Bah Humbug! is a famous line made so by Ebenezer Scrooge. I did an Ebenezer portrayal at our Traveler's Christmas Eve service the other day and will share his story again on Christmas Eve. But I learned some very fascinating elements to this story that I would like to share with you. I hope it will make the story even more relevant to you now.
During the time of Puritan Rule in England, the 1600's, they outlawed the celebration of Christmas. It had been a combination of old english winter festivals and Christ's birth mixed together, but in the eyes of the Puritans a horrible experience. In the early 1700's the Monarchy was restored. In the early 1800's Queen Victoria married a german Prince Albert and he brought some German Christmas celebrations with him, like the Christmas Tree that Martin Luther had initiated in Germany.
in 1833 a Christmas Carol songbook was first published in England, and it gained immense popularity so that Caroling became a very big deal. But they were still wrestling with what to do at Christmas. Enter Charles Dickens. He wrote the a Christmas Carol in six weeks and it was first published on Dec. 19, 1843, one hundred and seventy years ago last night. I felt the spirit of Scrooge doing his portrayal.
Charles Dickens was an active supporter of making life for the poor in England much better. His story of the stinginess of Scrooge played well with his view of why the poor were so looked down upon. His conversion to joyful celebration of Christmas as a result of the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and the ghost of Christmas Yet to Be made him realize that anyone, no mater how miserly and unconcerned, could be influenced by the message of love at Christmas and become one who shared and helped those less fortunate. He increased Bob Cratchitt's salary, helped with the medical expenses for Tiny Tim and was generally recognized at the end of his life as one who truly understood the Christmas spirit by his generosity to others.
This is a story, but it reflects the power of the love of God. We can be transformed by God's mercy and grace, made so clear to us in the Jesus story, that we, no matter how awful, or disinterested in God, can be changed to truly reflect the spirit that God so Loved the World, that he sent his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes this, will have eternal life. A relationship to the Creator restored!
Some other interesting trivia, Dickens was very near sighted and when he was wandering through a graveyard saw a tombstone for Ebenezer Scroogie, a meal man, for he sold cornmeal. But in Dickens poor eyesight it became mean man. There are some other famous british men who were extremely wealthily and totally adverse to helping people other than themselves.
The book changed lives, his descriptions of Christmas parties at Fezziwig's and at his Nephew Fred's house became common practice for others. Singing Christmas carols out on the street gained even more popularity and some of the harsh poor house laws were reformed as a result of this book.
I hope you watch one of the hundreds of versions of A Christmas Carol and recognize that as a story it speaks of redemption, renewal, care for others, joyous celebration of the coming of Jesus into our world and appreciate the story of Charles Dickens even more. As Tiny Tim would say, "God Bless Us Everyone!" For some, the Muppets version is really great. I like the one with Patrick Stewart of Star Trek fame, as Ebenezer. But there are many others, Albert Finney, even Bill Murray did one. There are also versions with women playing the key part.
Have a Merry Christmas, a Happy and Healthy New Year and blessings on your families and friends as you practice the joy of the season and love for one another. Even forgive and love the old Scrooge you know.
Pastor Jeff
Friday, December 20, 2013
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Give Thanks no matter what
We so often think we have to be happy in order to be thankful. That everything is going just great, joy, fun, all our expectations are met. And when they are not, we don't feel very thankful at all.
The message from God reminds us to be thankful in all things. There are some conditions that may not be pleasant or happy, but are preparing us for something better and we need to go through them to bet to the better and then we can give thanks. But we should be giving thanks in the beginning and in the middle of the challenge, so that our thanksgiving at the end will be truly from a grateful heart.
I am once again challenged with an illness that will require surgery and recovery. In the midst of the why me, why now O God, God provided an answer to prayer with the right doctor and a fresh start for me through all of this. Having NIH involved again, has reduced my fear greatly and has given me reasons to give thanks even before the surgery.
So I invite all of you to realize that thanksgiving is for far more than the fun and the good stuff. We have been blessed with God who has provided us with Jesus and forgiveness for our misdeeds. We have a God who has provided a land where we can worship and give thanks in freedom in ways that we see fit so to do. We have been provided a planet home, that has all the resources necessary to give us life. We have been provided with other people who can love and care for us. Even when we seem like porcupines to others, God instructs us on how to love one another.
I love food, way too much food lately, but each taste is a reminder of what God has done. Why not find a way to show thanks by giving those places that make a difference with giving food, a chance to hear from you and get some support from you. That way we can spread the thanksgiving elsewhere as well.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.
Pastor Jeff
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Getting Fed in Worship
On occasion I've heard the comment, I'm not getting fed in worship. I know it's true for sometimes where we are and where the worship experience is going doesn't always match. But I have several thoughts related to this, I would like you to think about, the next time it feels that way to you.
Worship is the work of the people, we need to be ready for worship, not a spectator sport, so part of how we get more out of worship is to be better prepared ourselves....which means praying before we come, reading the scripture lesson ahead of time to see where God might speak to you today, if you are ready. It means having private devotions every day to keep your spirit in tuned to God so that you will have the reference points that come up in worship.
We have fallen into an entertainment trap when we gather for worship, we hope that the music inspires us, that the atmosphere deals with our needs, that the message speaks to something we need to hear, and we hope that it's not dull or boring or that we have to put up with some one else's prayer requests that we could care less about. We have gotten so used to switching channels if it's not inspiring us watching TV, that we take that same attitude into worship.
Here is a thought for the day for you. Remember Jesus went to worship every week as was his custom. He was fulfilling the first four commandments and it is very important to put our lives back in God's hands each week. Where else will we learn how to beat the devil's influence on us. But think of this when you feel you aren't getting fed, here is Jesus, I mean if you are Jesus are you going to get anything out of the message from a mere rabbi? You are the son of God, you know all this stuff, wouldn't you think of all the people who could skip worship and it not hurt his spiritual life, it would be Jesus. And yet, he was in the worship every week, it was his custom, and the disciples knew it from following him around. so... unless you are better than Jesus, there is still a reason to be going to worship.
Worship was God's idea, a way for us to connect to our creator and be able to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. It's not about what we get out of worship, it's how much do we put in to worship God. How are we showing worthiness to God? You can turn every thought, every moment in the experience of worship into something we can say to God. Each part of worship reflects what we should be doing in our daily lives and in our relationship to worship.
For instance, gathering in seats/pews, etc, puts us in touch with others who have been here before us and sat in this same seats. Have you thought to thank God for the people who were in the seat before you , who made the church possible to be here for you today? In our church there are people who have come to worship here for 150 years.
Another opportunity, worship puts us close to neighbors, we are to love our neighbor as Jesus loves us. Going to worship helps us to remember we are supposed to be together in worship. And if those neighbors in the pews aren't too friendly or much of a good neighbor, that becomes a moment for prayer for forgiveness about them, or about you. If you don't know the people in the worship, it may be God calling you to meet new people who have the same interests that you do. A new friend might be just around the corner.
Singing hymns fulfills many of the commandments of scripture about singing, lifting our voices in praise to God. It may be a whole lot easier to sing God's praise with helpers, than to think you are doing this on your own. Besides medical examination has shown that singing is good for you, and not singing by yourself but singing with others. It has a way of regulating your heart and lung function to bring about more peaceful conditions in your stressed body. It elevates good chemistry in your blood, you can't get that without singing, and it doesn't depend on whether it's your favorite hymn or praise song to get the good physical benefits from being in church and singing. Think about that the next time you don't particularly care for the hymn.
On a different note, worship is also the introduction to God, not the whole thing. It's not the only way we connect to God, but it is a very important one. Teaching about God occurs on multiple levels. The large gathering in a crowd for worship is like Jesus with the parables and large crowds. It got them thinking, but the understanding, the being fed spiritually, occurs in the small group of disciples who asked Jesus the questions. You need both the introductions, and even if it's something you knew already, it's worth being there for it will become the way to get you asking questions in your small group to learn more. It's also time for you to think, this may not help me, but if it helps someone here today, then I'm helping someone else connect to God by my being here.
The letters of Paul, Peter, John and James, comment on the need to have both milk and meat in your diet as a Christian. The milk comes in the large crowd, because it will include people who are just now seeking God and may not have any idea of what God is like. To talk over their heads, or to deny their needing milk, because some only want meat when they come, is to drive a distance between a seeker and God. Jesus said it would be better for you to tie a weight around your neck and be drowned than to suffer the consequences of being the reason a child of God is denied what they need to get closer to God. St. Paul also said, I need to speak words everyone can understand in the meeting. If you want more or if you have questions, ask afterwards. the large time for worship, the small groups and Sunday School classes for learning.
I hope that gives you something to think about, the next time you walk out and feel like you didn't get much out of worship, it's not all about you, it could be the one next to you that was blessed. And it may be that getting ready for church could use more time invested, so that you will get something out of worship.
Blessings on your journey and the challenges you face.
Pastor Jeff
Worship is the work of the people, we need to be ready for worship, not a spectator sport, so part of how we get more out of worship is to be better prepared ourselves....which means praying before we come, reading the scripture lesson ahead of time to see where God might speak to you today, if you are ready. It means having private devotions every day to keep your spirit in tuned to God so that you will have the reference points that come up in worship.
We have fallen into an entertainment trap when we gather for worship, we hope that the music inspires us, that the atmosphere deals with our needs, that the message speaks to something we need to hear, and we hope that it's not dull or boring or that we have to put up with some one else's prayer requests that we could care less about. We have gotten so used to switching channels if it's not inspiring us watching TV, that we take that same attitude into worship.
Here is a thought for the day for you. Remember Jesus went to worship every week as was his custom. He was fulfilling the first four commandments and it is very important to put our lives back in God's hands each week. Where else will we learn how to beat the devil's influence on us. But think of this when you feel you aren't getting fed, here is Jesus, I mean if you are Jesus are you going to get anything out of the message from a mere rabbi? You are the son of God, you know all this stuff, wouldn't you think of all the people who could skip worship and it not hurt his spiritual life, it would be Jesus. And yet, he was in the worship every week, it was his custom, and the disciples knew it from following him around. so... unless you are better than Jesus, there is still a reason to be going to worship.
