - but I won't back down on sin just because society wants me to.

You want a less than clear sin issue? What if a man wants to marry his biological mother? Or a father his daughter (say he's 50 and she's 30)? Is it legal? Is it sin? "Everything is permissible" Paul wrote...but not everything is beneficial (I Corinthians 6 & 10 - where he talks about being mastered by food and lust). Can we do whatever we want? Yep - does that make it right?

But, back to politics (one of the three things you're never supposed to discuss at a dinner party):

Here's one of my favorite comments on the church and politics:

Derek Webb

A King & A Kingdom

(vs. 1) who's your brother, who's your sister

you just walked past him

i think you missed her

as we're all migrating

to the place where our father lives

'cause we married in to a family of immigrants

(chorus) my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man

my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood

it's to a king & a kingdom

(vs. 2) there are two great lies that i've heard:

the day you eat of the fruit of that tree,

you will not surely die and that Jesus Christ

was a white, middle-class republican

and if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him

(chorus)

(bridge) but nothing unifies like a common enemy

and we've got one, sure as hell

but he may be living in your house

he may be raising up your kids

he may be sleeping with your wife

oh no, he may not look like you think

2006-11-19T14:49:00.000-05:00

How much involvment should Christians have in politics?

I'm thinking right now about the Chechnya situation. I personally feel that the Kremlin is refusing to give Chechnya up because of the oil in that region. The war is horrible for the Russian people and it makes life unsafe for people in the cities. Everyone is in danger of the terrorist attacks. If the country was given up then the terrorist attacks would stop ... for a little while. It would clue the terrorists into the fact that terrorism is effective. But, some compromise must be possible. Also, the Kremlin hasn't been very honest. I'm in the group of outsiders who think that Anna Politaskaya was murdered by the Kremlin for her views on the Chechnyan war.

So, as a Christian how do I respond? Do I keep quite on the issue and focus instead on saving souls? Do I present a more wholistic view of Christianity by fighting for peace and equal rights? Do I support the safety and comfort of the upper class (the group I want to work with) by supporting massive military efforts? It's a lot easier when it comes to American politics because any church worth it's salt tells you how to vote.(sarcasm) It's a lot more complicated when there aren't other Christians arguing the finer points.

The Chechnyan people want indpendence, the russian government wants the natural resources and the right to say that they have defeated terrorism, and the russian people want safety and security. Where would Christ stand on such an issue?

Would I still be presenting the Gospel if my political stance goes against a people group's right to self governance in favor of a corrupt government ruling for a foreign people? I believe that Jesus Christ brings freedom - and I think that the Chechnyan people deserve freedom. But, am I willing to be murdered for that?

I read some poems written by my great-great-grandmother's cousin, John Greenlief Whittier, this afternoon. One of them was about a woman who walked into a southern church in sack-cloth and ashes because it supported slavery. She was beaten with a whip in a public parade for her beliefs. It's great to stand up and say that you are willing to die for Christ, but what about the things that Christ would support that aren't very popular.

Slave owners had scripture to back up their right to own slaves. Would I have been able to go against scripture and stand against slavery? People who are opposed to gay marriage have a strong scriptural backing. I think that they twist the scripture, that wether it is a sin or not those sinners are still people - loved by God and legally they should be allowed to marry. Am I willing to die for that? Am I willing to fly against 2000 years of scripture and history to make a stand for what I think Christ would support? Would I have the courage of that woman in sack cloth and ashes with nothing but an unpopular cause and the knowledge that scripture is never intended as hate speech to hold onto - would I have the courage to do the things she did?

Or will I continue to wonder how much involvment Christians should have in politics?

Out on a Limb?

2006-11-16T19:00:00.000-05:00

Oh no - I won't share no blog with no feminist...
Okay - you can stay, just lay off the radical statements.

Wait a minute. Women are people too? Valued as individuals? Image of God? Equal in rights to men? Um...okay...where's the feminist part?

Paul, who was perhaps more chauvistic than Bob Jones, even wrote that in Christ there is neither MALE nor FEMALE. Sounds like equal rights to me. Maybe men and women should have different roles in, say, child rearing or household management, but honestly - where in the Bible does it say inferior?

Oh - the guys like the "wives submit to your husbands" part - forgetting that RIGHT before that Paul wrote "submit yourselves to ONE ANOTHER" and missing the whole "husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church..." He freaking died for the Church - set His EVERYTHING aside for US. Husbands, do that for your wives... No, really, it's in there...