Worship was God's idea, a way for us to connect to our creator and be able to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. It's not about what we get out of worship, it's how much do we put in to worship God. How are we showing worthiness to God? You can turn every thought, every moment in the experience of worship into something we can say to God. Each part of worship reflects what we should be doing in our daily lives and in our relationship to worship.
For instance, gathering in seats/pews, etc, puts us in touch with others who have been here before us and sat in this same seats. Have you thought to thank God for the people who were in the seat before you , who made the church possible to be here for you today? In our church there are people who have come to worship here for 150 years.
Another opportunity, worship puts us close to neighbors, we are to love our neighbor as Jesus loves us. Going to worship helps us to remember we are supposed to be together in worship. And if those neighbors in the pews aren't too friendly or much of a good neighbor, that becomes a moment for prayer for forgiveness about them, or about you. If you don't know the people in the worship, it may be God calling you to meet new people who have the same interests that you do. A new friend might be just around the corner.
Singing hymns fulfills many of the commandments of scripture about singing, lifting our voices in praise to God. It may be a whole lot easier to sing God's praise with helpers, than to think you are doing this on your own. Besides medical examination has shown that singing is good for you, and not singing by yourself but singing with others. It has a way of regulating your heart and lung function to bring about more peaceful conditions in your stressed body. It elevates good chemistry in your blood, you can't get that without singing, and it doesn't depend on whether it's your favorite hymn or praise song to get the good physical benefits from being in church and singing. Think about that the next time you don't particularly care for the hymn.
On a different note, worship is also the introduction to God, not the whole thing. It's not the only way we connect to God, but it is a very important one. Teaching about God occurs on multiple levels. The large gathering in a crowd for worship is like Jesus with the parables and large crowds. It got them thinking, but the understanding, the being fed spiritually, occurs in the small group of disciples who asked Jesus the questions. You need both the introductions, and even if it's something you knew already, it's worth being there for it will become the way to get you asking questions in your small group to learn more. It's also time for you to think, this may not help me, but if it helps someone here today, then I'm helping someone else connect to God by my being here.
The letters of Paul, Peter, John and James, comment on the need to have both milk and meat in your diet as a Christian. The milk comes in the large crowd, because it will include people who are just now seeking God and may not have any idea of what God is like. To talk over their heads, or to deny their needing milk, because some only want meat when they come, is to drive a distance between a seeker and God. Jesus said it would be better for you to tie a weight around your neck and be drowned than to suffer the consequences of being the reason a child of God is denied what they need to get closer to God. St. Paul also said, I need to speak words everyone can understand in the meeting. If you want more or if you have questions, ask afterwards. the large time for worship, the small groups and Sunday School classes for learning.
I hope that gives you something to think about, the next time you walk out and feel like you didn't get much out of worship, it's not all about you, it could be the one next to you that was blessed. And it may be that getting ready for church could use more time invested, so that you will get something out of worship.
Blessings on your journey and the challenges you face.
Pastor Jeff
Saturday, August 31, 2013
End of Summer
Hello brother and sister pilgrims on a journey of faith. We come up on the end of our summer and begin to make plans for what God will show us in this fall season. I'm really sorry the summer is over for once again, my list of things I wanted to do didn't really happen the way I wanted it to. But I did get one or two surprises along the way.
Best surprise in the midst of challenges, we flew to Florida because Elaine's mom is having some health challenges. We did accomplish a lot while we were there, so that was good, and we had an afternoon to ourselves. We ran down to Disney's Buena Vista Marketplace shopping area. From highway 4 we saw a huge hot air balloon floating above the trees from a long way off. Now, I've always wanted to go up in a hot air balloon, but this was totally unexpected. Lo and Behold, the balloon was tethered at Buena Vista Marketplace. And it had a very short waiting line. Elaine took a chance and agreed to go with me.
It rose up 400 feet above the lake, and we could see in all directions, what an awesome view. And it was quite safe. Turns out to be a very great ride and we got some awesome pictures up there. I am thankful that Elaine was willing to go with me. HINT, God can give us a great perspective on life if we connect and focus on God's gift of the Holy Spirit and allow God to lift us up when we pray and gain a view of what may be ahead, or at least a view that tells us that what troubles us so much, is really much smaller than we imagined. So take time to pray and meditate on Scripture a lot more can be seen and understood from that altitude and attitude with God's help.
Our grandson turned six this August and his dad came up with a fantastic party. Andy discovered that Oscar really likes the star wars story now that he has finally seen some of them. Andy discovered that you can invite Star Wars characters in costume to come and visit your party. So.... Darth Vader came and surprised Oscar. It was an awesome party. And... The Darth Vader character is a volunteer and the cost of the visit goes to a charity of your choice, how awesome is that! Great idea and a lot of fun for a party.
Now the fall season is upon us, new schedules, new efforts to try to help people discover what God is doing in our midst, and an invitation to join God's plan, not asking God to bless our plans. There is a big difference. It's not easy sometimes because it can look like the opposite of what we have in mind. But God is able to do far more than we can even imagine! (Eph.3:20) So our journey of faith is to ask God to show us how we ought to go in life, in faith, in service, and adjust our expectations to God's plans, as difficult as that might be.
This fall I've decided to change some things I've done for years, you can teach and old dog new tricks... I've decided to do a series of topics and themes for sermons, as usual, but this time I've divided them up to only once a month. For instance, on the second Sunday of each month, I'm preaching on a section of Colossians, a letter from Paul that most clearly highlights the work of Jesus. On the third week of the month I'm preaching on some of John Wesley's greatest thoughts for our faith. On the fourth Sunday I'm preaching on a HOT TOPIC, something that happens during the month that deserves some sermonic (big word) reflection. I've found a great resource called Wired Word, a weekly lesson for Sunday School and preaching that highlights up to the minute events and situations and provides scripture and study material to go with the topic. I'm looking forward to that part.
On the occasional fifth Sunday we are going to spend time praying and asking for strength to meet the challenges we face and may even pray for healing for those who would be interested. That would happen in September and December this year.
Blessings on your going back to school and regular schedules this fall. Try including something new that will enhance your journey with God. Pray more often or for longer periods of time, worship more often, find a new devotion to help your Bible reading, share your faith with a friend, serve your community or your congregation in a way that will bless others. Happy September everyone!
Pastor Jeff
Best surprise in the midst of challenges, we flew to Florida because Elaine's mom is having some health challenges. We did accomplish a lot while we were there, so that was good, and we had an afternoon to ourselves. We ran down to Disney's Buena Vista Marketplace shopping area. From highway 4 we saw a huge hot air balloon floating above the trees from a long way off. Now, I've always wanted to go up in a hot air balloon, but this was totally unexpected. Lo and Behold, the balloon was tethered at Buena Vista Marketplace. And it had a very short waiting line. Elaine took a chance and agreed to go with me.
It rose up 400 feet above the lake, and we could see in all directions, what an awesome view. And it was quite safe. Turns out to be a very great ride and we got some awesome pictures up there. I am thankful that Elaine was willing to go with me. HINT, God can give us a great perspective on life if we connect and focus on God's gift of the Holy Spirit and allow God to lift us up when we pray and gain a view of what may be ahead, or at least a view that tells us that what troubles us so much, is really much smaller than we imagined. So take time to pray and meditate on Scripture a lot more can be seen and understood from that altitude and attitude with God's help.
Our grandson turned six this August and his dad came up with a fantastic party. Andy discovered that Oscar really likes the star wars story now that he has finally seen some of them. Andy discovered that you can invite Star Wars characters in costume to come and visit your party. So.... Darth Vader came and surprised Oscar. It was an awesome party. And... The Darth Vader character is a volunteer and the cost of the visit goes to a charity of your choice, how awesome is that! Great idea and a lot of fun for a party.
Now the fall season is upon us, new schedules, new efforts to try to help people discover what God is doing in our midst, and an invitation to join God's plan, not asking God to bless our plans. There is a big difference. It's not easy sometimes because it can look like the opposite of what we have in mind. But God is able to do far more than we can even imagine! (Eph.3:20) So our journey of faith is to ask God to show us how we ought to go in life, in faith, in service, and adjust our expectations to God's plans, as difficult as that might be.
This fall I've decided to change some things I've done for years, you can teach and old dog new tricks... I've decided to do a series of topics and themes for sermons, as usual, but this time I've divided them up to only once a month. For instance, on the second Sunday of each month, I'm preaching on a section of Colossians, a letter from Paul that most clearly highlights the work of Jesus. On the third week of the month I'm preaching on some of John Wesley's greatest thoughts for our faith. On the fourth Sunday I'm preaching on a HOT TOPIC, something that happens during the month that deserves some sermonic (big word) reflection. I've found a great resource called Wired Word, a weekly lesson for Sunday School and preaching that highlights up to the minute events and situations and provides scripture and study material to go with the topic. I'm looking forward to that part.
On the occasional fifth Sunday we are going to spend time praying and asking for strength to meet the challenges we face and may even pray for healing for those who would be interested. That would happen in September and December this year.
Blessings on your going back to school and regular schedules this fall. Try including something new that will enhance your journey with God. Pray more often or for longer periods of time, worship more often, find a new devotion to help your Bible reading, share your faith with a friend, serve your community or your congregation in a way that will bless others. Happy September everyone!
Pastor Jeff
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Prayer Retreat
I scheduled a Prayer Retreat for most of this week. I needed an extended period of time to pray and reflect and to ask God for specific guidance in my live and work. It's been a very interesting couple of days. God does answer prayer, we just don't slow down long enough to be quiet enough to listen.
To help me do this I am using the Upper Room book called A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants. There is a section in the back for Monthly Retreat, and I've been using one each day. It calls for 30 minutes of silence, then some reading, reflection quotes, prayer, journaling and more prayer and reflection and like shampoo, Repeat.... The 30 minutes of silence is very, very hard. I set my iPad count down clock and the time just sits there. I must really need to pray even more.
I had the chance to pray going over the entire membership roster, praying for work, for family, for relationship to the congregation etc. I normally just do the birthday people, but this was for the whole group A to Z. I'm going to plan to do that more often.
I've been reading some very powerful books on prayer as well, two by a pastor in Washington DC who's churches are movie theaters. His books, Primal: a Quest for the Lost Soul of Christendom, & The Circle Maker: praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears. I'm grateful to Mark Batterson for sharing his journey with us. I've been truly inspired. I would recommend them to any of you who would like to be challenged for a deeper faith walk. We need to hear/read from others to get new ideas or to be reminded of significant ways to draw near to God in faith.
A couple of times this week, I received specific answers to urgent prayer, leading me to resources that just happened to come in the mail or email, that I had not expected or ordered, but seemed to be the direct Word of the Lord to me for my situation. God is Good. All the Time. I am so thankful for the responses that have lifted burdens and worries I was facing, with just the right guidance and influence.
Another answer to prayer was inspired by another UMC pastor who was reflecting on the important message of Jesus found in John's Gospel, chapters 14-17, so I re-read and prayed over that. The connection to the vine and the resources of the Holy Spirit to help us are awesome gifts we often forget. And then Ch. 17, Jesus prays for the people in the church today, we are prayed for by Jesus when he was in the Upper Room so many years ago. We've been prayed for, we were on his mind, that night just before he died to take away our sins. Thank you Jesus.
I need to go back to prayer, but I wanted to include you in this experience and to offer you some encouragement as well. You may not be able to do a week, but short prayer retreats are very important and worthwhile. Let me know if I can help point you in the right direction.
Blessings
Pastor Jeff
To help me do this I am using the Upper Room book called A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants. There is a section in the back for Monthly Retreat, and I've been using one each day. It calls for 30 minutes of silence, then some reading, reflection quotes, prayer, journaling and more prayer and reflection and like shampoo, Repeat.... The 30 minutes of silence is very, very hard. I set my iPad count down clock and the time just sits there. I must really need to pray even more.
I had the chance to pray going over the entire membership roster, praying for work, for family, for relationship to the congregation etc. I normally just do the birthday people, but this was for the whole group A to Z. I'm going to plan to do that more often.
I've been reading some very powerful books on prayer as well, two by a pastor in Washington DC who's churches are movie theaters. His books, Primal: a Quest for the Lost Soul of Christendom, & The Circle Maker: praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears. I'm grateful to Mark Batterson for sharing his journey with us. I've been truly inspired. I would recommend them to any of you who would like to be challenged for a deeper faith walk. We need to hear/read from others to get new ideas or to be reminded of significant ways to draw near to God in faith.
A couple of times this week, I received specific answers to urgent prayer, leading me to resources that just happened to come in the mail or email, that I had not expected or ordered, but seemed to be the direct Word of the Lord to me for my situation. God is Good. All the Time. I am so thankful for the responses that have lifted burdens and worries I was facing, with just the right guidance and influence.
Another answer to prayer was inspired by another UMC pastor who was reflecting on the important message of Jesus found in John's Gospel, chapters 14-17, so I re-read and prayed over that. The connection to the vine and the resources of the Holy Spirit to help us are awesome gifts we often forget. And then Ch. 17, Jesus prays for the people in the church today, we are prayed for by Jesus when he was in the Upper Room so many years ago. We've been prayed for, we were on his mind, that night just before he died to take away our sins. Thank you Jesus.
I need to go back to prayer, but I wanted to include you in this experience and to offer you some encouragement as well. You may not be able to do a week, but short prayer retreats are very important and worthwhile. Let me know if I can help point you in the right direction.
Blessings
Pastor Jeff
Monday, August 12, 2013
Life Enriching Practices gets practical
Hello and welcome to our ongoing journey to be followers of Jesus, which means we are on the road to becoming like Jesus. A very tall order, but what grace is ours in Jesus who gives us examples, gives us the assistance of the Holy Spirit, gives us a community to encourage us and keep us accountable, and gives us the Scriptures to help describe what we should be aiming for.
I'm a little excited about the new football season that is coming. The news is filled with training camp stories about the trials and tribulations of getting the players into shape, molding them into a team, getting them to follow the plays so that when the games really count, the team can win. Not a bad reminder of what we are to be doing.
We are to be living the faith we have in our heads and hearts. It's hard to do sometimes, when the voices we hear, coming from the TV, movies, celebrities, and other media tells us the complete opposite of what we should be doing.
We get way too wrapped up in keeping up with the Joneses, and not these Joneses, I can assure you. WE feel like we ought to have the things we are shown in the commercials, and in those shinny catalogs that come in the mail all the time. It's back to school, so get to the stores... even if we haven't outworn or outgrown what we already have, we are to get more. But our faith should help us hear a voice in our heads, "Are You Kidding Me!" we really don't need all that stuff.
John Wesley led people to the Lord long enough that he even began to see the prosperity that often came to those who turned their lives around, from ruining their health with bad habits, to becoming valuable citizens and employees, who became successful because they were dependable. He was often hurt by the success of his transformation, which led people away from the faith, in order to enjoy the gains they had made in their lives. So he came up with three simple rules for using our money, and it's still a helpful tool today, but the advice gets drowned out by the noise of buy, buy, buy.
Rule number one was EARN ALL YOU CAN. He was serious about being paid a proper wage and for the relationship between work and proper reward. He was enthusiastic about helping people find a better wage for their efforts. He thought that an appropriate salary would ensure that you could be healthy and a good family and a good witness to the world by following rules number two and three. If we stop at rule one, we will miss the whole point.
Rule number two was SAVE ALL YOU CAN. He was not encouraging us to hoard, but to use what we have wisely. The save all you can was about using what you needed until the very end. Don't throw away stuff before it wasn't finished being helpful. Pass it along if it still had some life left in it and you didn't need it anymore. The same advice would come into play now about the recycling encouragement to save our planet. Save it, recycle, pass it along, share it, make sure it has done all it could. That's a challenge when we are told to upgrade all the time, and usually before we actually need to. So try to stretch your stuff out a little longer, get more out of it, use it wisely so it will last longer. Eloise, the adviser on consumer products and uses, has a good point here, you can still use that somehow.
The third rule was GIVE ALL YOU CAN. John Wesley was famous for living very simply, he ended his life living on 10 percent and giving 90 percent of what he had. He was filled with the hope that God's people, who had earned all they could, and used what they had as well as they could, would naturally be able to be generous and make a difference in the world. Wesley was able to start credit unions to help get people out of debtors prison, he started schools, because that was the best way to advance and to be able to read the Bible for yourself, so God could influence you. He cared about the physical as well as the spiritual, and worked on cleaning up our bodies, our communities and with those folks giving all they could, he started hospitals and clinics to provide healthy resources to those in need.
So we take our Spiritual life seriously, and apply them to our life style. Earn all you can, save what you have by using it wisely, and give all you can to bless and help someone else.
The Empty Tomb, organization, researches human needs around the world, and they figured out that if all USA Christians would tithe, we would have enough money available beyond the local church to take care of EVERY major health concern, water to every village that needed it, food for the hungry, health resources wherever it is needed. Now that's something to think about.
Blessings on your journey and try looking at your own rule potential. Earn all you can, save all you can, and please GIVE all you can. The joy of knowing you are doing the right thing will be a glorious feeling.
Pastor Jeff
I'm a little excited about the new football season that is coming. The news is filled with training camp stories about the trials and tribulations of getting the players into shape, molding them into a team, getting them to follow the plays so that when the games really count, the team can win. Not a bad reminder of what we are to be doing.
We are to be living the faith we have in our heads and hearts. It's hard to do sometimes, when the voices we hear, coming from the TV, movies, celebrities, and other media tells us the complete opposite of what we should be doing.
We get way too wrapped up in keeping up with the Joneses, and not these Joneses, I can assure you. WE feel like we ought to have the things we are shown in the commercials, and in those shinny catalogs that come in the mail all the time. It's back to school, so get to the stores... even if we haven't outworn or outgrown what we already have, we are to get more. But our faith should help us hear a voice in our heads, "Are You Kidding Me!" we really don't need all that stuff.
John Wesley led people to the Lord long enough that he even began to see the prosperity that often came to those who turned their lives around, from ruining their health with bad habits, to becoming valuable citizens and employees, who became successful because they were dependable. He was often hurt by the success of his transformation, which led people away from the faith, in order to enjoy the gains they had made in their lives. So he came up with three simple rules for using our money, and it's still a helpful tool today, but the advice gets drowned out by the noise of buy, buy, buy.
Rule number one was EARN ALL YOU CAN. He was serious about being paid a proper wage and for the relationship between work and proper reward. He was enthusiastic about helping people find a better wage for their efforts. He thought that an appropriate salary would ensure that you could be healthy and a good family and a good witness to the world by following rules number two and three. If we stop at rule one, we will miss the whole point.
Rule number two was SAVE ALL YOU CAN. He was not encouraging us to hoard, but to use what we have wisely. The save all you can was about using what you needed until the very end. Don't throw away stuff before it wasn't finished being helpful. Pass it along if it still had some life left in it and you didn't need it anymore. The same advice would come into play now about the recycling encouragement to save our planet. Save it, recycle, pass it along, share it, make sure it has done all it could. That's a challenge when we are told to upgrade all the time, and usually before we actually need to. So try to stretch your stuff out a little longer, get more out of it, use it wisely so it will last longer. Eloise, the adviser on consumer products and uses, has a good point here, you can still use that somehow.