The part about modern feminism that I don't like is the "Men are worthless" part - it's just reverse-oppression - we used to be oppressed - but now we have power so we will become the oppressors... I don't like the whole idea that men and women are entirely equal. Now, before you crucify me, hear me out. There are biological differences that we can't deny - women bear children - I wouldn't want that even if I could do it. I'm a wimp, no doubt about it. Men are less likely to nurturing, more likely to be physically stronger. Women are more likely to be relational. There are a lot of differences, most of them are not absolutes (I'm more relational than some women I know, for example) but there are differences. We aren't just "exactly the same under the skin." NOTE - that I won't insist that one is better - I'd give the edge to women if you pushed me, frankly. I don't like womanist theology - I forget her name but she made the statement that "a man dying on a cross is NOT sufficient for her salvation." Basically, no man can make a sacrifice for her - it has to be a woman...or something...

So - you're really talking about good old fashioned Christianity - before we church people got involved and mucked it all up...

Oh - hey, lay off the pipe though. C.S. Lewis didn't realize that Jesus wouldn't smoke - remember, Lewis started out as an athiest...

2006-11-16T17:01:00.000-05:00

I got reprimanded for smoking my pipe and being a feminist today.

I don't know which one to be more upset about. I got in trouble for smoking my pipe in a public place (it was the wrong "venue"). (Sarcasm voice) Jesus spoke so movingly on the notion that if you are going to sin you should do it in private. (Sarcasm voice - fin) RA's go out drinking and go to parties with alcohol present without any moral problems. I can smoke as long as it's in a cemetary or somewhere that no one will see me. Although I have no moral problem with smoking a pipe (C.S. Lewis did it ... which makes it okay) that doesn't matter. True Christians (trademark, copyright) don't smoke.

"Well, as a child of God you should remove those thoughts and fill your mind instead with the word of God." - an administrator in response to feminism.

Honestly, feminism is the radical notion that women are people. How dare we think such thoughts. I wouldn't be suprised at all if Professor Thomas is brought in for an interogation to see what she is teaching us. We aren't talking modern feminism ... just traditional feminism. (Women are people, they are not property, a woman does not have to get married to be successful, women can go to work and deserve to get paid the same as a man.) Does this really contradict scripture. (Sarcasm voice) I'm going to go find a woman who will submit to my authority and beat her. (Sarcasm voice - fin)

2006-11-16T01:13:00.000-05:00

You have no idea how much I want to keep that last post as the top post on this site. It almost made me spit out a glass of water - Hollywood style!

I have been wondering why I want Methodism to survive. I mean, honestly - as long as it's "kingdom building" I should support it wholeheartedly, right? One of the best things about the United Methodist church is that I can go to any UMC in the country and I will get (more or less) the same message. At a liberal church they might refer to Our Mother/Father/Parent God/Godess ... at a conservative church they might refer to AIDS as the "cure" for homosexuality. (Sadly enough I have experienced the second, my youth pastor :-( sadly enough.) But, when you get right down to the important stuff - the stuff that changes lives - it's always there. A gay AIDS patient can experience the saving grace of our Mother/Father/Parent God in any of our churches. I believe that with all of my heart. That's why I can proudly proclaim methodism even though it's fashionable to say claim a disdain for denominations.

Too many people make a big deal over refusing the idea of denominations. Sure, I think we should work together to build the kingdom, but I also like some level of consistancy. It's too easy to twist the words of God. Too many cults exist that feed off the notion that denominations are bad. Non-denominational is now an official denomination. I like having a clear set of doctrines that I can use for guidance when I'm not sure what the Bible says. It drives my friends crazy when I quote the UM book of discipline. It drives me equally crazy when they quote some guy's opinion as Gospel just because he gets paid to think about Jesus.

That's right. I'm a denominationalist. I like it.

Sometimes You Wanna Go Where Everybody Knows Your Name...

2006-11-14T15:41:00.000-05:00

So I was at a Healthy Communities/Healthy Youth meeting once (yeah, one of those wierd age-based service organizations) where we talked about what young people wanted and what kind of goals HC/HY should set. We had with us about 7-8 middle school/high school kids - mostly of the "skater" crowd... Well, the details don't really matter...