The third rule was GIVE ALL YOU CAN. John Wesley was famous for living very simply, he ended his life living on 10 percent and giving 90 percent of what he had. He was filled with the hope that God's people, who had earned all they could, and used what they had as well as they could, would naturally be able to be generous and make a difference in the world. Wesley was able to start credit unions to help get people out of debtors prison, he started schools, because that was the best way to advance and to be able to read the Bible for yourself, so God could influence you. He cared about the physical as well as the spiritual, and worked on cleaning up our bodies, our communities and with those folks giving all they could, he started hospitals and clinics to provide healthy resources to those in need.
So we take our Spiritual life seriously, and apply them to our life style. Earn all you can, save what you have by using it wisely, and give all you can to bless and help someone else.
The Empty Tomb, organization, researches human needs around the world, and they figured out that if all USA Christians would tithe, we would have enough money available beyond the local church to take care of EVERY major health concern, water to every village that needed it, food for the hungry, health resources wherever it is needed. Now that's something to think about.
Blessings on your journey and try looking at your own rule potential. Earn all you can, save all you can, and please GIVE all you can. The joy of knowing you are doing the right thing will be a glorious feeling.
Pastor Jeff
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Life Enriching Practices
This past week, we were talking about the value that we should put on Christian Community if we are going to grow deeper spiritually. We are looking for connections, we need to be a part of a tribe or family or something. Look at how many millions are on Facebook. That may be superficial, but it's a connection for this busy life we seem to be chasing. I'm on Facebook, and it provides a lot of reasons for me to pray for people I know, they often share what they are going through and it helps me to send up a quick prayer on their behalf at the moment I've discovered their challenges.
John Wesley was convinced that meaningful life change, a deepening and serious pursuit of faithfulness, required a community, a body of Christ to nurture and provide the right environment for it. He had the big gatherings of the Societies, but then he encouraged folks to get into classes of 12 to 15 to meet weekly and learn about their faith and learn from others what to do to grow deeper in faith. For those who truly wanted to get serious in their pursuit of Christ likeness, Wesley developed the Bands, a small intimate group of 4 to 6 who met weekly to really covenant with each other to help in the development of faithfulness. That group would ask serious questions about the work of the soul, the temptations being fought, the needs in life to be prayed for. That was a powerful way to get deeply committed people to help each other. From those bands, came leaders who were able to do might things in the community of faith.
John Wesley suggested that we all wrestle with three General Rules that would help shape our lives of faith. The three rules were, 1. Do No Harm, avoid evil of every kind. A tall order, but one worth thinking about and wrestling with in all things. The second was Do All The Good you Can, to whomever you can. That meant you really applied the Golden Rule, do to others what you would love for them to do to you. It included doing the right thing every time and to anybody, even your enemies. It also included doing the right thing for the environment and the created order. The third rule was attend to all the ordinances of God, and that included, public worship of God, the ministry of the Word, read & expounded, the Lord's Supper, family and private prayers, searching the Scriptures on your own, and fasting, or abstinence. Now there is a challenge for you.
You might see why you need friends and family of God, the church known as the Body of Christ, to help each other to get there. Three of these ordinances were public in nature, you were gathered with others, and three were private or within your own home. It's not easy to do, and if you have a mentor or guide or coach or someone holding you accountable, it maybe easier to do. And when you share in a class or band how it's going, you are going to get good ideas from others, for solving some of your life's little problems. You might just get the perfect solution for something that has been bugging you for years...
To review our 8 Life Enriching Practices, let me say that it's not a suggestion or a good idea, it's something serious Christ followers actually do. You might want to decide to actually be a better follower, especially as we gear up for the fall programs and ministries at church, to be committed to doing these exercises in faith development.
Pray, and remember it's a conversation with the Creator who loves you. It needs to be as much listening to God as it is suggestions ways God can help you and the people you love. Bible Reading, is actually a good way that God can speak to you, and it will identify the things you need to know to be a better example of Jesus to others. It can be really hard to do that on your own, because there are parts of the Bible that will really bog you down, that others might be able to guide you to the really best parts. Worship is essential for keeping a proper perspective on life. That "other" in our lives can direct and encourage and equip us far better than we can on our own. The Worship of God, is giving God the value that is deserved and the reward is a sense of presence and help in every time of trouble. Worship also includes the Lord's Supper, which is a reminder that we have been forgiven. We are separated from the junk that get's in the way with our fellowship with God, and healed and given new life. We need that regularly.
Part Four of the Enriching practices is that we are renewed and healed. Worship allows us to be in the presence of the one who can restore, renew, redirect, refresh and transform our minds by the work of the Holy Spirit, the power that swept across Chaos in creation and brought forth order, and life and light. Healing is the chance to be re created and made whole, or given the right perspective to deal with what is going on in your life.
Part Five is Christian Community. Part Six, which comes up next week is how we live, our Lifestyle, which matters to God too. Stay tuned.
Blessings on you all
Pastor Jeff
John Wesley was convinced that meaningful life change, a deepening and serious pursuit of faithfulness, required a community, a body of Christ to nurture and provide the right environment for it. He had the big gatherings of the Societies, but then he encouraged folks to get into classes of 12 to 15 to meet weekly and learn about their faith and learn from others what to do to grow deeper in faith. For those who truly wanted to get serious in their pursuit of Christ likeness, Wesley developed the Bands, a small intimate group of 4 to 6 who met weekly to really covenant with each other to help in the development of faithfulness. That group would ask serious questions about the work of the soul, the temptations being fought, the needs in life to be prayed for. That was a powerful way to get deeply committed people to help each other. From those bands, came leaders who were able to do might things in the community of faith.
John Wesley suggested that we all wrestle with three General Rules that would help shape our lives of faith. The three rules were, 1. Do No Harm, avoid evil of every kind. A tall order, but one worth thinking about and wrestling with in all things. The second was Do All The Good you Can, to whomever you can. That meant you really applied the Golden Rule, do to others what you would love for them to do to you. It included doing the right thing every time and to anybody, even your enemies. It also included doing the right thing for the environment and the created order. The third rule was attend to all the ordinances of God, and that included, public worship of God, the ministry of the Word, read & expounded, the Lord's Supper, family and private prayers, searching the Scriptures on your own, and fasting, or abstinence. Now there is a challenge for you.
You might see why you need friends and family of God, the church known as the Body of Christ, to help each other to get there. Three of these ordinances were public in nature, you were gathered with others, and three were private or within your own home. It's not easy to do, and if you have a mentor or guide or coach or someone holding you accountable, it maybe easier to do. And when you share in a class or band how it's going, you are going to get good ideas from others, for solving some of your life's little problems. You might just get the perfect solution for something that has been bugging you for years...
To review our 8 Life Enriching Practices, let me say that it's not a suggestion or a good idea, it's something serious Christ followers actually do. You might want to decide to actually be a better follower, especially as we gear up for the fall programs and ministries at church, to be committed to doing these exercises in faith development.
Pray, and remember it's a conversation with the Creator who loves you. It needs to be as much listening to God as it is suggestions ways God can help you and the people you love. Bible Reading, is actually a good way that God can speak to you, and it will identify the things you need to know to be a better example of Jesus to others. It can be really hard to do that on your own, because there are parts of the Bible that will really bog you down, that others might be able to guide you to the really best parts. Worship is essential for keeping a proper perspective on life. That "other" in our lives can direct and encourage and equip us far better than we can on our own. The Worship of God, is giving God the value that is deserved and the reward is a sense of presence and help in every time of trouble. Worship also includes the Lord's Supper, which is a reminder that we have been forgiven. We are separated from the junk that get's in the way with our fellowship with God, and healed and given new life. We need that regularly.
Part Four of the Enriching practices is that we are renewed and healed. Worship allows us to be in the presence of the one who can restore, renew, redirect, refresh and transform our minds by the work of the Holy Spirit, the power that swept across Chaos in creation and brought forth order, and life and light. Healing is the chance to be re created and made whole, or given the right perspective to deal with what is going on in your life.
Part Five is Christian Community. Part Six, which comes up next week is how we live, our Lifestyle, which matters to God too. Stay tuned.
Blessings on you all
Pastor Jeff
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Word & Table Pt. 2
Jesus continues his walk to Emmaus with the two disciples. He begins to explain to them from Moses and the prophets and psalms all the things that God has done to prepare us for life. He addresses the concerns and points us to a greater understanding in the words of the good book. Reading Scripture and the sermon or message, is one way we can hear Jesus tell us what we need to know to address our needs and concerns as we walk in life.
The worship service has two parts, the Word and Table. The Word section follows the ancient pattern that came to the early Christians from the synagogue services that they were used to. There were prayers and then reading of the selection from the scrolls, the Old Testament as they knew it and the rabbi would explain or direct them to understand what had been read to them at that time. The Word portion of worship is like that. We hear from the scripture and we receive an interpretation or explanation or direction for what to do with God's word for our lives.
I was chatting with someone the other day who asked about the scriptures that are chosen for the worship services. I have been a lectionary preacher, one who follows the multi-denominational church common text lectionary of three year guided lessons to cover the major stories of scripture over a three year period, most of my ministry. But since coming to Liberty Grove I've gone to short series or preaching on a list of major Bible stories to cover the essential moments in Biblical formation. This summer I'm preaching on the book of John Wesley's 8 Essential Life Enriching Practices, in order to remind us of the habits we United Methodists should be following if we want to grow spiritually.
The scripture lessons come out of the book to show us the relationship between the practices of habits we should be following and God's instructions about that. Last week we were looking at the walk to Emmaus scripture from Luke 24 because it shapes how we worship.The middle section of that story is the power of the interpretation of the Word into the concerns and the life of Jesus.
The early Christians added to the synagogue component of weekly worship, the Table section of the Last Supper that Jesus gave his disciples in the Upper Room and commanded them to keep remembering to share this with each other. In Methodist circles John Wesley insisted that only a duly ordained clergy person could administer the sacrament in order to keep it's meaning and importance as clearly connected to Jesus as possible. In the early days of Methodism, the clergy person would have 15 to 18 churches and would only be by to offer communion once a quarter or so. We kept that pattern of quarterly communion way past the time when most United Methodist churches have a regular ordained pastor who was there each week.
Moving to monthly communion, on the first Sunday of the month, has taken a while to be adapted as a usual practice among us. John Wesley thought it should be available every week, but he was talking about a two to three hour service each week as well, and it was possible during that time. We who are so time conscious now, can't manage a two to three hour services, so the monthly communion fits our schedule a little better.
When Jesus finished the interpretation of the scriptures concerning his death and resurrection, the two disciples had arrived in Emmaus. They begged Jesus, the stranger still, to stay with them for dinner. He accepted. When Jesus took the bread and gave thanks and broke the bread and gave it to them, their eyes were opened and they recognized him. He immediately disappeared from their sight. Their hearts were so strangely warmed by all of this, that they knew he was risen, and they jumped up from the table and ran to share with the disciples in Jerusalem, that he was risen indeed, and they had recognized him in the breaking of the bread.
It is my hope that every time we move toward the portion of worship that we receive the bread and the cup that our eyes will be opened to see and know that the Risen One is with us. And we should rise up from the table and be ready to share our faith in the Risen One with others too. Hopefully we see Jesus is with us when we break bread and can let that shape who we are and what we do, from then on.
May the worship with Word & Table be a powerful tool to help you grow spiritually. You can see why this is so helpful to growing faith. Come and worship. Go find a church to share in the habit of gathering to hear God speak to you and sense his presence with you always.
Blessings on each of you
Pastor Jeff
The worship service has two parts, the Word and Table. The Word section follows the ancient pattern that came to the early Christians from the synagogue services that they were used to. There were prayers and then reading of the selection from the scrolls, the Old Testament as they knew it and the rabbi would explain or direct them to understand what had been read to them at that time. The Word portion of worship is like that. We hear from the scripture and we receive an interpretation or explanation or direction for what to do with God's word for our lives.
I was chatting with someone the other day who asked about the scriptures that are chosen for the worship services. I have been a lectionary preacher, one who follows the multi-denominational church common text lectionary of three year guided lessons to cover the major stories of scripture over a three year period, most of my ministry. But since coming to Liberty Grove I've gone to short series or preaching on a list of major Bible stories to cover the essential moments in Biblical formation. This summer I'm preaching on the book of John Wesley's 8 Essential Life Enriching Practices, in order to remind us of the habits we United Methodists should be following if we want to grow spiritually.
The scripture lessons come out of the book to show us the relationship between the practices of habits we should be following and God's instructions about that. Last week we were looking at the walk to Emmaus scripture from Luke 24 because it shapes how we worship.The middle section of that story is the power of the interpretation of the Word into the concerns and the life of Jesus.
The early Christians added to the synagogue component of weekly worship, the Table section of the Last Supper that Jesus gave his disciples in the Upper Room and commanded them to keep remembering to share this with each other. In Methodist circles John Wesley insisted that only a duly ordained clergy person could administer the sacrament in order to keep it's meaning and importance as clearly connected to Jesus as possible. In the early days of Methodism, the clergy person would have 15 to 18 churches and would only be by to offer communion once a quarter or so. We kept that pattern of quarterly communion way past the time when most United Methodist churches have a regular ordained pastor who was there each week.
Moving to monthly communion, on the first Sunday of the month, has taken a while to be adapted as a usual practice among us. John Wesley thought it should be available every week, but he was talking about a two to three hour service each week as well, and it was possible during that time. We who are so time conscious now, can't manage a two to three hour services, so the monthly communion fits our schedule a little better.
When Jesus finished the interpretation of the scriptures concerning his death and resurrection, the two disciples had arrived in Emmaus. They begged Jesus, the stranger still, to stay with them for dinner. He accepted. When Jesus took the bread and gave thanks and broke the bread and gave it to them, their eyes were opened and they recognized him. He immediately disappeared from their sight. Their hearts were so strangely warmed by all of this, that they knew he was risen, and they jumped up from the table and ran to share with the disciples in Jerusalem, that he was risen indeed, and they had recognized him in the breaking of the bread.
It is my hope that every time we move toward the portion of worship that we receive the bread and the cup that our eyes will be opened to see and know that the Risen One is with us. And we should rise up from the table and be ready to share our faith in the Risen One with others too. Hopefully we see Jesus is with us when we break bread and can let that shape who we are and what we do, from then on.
May the worship with Word & Table be a powerful tool to help you grow spiritually. You can see why this is so helpful to growing faith. Come and worship. Go find a church to share in the habit of gathering to hear God speak to you and sense his presence with you always.
Blessings on each of you
Pastor Jeff
Thursday, July 11, 2013
8 Life Enriching Practices: # 3 Word & Table
If you want to see some progress in your spiritual life, if you would like to know that your prayers are getting through, if you would like to have the help Jesus promised for those who follow him, then you would get a lot of help in worship. The worship that focuses on presenting the story of God in Scripture and an invitation to experience real grace, love and forgiveness at the Table of the Lord.
This Sunday I shared the story of the Road to Emmaus, which is normally read around the Easter season, because it's about Easter afternoon, when Jesus joined up with Cleopas and a second disciple on their walk home to Emmaus, a village about 7 miles away from Jerusalem. It's an awesome story because it helps us to see how and why to worship. The story is found in Luke 24: 13-35. Go read the story and come back to this blog.
The story begins with Jesus joining up with the two who are very down trodden. I don't know if Emmaus is down the hill from Jerusalem or not, but they were down trodden from the grief of seeing Jesus nailed to the cross and the confusing rumor about his rising from the dead. That part had not yet been confirmed. So Jesus asked them what's the matter, why are you so discouraged.
They began to pour our their heart about their concerns, about the grief they felt. They had such high hopes and the death of Jesus really put the squash on their hopes and dreams. I proceeded to invite the congregation to share why they might be discouraged. It became a sharing of concerns and prayer requests, and one of the teaching moments about asking for prayer when we worship. It's very similar to Isaiah 6:1-8, when Isaiah heads for the temple in his grief over the death of King Uzziah. He poured out his heart to God and he felt God's comfort in that place. The reassurance, the touch on his lips declaring him forgiven and his hearing the word to proclaim God's story is powerful too.
Our worship time gives us a chance to put into God's hands the things that discourage us. We shared about a mother in the last stages of cancer, of a woman in our church who lost both father and mother within a very short time. We shared about the challenges of dealing with aging parents and the grief their dementia was giving to their children. Jesus was walking along the road with us there for sure.
Then we began to listen to what Jesus had to say about the events of that Holy Week. He began with Moses and the prophets and the psalms to tell the story. He related the words of God in scripture to the events they were experiencing. That's what scripture can do. Relate the events, concerns, challenges we face with help from God. If there were time travel available, that's my first stop, the road to Emmaus, to hear Jesus put all the events and the scripture together about what he went through. That would be the most awesome opportunity to listen in that I can imagine.
I'll get to the rest of the story real soon.
Our congregation serves a community meal the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month to all who come, there is a free will offering basket available, but you can eat for free. It's a good time to fellowship with others, to sit down and let someone else do the cooking, it's a way to stretch your budget, spend time with family, whatever..... Join us sometime. I need to go, the smell of tonight's soup is pulling me into the fellowship hall. I'll tell you the rest of the story soon, I promise.
Pastor Jeff
This Sunday I shared the story of the Road to Emmaus, which is normally read around the Easter season, because it's about Easter afternoon, when Jesus joined up with Cleopas and a second disciple on their walk home to Emmaus, a village about 7 miles away from Jerusalem. It's an awesome story because it helps us to see how and why to worship. The story is found in Luke 24: 13-35. Go read the story and come back to this blog.
The story begins with Jesus joining up with the two who are very down trodden. I don't know if Emmaus is down the hill from Jerusalem or not, but they were down trodden from the grief of seeing Jesus nailed to the cross and the confusing rumor about his rising from the dead. That part had not yet been confirmed. So Jesus asked them what's the matter, why are you so discouraged.
They began to pour our their heart about their concerns, about the grief they felt. They had such high hopes and the death of Jesus really put the squash on their hopes and dreams. I proceeded to invite the congregation to share why they might be discouraged. It became a sharing of concerns and prayer requests, and one of the teaching moments about asking for prayer when we worship. It's very similar to Isaiah 6:1-8, when Isaiah heads for the temple in his grief over the death of King Uzziah. He poured out his heart to God and he felt God's comfort in that place. The reassurance, the touch on his lips declaring him forgiven and his hearing the word to proclaim God's story is powerful too.
Our worship time gives us a chance to put into God's hands the things that discourage us. We shared about a mother in the last stages of cancer, of a woman in our church who lost both father and mother within a very short time. We shared about the challenges of dealing with aging parents and the grief their dementia was giving to their children. Jesus was walking along the road with us there for sure.
Then we began to listen to what Jesus had to say about the events of that Holy Week. He began with Moses and the prophets and the psalms to tell the story. He related the words of God in scripture to the events they were experiencing. That's what scripture can do. Relate the events, concerns, challenges we face with help from God. If there were time travel available, that's my first stop, the road to Emmaus, to hear Jesus put all the events and the scripture together about what he went through. That would be the most awesome opportunity to listen in that I can imagine.
I'll get to the rest of the story real soon.
Our congregation serves a community meal the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month to all who come, there is a free will offering basket available, but you can eat for free. It's a good time to fellowship with others, to sit down and let someone else do the cooking, it's a way to stretch your budget, spend time with family, whatever..... Join us sometime. I need to go, the smell of tonight's soup is pulling me into the fellowship hall. I'll tell you the rest of the story soon, I promise.
Pastor Jeff
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Rachel Held Evans has some thought provoking things to say
I would like you to go to Rachel's blog for a moment and think about what she has to say on our picking which people and sins we like to clobber with spiritual and scriptural verses.
rachelheldevans.com/blog/
I would also like to say she missed a really big set of clobber verses, you can't jump on them all or we will be at the bottom of a landslide, but she missed the clobber verses, which are numerous, on the lack of tithing by God's people. This is called ganging up or pilling on.... and I try to be more gracious and patient and understanding of the challenges of living today.