One of the things the kids said that they really wanted in the community was a place. Some kind of place where they would be welcome and not looked down on and not pushed aside. They wanted a place where people of all ages could interact with each other. A place where everybody respected everybody and where young and old alike had equal voice and equal space.

And I said: I know just such a place...

It's called....

MYSPACE!

Sigh...that's probably true, you know...

But my FIRST thought was, really, that's the church. That's EXACTLY what the church is. An intergenerational place where...and then it hit me. That's what church SHOULD be...but, sadly, isn't.

But it can be. We can do it. We just need to look more at (and like) Jesus and less at (and like) each other. We need to live what we belive - not just say it (and sometimes we don't even say it). We need to be that place where EVERYBODY has voice, place...it's home...

2006-11-14T14:53:00.000-05:00

I began thinking about the SMFOYAYP (Shared Mission Focus on Youth and Young People). They tried to define what age groups were considered youth and young adults. In some African countries where the life expectancy is 30 an 8 year old is considered a youth. In some asiatic nations a 35 year old is a young adult. So ... we have a division that deals with age-based ministries ... focusing on people between the ages of 8 and 35! HA.

I have heard of several 11 year olds who have threatened suicide. Kids are "coming out of the closet" at the age of 10 according to Time magazine. I think it's about time that the American church begins re-thinking our youth ministries. There isn't a magical number - no magical age at which a person starts dealing with youth issues. So how do we address the needs of an 8 year old who is already smoking pot and a 35 year old who still is? How do we effectively bring Christ to the 9 year old without a mother and the 30 year old mother who lost her 9 year old?

I don't agree with the principle of "age based ministry." I go the older adult class. I work with children's ministries over the summer. I go to a middle-aged bible study on Wednesdays. I go to youth group on Sunday Nights. I feel fed and fulfilled at all of these gatherings. I belive and strongly support an intergenerational view of ministry. I want more 80 year old women working with the youth and more teens going to the older adult Sunday School class.

Church People

2006-11-13T09:27:00.000-05:00

You know, I swear that our custodian would come to church if he wasn't around church people all week.

We have a really busy church. Parishioners stop in all the time. Not every churchgoer, it turns out, is kind, or patient, or any of the other things Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 13 and Galatians 5.

We've got a huge building to...um...custode? Um, anyway - it's a big building. And Bob does most of the upkeep himself. When he gets criticism for a cobweb, or bad droppings on the pews or whatever - well, it's almost never spoken in love...

Yeah, I think he'd come to church if it wasn't for all the churchpeople...

2006-11-10T09:32:00.000-05:00

The Peanuts cartoon yesterday played off a Dostoeyevsky piece. One told another he wanted to be a doctor, the other told him he couldn't because he hated humanity, and the first reminded the other that he didn't hate humanity ... just people.

In The Brothers Karamazhov it is a missionary doctor who is talking. He says, "The more I love humanity in general the more I hate people in particular." He goes on to talk about how he can't live with people - ever. Well, that's me. I have the hardest time living with people. My roomate left his music on this morning after leaving for work. Who leaves music on while another person is asleep. Since I don't know the password to his computer I can't turn it off now while I work on homework.

I get upset at the guys I live with all the time. I was so frustrated by the antics of Yanic and Jonathan. (Honestly, now that I have moved out I love them both and miss them a great deal... but, when we shared a room it was hell.) Now, I know that I don't have major problems relating to people. I have a huge number of very close friends. I have a great number of people who I feel as close to as a brother or a sister ... so why can't I live with anyone?

I think that the next person I room with (if any) needs to be someone who takes criticism really well. It needs to be someone who I can confront rationally and he will accept it and change. Superhuman. Of course, why didn't I think of that first.

All Around Me, Every Day

2006-11-07T09:45:00.000-05:00

Yeah - it gets better. We're in "Ordinary Time" - so this is either:

The 23rd week after Pentecost (or Pentecost +23)

Ordinary 32

Proper 27

Sounds like the church, doesn't it? Make things really boring, rigid, but with important sounding titles. Proper 27 - oooo...

But the Holy Spirit has been working in amazing ways this summer, even though we don't "schedule" the Spirit to do so... I just got a report of a man who is seeking treatment for alcoholism. There's a couple families working through some pretty big betrayals - but they're doing it together. There's a young couple that I know who, despite having everything working against them and nearly everyone working against them, they are fighting to make it together. And, let's face it, the sun rose every morning, we had breath in our lungs, light in our eyes, hope in our hearts.