So I hope you go read Rachel's blog. She has thoughtful things to say. We don't always agree completely, but that is one of the unique and powerful gifts being a John Wesley follower gives us, we can be accommodating and respectful with a difference of opinion when we need to be. With charity/love towards all, if your heart is with my heart, lend me your hand. John would say.
Blessings on your exploring and thinking.
I'll have more to say about our series of sermons later.
Pastor Jeff
rachelheldevans.com/blog/
I would also like to say she missed a really big set of clobber verses, you can't jump on them all or we will be at the bottom of a landslide, but she missed the clobber verses, which are numerous, on the lack of tithing by God's people. This is called ganging up or pilling on.... and I try to be more gracious and patient and understanding of the challenges of living today.
So I hope you go read Rachel's blog. She has thoughtful things to say. We don't always agree completely, but that is one of the unique and powerful gifts being a John Wesley follower gives us, we can be accommodating and respectful with a difference of opinion when we need to be. With charity/love towards all, if your heart is with my heart, lend me your hand. John would say.
Blessings on your exploring and thinking.
I'll have more to say about our series of sermons later.
Pastor Jeff
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Life Enriching Practices # 2 Reading Scripture
I promised resources to help you with your reading the scripture devotionally as you develop habits that will help you grow spiritually. So here are a few I mentioned in the sermon, plus a few others that I hope you will find helpful.
If you Google Bible Reading Plans or in Bing you will get pages of them, you can pick any number of good ones that are there. The one I use is from You Version (www.youversion.com) it has several reading plans based on what you are looking for and you can select the version of the Bible you want to read that in. The One Year Bible can come in King James, or New Living Translation for instance.
you can also go to Bible.org, or BibleStudyTools.com, or one of my favorite resources for Bible study material is Biblegateway.com. There is also a great resource now called Glo Bible that can come as an app for your tablet or iPhone as well as a home computer version. It features pictures, maps, videos, and all kinds of charts for learning more about the area or the time of the story in Scripture.
John Wesley was really concerned that we hear what the Bible says to us to help make a real difference on our discipleship. He wanted us to really focus on questions that would allow us to explore and understand the message from God to us and our circumstances. He tells us to pray before we read, that the Holy Spirit would speak to us in the reading and pray afterwards, that we might apply what we have learned. Jesus taught us that in the Upper Room, that the Holy Spirit would be our teacher and help us to remember what Jesus had taught us.
The questions he would suggest to us are these. "What is God saying to you in this passage?" "What in your reading seems especially striking? Comforting? Challenging? or convicting? What implications does this have for how we live? our values? our commitments?, our relationships? or our activities?"
Another way to look at it is to ask, "What does this passage tells us about God? What does this passage tell us about ourselves? What does this passage tell us about our relationship to God and to each other? What sins are we to avoid? What commands are we to obey? As St. Paul wrote to his protege Timothy in 2 Tim 3: 14-17 This passage we are reading has teachings for us, rebuking some activities, correcting some ideas or thoughts, and training for how we can grow spiritually. Asking ourselves these questions in the passage or section we are reading will help us begin to make the connection between the message and our lives.?
Rick Warren, the pastor of Saddleback Church and the author of the Purpose Driven Life teaches us about questions we could ask when we read as well. He always comes up with acrostics to help us remember the questions. He uses SPACEPETS in this case.
S - sins to confess
P - promises to claim
A - attitudes to change
C - commands to obey
E - examples to follow
P - prayer to pray
E - error to avoid
T - truth to believe
S - something to praise God for
Any of these ideas will give you something to work on that will help to place the Bible and God's direction into your life, you thoughts, your habits, your attitudes, and will help you to become more Christ like in every aspect. That is the main goal anyway, isn't it?
I know that the Bible can be a daunting and overwhelming challenge at times, and we are trying to make it more accessible to you. Find a One Year Bible in your local bookstore or order it online from AMAZON or others. Find a translation/version that you are comfortable with and understand the words it uses. Decide you are going to take a few minutes each day to spend time with God. As we talked about last week, prayer is a two way conversation. We find it easy to tell God what we want, reading the Bible is God's way of telling us the answers to our questions or telling us what God wants in this relationship.
May God help you find some exciting insights and revelations in your reading journey. And if you have questions don't hesitate to comment here or send me a question by email. (macpastor@gmail.com)
Blessings
Pastor Jeff
If you Google Bible Reading Plans or in Bing you will get pages of them, you can pick any number of good ones that are there. The one I use is from You Version (www.youversion.com) it has several reading plans based on what you are looking for and you can select the version of the Bible you want to read that in. The One Year Bible can come in King James, or New Living Translation for instance.
you can also go to Bible.org, or BibleStudyTools.com, or one of my favorite resources for Bible study material is Biblegateway.com. There is also a great resource now called Glo Bible that can come as an app for your tablet or iPhone as well as a home computer version. It features pictures, maps, videos, and all kinds of charts for learning more about the area or the time of the story in Scripture.
John Wesley was really concerned that we hear what the Bible says to us to help make a real difference on our discipleship. He wanted us to really focus on questions that would allow us to explore and understand the message from God to us and our circumstances. He tells us to pray before we read, that the Holy Spirit would speak to us in the reading and pray afterwards, that we might apply what we have learned. Jesus taught us that in the Upper Room, that the Holy Spirit would be our teacher and help us to remember what Jesus had taught us.
The questions he would suggest to us are these. "What is God saying to you in this passage?" "What in your reading seems especially striking? Comforting? Challenging? or convicting? What implications does this have for how we live? our values? our commitments?, our relationships? or our activities?"
Another way to look at it is to ask, "What does this passage tells us about God? What does this passage tell us about ourselves? What does this passage tell us about our relationship to God and to each other? What sins are we to avoid? What commands are we to obey? As St. Paul wrote to his protege Timothy in 2 Tim 3: 14-17 This passage we are reading has teachings for us, rebuking some activities, correcting some ideas or thoughts, and training for how we can grow spiritually. Asking ourselves these questions in the passage or section we are reading will help us begin to make the connection between the message and our lives.?
Rick Warren, the pastor of Saddleback Church and the author of the Purpose Driven Life teaches us about questions we could ask when we read as well. He always comes up with acrostics to help us remember the questions. He uses SPACEPETS in this case.
S - sins to confess
P - promises to claim
A - attitudes to change
C - commands to obey
E - examples to follow
P - prayer to pray
E - error to avoid
T - truth to believe
S - something to praise God for
Any of these ideas will give you something to work on that will help to place the Bible and God's direction into your life, you thoughts, your habits, your attitudes, and will help you to become more Christ like in every aspect. That is the main goal anyway, isn't it?
I know that the Bible can be a daunting and overwhelming challenge at times, and we are trying to make it more accessible to you. Find a One Year Bible in your local bookstore or order it online from AMAZON or others. Find a translation/version that you are comfortable with and understand the words it uses. Decide you are going to take a few minutes each day to spend time with God. As we talked about last week, prayer is a two way conversation. We find it easy to tell God what we want, reading the Bible is God's way of telling us the answers to our questions or telling us what God wants in this relationship.
May God help you find some exciting insights and revelations in your reading journey. And if you have questions don't hesitate to comment here or send me a question by email. (macpastor@gmail.com)
Blessings
Pastor Jeff
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Hunger for God part 3
I'm back with our thinking about becoming a better disciple. This is the third installment of the thoughts of Henry Knight III on Life Enriching Practices of United Methodists. The first section was on longing in life or Longing for God. The second was about Knowing about God or Knowing God. My contention is that the best way of Knowing God is to know Jesus Christ who we can know in reading the gospels and being in a relationship with Jesus.
Today we take on one of John Wesley's great contributions to discipleship, going on to perfection. We are not perfect, but we can be working on perfectly loving in all we do.
I had the opportunity to do a funeral for a gentleman the other day, who had a string of perfect attendance pins at Methodist Sunday school on his lapel in the casket. His wife said he tended to be a perfectionist in his life. He may have caught some of that working on perfect attendance at Sunday School. But perfectionism, or perfect attendance does not make you an automatic disciple or apprentice of Jesus. Perfectionism or going onto perfection is not a performance, but a loving attitude. We need to find ways to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neighbor as Jesus loves us. (Mark 12: 28-35)
As pastors in the United Methodist Church we are asked just before we are certified and again just before ordination, the historic question of John Wesley, "Do you believe you are going onto perfection?" In front of all of annual conference we are supposed to answer "Yes!" and really mean it. So we try to grow in perfection and love. It's not easy but it worth working on. The 8 life enriching practices will add together to help make us a good apprentice and representative of Jesus.
One of the biggest misunderstandings we have about love is that it is emotional. That we should feel love. That impression has come to us from our culture and years of romantic inclinations. Our huge divorce rate happens sometimes because we stop feeling "In love" with the other. Love is really more about doing the right thing, the best for the other, regardless of how we feel. That's why Jesus commands us to love.
For John Wesley, perfection was loving to the best of our ability, and as long as we were heading in that direction, we were doing the best for what God asked us to do. John's practical applications were to help us to love better than before. He was trying to improve our love life, which might get people's attention now.
So for John improving our love included a deeper prayer life, a devotional reading of scripture, participating in the Lord's supper regularly, worshiping frequently, being involved deeply within a Christian community, living with a lifestyle that was guided by faith, caring and serving neighbors in need and being able to share your faith journey with them. We will look at each of those this summer.
Come along for the ride.
Blessings
Pastor Jeff
Today we take on one of John Wesley's great contributions to discipleship, going on to perfection. We are not perfect, but we can be working on perfectly loving in all we do.
I had the opportunity to do a funeral for a gentleman the other day, who had a string of perfect attendance pins at Methodist Sunday school on his lapel in the casket. His wife said he tended to be a perfectionist in his life. He may have caught some of that working on perfect attendance at Sunday School. But perfectionism, or perfect attendance does not make you an automatic disciple or apprentice of Jesus. Perfectionism or going onto perfection is not a performance, but a loving attitude. We need to find ways to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neighbor as Jesus loves us. (Mark 12: 28-35)
As pastors in the United Methodist Church we are asked just before we are certified and again just before ordination, the historic question of John Wesley, "Do you believe you are going onto perfection?" In front of all of annual conference we are supposed to answer "Yes!" and really mean it. So we try to grow in perfection and love. It's not easy but it worth working on. The 8 life enriching practices will add together to help make us a good apprentice and representative of Jesus.
One of the biggest misunderstandings we have about love is that it is emotional. That we should feel love. That impression has come to us from our culture and years of romantic inclinations. Our huge divorce rate happens sometimes because we stop feeling "In love" with the other. Love is really more about doing the right thing, the best for the other, regardless of how we feel. That's why Jesus commands us to love.
For John Wesley, perfection was loving to the best of our ability, and as long as we were heading in that direction, we were doing the best for what God asked us to do. John's practical applications were to help us to love better than before. He was trying to improve our love life, which might get people's attention now.
So for John improving our love included a deeper prayer life, a devotional reading of scripture, participating in the Lord's supper regularly, worshiping frequently, being involved deeply within a Christian community, living with a lifestyle that was guided by faith, caring and serving neighbors in need and being able to share your faith journey with them. We will look at each of those this summer.
Come along for the ride.
Blessings
Pastor Jeff
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Hunger for God pt. 2
It's pouring outside, we are hunkered down in the basement with constant warnings about a tornado in our area. It's a good time to reflect on power beyond our control, don't you think?
Yesterday I started reflecting on the message I shared on Sunday, you can catch it on you tube at Liberty Grove U.M.C. Pastor Jeff Jones sermons for 6/9/13 on Hungering for God. Yesterday I highlighted the first section on Longing in life and Longing for God, we should be longing for God and what God wants above all else. God does want what's best for us always, so it's not a waste of energy to pursue the Kingdom of God. As Jesus said on the sermon on the mount, God knows you need these things, so pursue and long for the Kingdom of God.
Today, I'm taking on the next section, Knowing about God or Knowing God. We do know about God, we get that from Sunday School, from previous messages, books we've read, and a lot of what we think we know about God comes from poor but popular and persuasive sources. I mentioned that national pollsters when surveying about attitudes ask the question of their interviewees, to quote their favorite verse from scripture. The number one answer, no matter who is polling the crowd is "God helps those who help themselves." It's not a good answer, it's not a quote from the Bible, it's a quote from Ben Franklin. It's quite different from what God would say, but we all think it's right. It tells us we think we know about God.
Knowing God is a relationship. Knowing in biblical languages is intimate, understanding, knowledge that is total and complete, inside and outside of you. A connection. That's one of the reasons that I keep emphasizing that we connect to God, it's a way of Knowing God. The absolute best way to know God is to have a significant and ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus shows us God. Everything we need to know about God we can see in Jesus. To quote him, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." so we can be reassured that if we want to know what God is really like, we need to know Jesus as well as we can. That would mean reading all of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) very closely and probably on an ongoing process. We are being evaluated by how well we do what God has told us to do. We can know what the questions are going to be by studying Jesus, and knowing him.
Being a follower of Jesus, being what some spiritual formation people call being an Apprentice of Jesus is very difficult. But in the long run, it is the most important thing we can do. It is very different from what we sometimes think is what a Christian is. I am hoping that this summer series in Sunday messages and weekly blogs will help people see what God means by being a disciple. There will be some moments that will shake us up, for some of us feel like we have this discipleship thing down very well. I know I keep discovering how difficult it is to do all of it, but thanks to the Cross of Christ, forgiveness for all those missing the target God planned for me moments, are really the only thing that saves me.
An apprentice of Jesus should be in worship every week. The commandment for a Sabbath day is not here or there, or when you feel like it. You can be excused if you are sick, we don't want your germs. Otherwise come on down. If you are out of town, there are other churches spread out everywhere, find one and bring us the bulletin. I get good ideas from other churches.
An apprentice of Jesus knows that returning our financial resources to God out of gratitude for all that we have physically, spiritually, emotionally, eternally, is a sign of our thanksgiving. No giving means no thanking God. We aren't the first to skip this important part. The Old Testament has many stories of the calamity that falls upon the nation when they rob God of the tithe. Malachi tells us that, but shows God's forgiveness with a challenge, do so, the full tithe, and see how God will bless you, keep the bugs off your crops, will allow you to prosper, you will be amazed at how true this is. The storehouse of God is the church, specifically the general fund, not some where else. That would be an offering beyond the tithe.
An apprentice, who knows God, accepts the leaders who have been placed over them. It doesn't say you have to like them, but you do have to respect them. St. Paul in Romans 13 was very specific that the responsibility of an apprentice is to honor and respect the leader. That means we have to show respect to the leader of our companies, our communities, our country and the church.
An apprentice of Jesus wants what is best for the community of faith where they participate. Disagreeing with how some things are done, is okay, but when we take our own opinion over what is good for the whole community we act like we don't Know God, who has called and created the church to be the way the world is put back in good order.
Thanks for getting this far, I hope I've given you some things to think about in your spiritual journey. My next blog is about reaching perfection. Wouldn't that be nice if we could. Afraid not, but in John Wesley's ideas, it is perfect in love, and that sounds like more fun.
Blessings on your journey
Pastor Jeff
Yesterday I started reflecting on the message I shared on Sunday, you can catch it on you tube at Liberty Grove U.M.C. Pastor Jeff Jones sermons for 6/9/13 on Hungering for God. Yesterday I highlighted the first section on Longing in life and Longing for God, we should be longing for God and what God wants above all else. God does want what's best for us always, so it's not a waste of energy to pursue the Kingdom of God. As Jesus said on the sermon on the mount, God knows you need these things, so pursue and long for the Kingdom of God.
Today, I'm taking on the next section, Knowing about God or Knowing God. We do know about God, we get that from Sunday School, from previous messages, books we've read, and a lot of what we think we know about God comes from poor but popular and persuasive sources. I mentioned that national pollsters when surveying about attitudes ask the question of their interviewees, to quote their favorite verse from scripture. The number one answer, no matter who is polling the crowd is "God helps those who help themselves." It's not a good answer, it's not a quote from the Bible, it's a quote from Ben Franklin. It's quite different from what God would say, but we all think it's right. It tells us we think we know about God.
Knowing God is a relationship. Knowing in biblical languages is intimate, understanding, knowledge that is total and complete, inside and outside of you. A connection. That's one of the reasons that I keep emphasizing that we connect to God, it's a way of Knowing God. The absolute best way to know God is to have a significant and ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus shows us God. Everything we need to know about God we can see in Jesus. To quote him, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." so we can be reassured that if we want to know what God is really like, we need to know Jesus as well as we can. That would mean reading all of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) very closely and probably on an ongoing process. We are being evaluated by how well we do what God has told us to do. We can know what the questions are going to be by studying Jesus, and knowing him.
Being a follower of Jesus, being what some spiritual formation people call being an Apprentice of Jesus is very difficult. But in the long run, it is the most important thing we can do. It is very different from what we sometimes think is what a Christian is. I am hoping that this summer series in Sunday messages and weekly blogs will help people see what God means by being a disciple. There will be some moments that will shake us up, for some of us feel like we have this discipleship thing down very well. I know I keep discovering how difficult it is to do all of it, but thanks to the Cross of Christ, forgiveness for all those missing the target God planned for me moments, are really the only thing that saves me.
An apprentice of Jesus should be in worship every week. The commandment for a Sabbath day is not here or there, or when you feel like it. You can be excused if you are sick, we don't want your germs. Otherwise come on down. If you are out of town, there are other churches spread out everywhere, find one and bring us the bulletin. I get good ideas from other churches.
An apprentice of Jesus knows that returning our financial resources to God out of gratitude for all that we have physically, spiritually, emotionally, eternally, is a sign of our thanksgiving. No giving means no thanking God. We aren't the first to skip this important part. The Old Testament has many stories of the calamity that falls upon the nation when they rob God of the tithe. Malachi tells us that, but shows God's forgiveness with a challenge, do so, the full tithe, and see how God will bless you, keep the bugs off your crops, will allow you to prosper, you will be amazed at how true this is. The storehouse of God is the church, specifically the general fund, not some where else. That would be an offering beyond the tithe.
An apprentice, who knows God, accepts the leaders who have been placed over them. It doesn't say you have to like them, but you do have to respect them. St. Paul in Romans 13 was very specific that the responsibility of an apprentice is to honor and respect the leader. That means we have to show respect to the leader of our companies, our communities, our country and the church.
An apprentice of Jesus wants what is best for the community of faith where they participate. Disagreeing with how some things are done, is okay, but when we take our own opinion over what is good for the whole community we act like we don't Know God, who has called and created the church to be the way the world is put back in good order.
Thanks for getting this far, I hope I've given you some things to think about in your spiritual journey. My next blog is about reaching perfection. Wouldn't that be nice if we could. Afraid not, but in John Wesley's ideas, it is perfect in love, and that sounds like more fun.
Blessings on your journey
Pastor Jeff
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Preparing to Grow as a Disciple
Hello travelers on a spiritual journey
I'm writing a series of summations of last Sunday's sermons to help people keep up with our summer series on growing as a disciple. I'm using Henry Knight III's book on Eight Life-Enriching Practices of United Methodists this summer and thought you might like to follow along. You can read it for yourself, or you can join us as I try to interpret what is being said to and for our benefit.