The Holy Spirit may not be too acknowledged in our labels, but I won't deny the Spirit's work all around me every day.

2006-11-06T21:06:00.000-05:00

The Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost? Doesn't that just make it seem like nothing happened after the Holy Spirit showed up? I mean, really. Twenty-three weeks without any major, life-changing events? Sounds like my life. Sounds like my school.

We had a woman come and speak at chapel. Landa L. Cope is her name. She isn't a pastor (she's lecturing - not preaching; although, there is a distinct lack of Bible and Theology Profs present in chapel this week), but she does have short spikey hair. She also might be un-married (which makes her unfit to talk about families - we'll pretend that Jesus was married and that's why he had the authority to speak about marriage.)

She's an amazing speaker. She's liberal and funny. She laughs like a smoker and is filled with the Holy Spirit. I'm exstatic. I went and talked with my associate pastor for 2 hours about chapel, today. We had a great discussion about my being at such a conservative school and our mutual lack of compassion for those who have no compassion.

I see a lot of people who think that they are stellar Christians who also suck at being a Christian. I've really been hoping that I don't fall into that category. I really want to move off campus. I want to start the "college Sunday lunch" ministry back up - and we need a house for that. I also want to invite people from church over for meals to foster a greater attitude of fellowship.

So, I'm mister random-post again today. But, at least I'm happy and feel that God is working in the world and in me again. I had missed that a lot.

The Twenty-Third Sunday After Pentecost

2006-11-06T14:10:00.000-05:00

You know it's funny, I've always found the by following the lectionary, I actually am able to connect my messages with the life of the congregation better than if I just preach on whatever strikes my fancy. But that's probably just because I almost completely rely on God when I'm writing a sermon - because I don't have any real wisdom or insight, but God does. It also often happens that whatever I'm preaching about is something that *I* need to hear. And if I need to hear something, it's a pretty good bet that someone else does too.

Here's what I think is happening. You're getting preached things that these pastors think you're supposed to hear instead of things they're supposed to say. Know what I mean? I can see the pastor in his study (I mean this is a really conservative place, so you don't hear from women, do you?) with is Bible open going, "Okay, I'm going to preach to a bunch of 18-21 year olds. What do they need to hear? Hmmm, well, I bet their hormones are raging - let's see..." Opens up Bible to some "good" Old Testament and Pauline fornication passages. "Yep, this'll stop 'em."

So, the Lectionary. This week one of the readings is from Mark 12:38-44:
"As he taught, Jesus said, 'Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widow's houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severly.' Jesus sat down opposite the place where hte offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, 'I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything - all she had to live on."

Okay - in my congregation this plays really easily - we've got a wealthy congregation, most of whom give without really thinking, give out of their surplus. And many give with an attitude of what a great gift they're giving to the church. So I've got plenty of material in the widow's mite part - but the self-righteousness section could play easily here, too.

So - what would I say to the college age demographic? Well, I'd really tailor it to being authentic. The problem with the "teachers of the law" is that their PROJECTION of who they think the world sees (the long robes, the prayers) doesn't match either the reality of their hearts or the reality of their actions (what the world REALLY sees) - they devour widows' houses. Same with the rich people THROWING (there's a bunch of good stuff about this action) their offering into the treasury. It's about being real. It's about what you show the world really being what's in your heart. If you want to work in a point about raging hormones, go ahead. But in the larger context of the TRUTH of God's relationship with us and our relationships with each other. About being transparent. But also about grace - I can't say that I've never stood up in front of people and said, basically, "Look at me. Look how profound I can be." Or whatever. We all fall into the trap of being inauthentic - fake - hypocrites...

That's off the cuff - and I didn't even use the Ruth passage (which would probably play right into the raging hormones thing)...

My point is just that ANY passage of scripture can be applied to where we are - this is the LIVING word of God, after all. And without twisting it and bending it to OUR agendas.

2006-11-05T16:23:00.000-05:00

We never hear sermons about "the college kid who started doing laundry and ran out of money before his clothes were dry." (As opposed to the man who started building his house and ran out of money and resources before he was finished.)

We never hear sermons that directly apply to us. Everyone is stressed and freakin' out about tests, but Christ's admonishing us not to worry, words of direct pertinance, are rarely used. Everyone is tired and most of us are hungry, but all of the words that we need to hear are rarely spoken.

We are instead preached to about: abortion, gay marriage, sex-before-marriage, and a host of other issues that have a vague resonance with most college kids at a conservative Christian college. They are preaching to the choir, daily. And, they don't really get it - it isn't enough. It doesn't nourish us.

I hope that pastors are continually reminded to worry less about preaching by the lectionary and are more concerned with what concerns their congregation. Man centered, yes. But, Christ thought it was an okay approach.

The Church of the Upper Class

2006-11-03T15:46:00.000-05:00

Somebody looked around First Church and realized that there aren't any poor people here. Well, the truth is we've got a few "token" poor people, but no "real" poor people here. This is a white collar church - and it seems like those are the only kind of people who come here.

Sigh...

I just had a conversation with another pastor. He had a call from a woman who was asking really strange questions about church. "Do I have to make a reservation to come?" "Where will I sit?" "What if I don't have any money to put in the plate?" "Do I have to come every Sunday?"

She had no idea what church is.

Most days I have no idea what church SHOULD be. No, that's not true - I know what it should be, but I can't see it. We play a lot of church games, we do a lot of church stuff, but when was the last time we really WERE the church?

I see it sometimes when there's a tragedy - a death (funerals are notorious for bringing out the best AND the worst in people - but I've really seen the church at some funeral services), 9/11, a family is burned out of their home and people pull together and open themselves up to each other.

Unless they're really poor, maybe. Or annoying. Or not as smart as the rest of us. Or rude. Yeah, rude is bad...

Sigh...

I'm in a bad mood today. We spent four hours supposedly talking about shared ministry in Warren - without making one real decision, without drawing a single conclusion or even a single idea of what we really CAN do. Except that we neet to meet again in a few weeks.

Sigh...

You know, Maya Angelou would be SO welcome here - as long as she sat quietly in her pew - but she better not speak out. That would never fly...

Sadly, that's true in most churches. And I, too, don't think she'd be interested at all in attending most churches...

2006-10-31T10:24:00.000-05:00

I think Maya Angelou is the most beautiful person who ever lived. Rachel and I were discussing our rich white Methodist church. We decided that a black person could be accepted at our church, but only if he or she had something to compensate for their blackness. If they were wealthy or brilliant that would compensate enough. People would accept them in our church.

I can't find it right now, but I have a favorite picture. It was taken in the 60s, a time when racial segregation was still the norm in the United Methodist church. The picture is of a group of "radicals" holding picket signs that say "Segregation doesn't equal Christian Love." I see these people fighting for something so honorable. I'm sure that many conservatives thought that it would split the church or at the very least undermind the very essence of what United Methodists believe. How silly we are when we try and interpret God's word to fit our own hatred.

Maya Angelou would be welcome at Toccoa First United Methodist. She's rich and brilliant. It would more than compensate for her skin color. But, she wouldn't. She wouldn't go to a church (at least on any on going basis) that wouldn't accept the poor and underprivileged. I don't blame her. Bishop Leontine Kelly's brother wanted to leave the Methodist Church over segregation. Her father said, "You don't win the battle by leaving the battle field."

I'm praying for some heart change - and who knows? Maybe the people at TFUMC will start to have a heart and love for black people.

2006-10-28T16:48:00.000-05:00

Some sad news today in my personal ministry. The Water's Edge church plant has been shut down by the conference. It was, ultimately, a kingdom building decision. The pastor will be moved to Dahlonega First UMC. That church is starting a new contemporary service. Joe is the best person I can think of to start a new contemporary service. Dahlonega is a college town and Joe's a phenomenal college pastor. Eventually the church will probably open a daughter church on GA400 (a highway) directly inbetween where Joe lives and where the Dahlonega church is.

It makes so much sense, and eventually a new church will get planted. So, why do I feel so empty? This opens up a lot of oppertunities for me. This was the biggest road block keeping me from seeking out a youth ministry position. My Sunday nights are available to work with the youth group here in Toccoa, too. I learned a huge amount about church planting through this experience - and also grew a lot in my faith through my interaction with Joe. So, why am I upset that it's over?

I hope that the conference doesn't make the same mistakes again. I hope that they are willing to admit that placing a few families in an area is worth the financial burden if it will help the church grow. I hope the conference learned something. I want to go work in Pittsburgh with the new church our conference is planting. I want to encourage any new church planting that the UMC is putting on. I'm still excited by the idea of new churches.