This past Sunday was an introduction about our hungering for God. If we are going to develop a real and meaningful and significant relationship to God, it starts with our hungering, our desire to be connected to our Creator. But there are several blocks in the way and we need to try to break them down or find a way to get around them. There is Longings in life versus Longing for God. There is Knowing about God and really Knowing God. And there is Going onto Perfection, where we take seriously the desire to be perfectly loving, as our way to develop holiness. It's an adventure for sure.
We long for a variety of things, a happy marriage and family for some, the corner office and a good job for others. We may want the perfect car, or one that is fun to drive and good on gas. We long for a happy life, good get-aways and relaxing vacations. The world we live in shows us every day and according to media specialists 1700 times a day, we see a commercial that influences our longing. If it's to just get the stain out of our favorite shirt.... The world not connected to God makes sure we think about a lot of things, like trying to keep up with the Joneses. Not these Joneses, I assure you. But keeping up none the less. As one of the Christmas movies suggests, they should be able to see the lights on our house from outer space...
As Christ followers, we should be longing for God and our relationship with God and more importantly what God wants with us and from us in our lives. Are we longing for, seeking after with our whole heart, the Kingdom of God and it's righteousness? Are we really committed to seeing the work of Jesus Christ happen because we are longing for God? Can we say that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength? And are we loving our neighbors as we love ourselves? We really need to be thinking that way. If we haven't, then we stand in need of the forgiveness that God offers so that we can be connected and loving and longing for the Kingdom.
So how are you doing in your longing for yourself or longing for God department? Are there somethings you think about about and wish for instead of God and all that God wants? I'll let you think about that and I''ll come back with more of this story tomorrow.
The sermon will be on youtube in a day or two. You can search for colby626 and search for Liberty Grove UMC or Pastor Jeff's sermons.
Check back in a day or two as we look at whether we Know about God, or really know God!
blessings on your journey
Pastor Jeff
I'm writing a series of summations of last Sunday's sermons to help people keep up with our summer series on growing as a disciple. I'm using Henry Knight III's book on Eight Life-Enriching Practices of United Methodists this summer and thought you might like to follow along. You can read it for yourself, or you can join us as I try to interpret what is being said to and for our benefit.
This past Sunday was an introduction about our hungering for God. If we are going to develop a real and meaningful and significant relationship to God, it starts with our hungering, our desire to be connected to our Creator. But there are several blocks in the way and we need to try to break them down or find a way to get around them. There is Longings in life versus Longing for God. There is Knowing about God and really Knowing God. And there is Going onto Perfection, where we take seriously the desire to be perfectly loving, as our way to develop holiness. It's an adventure for sure.
We long for a variety of things, a happy marriage and family for some, the corner office and a good job for others. We may want the perfect car, or one that is fun to drive and good on gas. We long for a happy life, good get-aways and relaxing vacations. The world we live in shows us every day and according to media specialists 1700 times a day, we see a commercial that influences our longing. If it's to just get the stain out of our favorite shirt.... The world not connected to God makes sure we think about a lot of things, like trying to keep up with the Joneses. Not these Joneses, I assure you. But keeping up none the less. As one of the Christmas movies suggests, they should be able to see the lights on our house from outer space...
As Christ followers, we should be longing for God and our relationship with God and more importantly what God wants with us and from us in our lives. Are we longing for, seeking after with our whole heart, the Kingdom of God and it's righteousness? Are we really committed to seeing the work of Jesus Christ happen because we are longing for God? Can we say that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength? And are we loving our neighbors as we love ourselves? We really need to be thinking that way. If we haven't, then we stand in need of the forgiveness that God offers so that we can be connected and loving and longing for the Kingdom.
So how are you doing in your longing for yourself or longing for God department? Are there somethings you think about about and wish for instead of God and all that God wants? I'll let you think about that and I''ll come back with more of this story tomorrow.
The sermon will be on youtube in a day or two. You can search for colby626 and search for Liberty Grove UMC or Pastor Jeff's sermons.
Check back in a day or two as we look at whether we Know about God, or really know God!
blessings on your journey
Pastor Jeff
Friday, March 15, 2013
The Bible on the History Channel
I'm glad that the producers of the Bible, kept the Rahab story in the show. It's a very brief moment in the history of all that God is doing with God's people, but it is a significant story because she is included in the genealogy of Jesus found in Matthew, chapter one. Here is a woman, who was not the best example of faith, being willing to cooperate with what God is doing and God used her.
So often we resist or hang back from letting God use us for God's purposes because we feel like we are not perfect, and therefore not qualified to serve God or participate in something God is doing. I've worked a lot of my life trying to be perfect so God would not have a reason for putting me aside when the time came to be useful, but I found that work too hard and I'm not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. God can still use me with my flaws, my hesitations, my misunderstandings and my resistances. That is truly good news.
In God's story, Rahab was a lady of the evening, shall we say, who provided a place to hide for the two spies that Joshua sent into Jericho to check out the city before attacking it. The people of Israel, had come through the desert wandering since their deliverance from Egypt. The older generation that had complained so much, they died off in the desert. Joshua had the new generation and was at the edge of the promised land. Except Jericho stood in the way. God's plan was to reassure Joshua that this was not an obstacle to worry about. Hence the song we know from childhood, "Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, and the walls came a tumbling down."
The angel of the Lord instructed Joshua to circle the city each day for six days, just walk around the city. The seventh day, they were to walk around the city six times, then blow the trumpets and shout out and the walls would crumble and the soldiers could march right in. It was God who did the work of knocking down the walls and opening the doors. God still does that, but we think we have to do the work. Maybe we should pray around something and let God open the door, more often.
I teach a couple of classes during the week and one of the questions or comments that came up from the students was why the story of Samson and Delilah took so much time. That's a good question. But it also relates to a lesson we need to learn, God's timing and God's using events in our lives is often hard to understand or get a handle on. We want everything spelled out very clearly, and this doesn't fit that category very well. Delilah, in the scripture, had to bug, beg, whine for a whole week to get Samson to divulge his secret to his strength. In the scripture he kept giving her a different and untrue reason and the soldiers would burst in on them and he would be as strong as ever and escape. But when she finally wore him down, he confessed his hair and his vow to God was his source of strength, she found a way to have his hair cut and he lost his strength.
In the end, his hair grew back. He was blinded so that the Philistines could control him. But in the last act, he was able to pull down the columns that held the temple of their god and he crushed his enemy as he took his own life. He was not perfect either, but God could use him too. Our dedication and commitment to God and doing God's will and work is a source of strength, even in uncertainty and if we don't have all the answers. This is a good lesson to learn from watching the Bible on the History channel.
I'm hoping you decide to work on getting God's strength into your life. Dedication, prayer, worship, study of scripture will all build you up to help you face the challenges this world gives you. A One Year Bible from a bookstore or online is a great way to start. It's little baby steps toward reading the whole Bible. The Story, a condensed version of the Bible is a really good place to start as well.
Blessings on your faith journey and keep watching the Bible, you will learn good things, or be challenged to want to know more. You can always comment here and I'll try to answer your questions or thoughts.
Pastor Jeff
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Watching the Bible on History Channel
I'm happy that the Bible is coming to a small screen near you. I have dedicated my life to helping people get to know and appreciate God's love shown to us in the Bible. Seeing it go by so fast on TV, that's going to take some getting used to.
Start with the good stuff. It helps to see images that might give us some idea of what the characters in scripture actually faced, or at least give us an impression to go along with the story. We are such a visually oriented culture now that we need pictures to go along with our words. The Bible on TV has given us some images to float around in our heads. The rocking back and forth on the Ark with Noah was a pretty good way to paint some pictures. Seeing the animals inside gave me a better sense of appreciation for the work that Noah had to do and how anxious that task would be.
I digress for a brief moment, those animals in the Ark, reminded me of the challenge of being the pastor for a congregation, floating along in the sea of turmoil we have today in our culture. We all want to be safe and on board during the storms of life that are raging all around us. Each animal has their own set of circumstances, issues, places in their spiritual journey and a different reason for coming to church and a different diet necessary and appropriate for their well being. Some get along great, others look at each other with either fear or longing depending on their spiritual maturity or place on the food chain? Trying to watch over the whole boat for the whole trip, is what God's help is for. Makes me want to pray that much harder for God's help and intervention.
Back to the Bible on TV, getting some pictures to go along with the story will help us keep the details and the main purpose of learning about God's relationship to us in focus, is a good thing. Watching David recite the 23rd psalm as he walked out to meet Goliath, is a lesson we can all learn. Ask God to help us each step of the way and know that God will prepare the way ahead for us. Goliath in this case took off his helmet because he was laughing so hard, made it that much easier for David's rock to hit him. God does open up doors and ways for us if we prepare as we approach the challenge with prayer and remembering the help that God has given us in the past.
I'll write more about this later.
I'm a little overwhelmed by how fast the stories go by. I am very aware that trying to tell God's story in ten hours is almost impossible. But maybe this is part of the point, we long for more, that we will read it for ourselves. Now what I need to do is to find condensed and appropriate versions of the Bible for people who are now interested, but are not about to get bogged down on all those begat so and so's. I'm going to have to really look for helpful resources in this direction. May I offer the Story, a readers digest type of writing as a good starting place. Even the Story, produced by Zondervan press tells the whole story but in a shorter version. It's great for the Old Testament, I would like a longer version of the Jesus sections. But that too is a topic for another Blog session.
Part of what I missed in the going fast version is the story of Joseph, son of Jacob, one of the twelve. Joseph is such a good example of a person after God's own heart and his ability to be used by God no matter what the circumstances should not have been skipped over. I also missed the deeper presentation about the Passover, so that it could be tied in with Jesus at the Last Supper. I know members of my Bible Study really appreciate the connections when they can see them so clearly.
Keep watching the Bible on History Channel. It will be available in stores in April as a DVD set. But more importantly, find a Bible and read some, you will be amazed at how much help God is offering us for life.
Thanks for your patience, I plan to write a whole lot more now. Grace & Peace on your spiritual journey
Pastor Jeff
Start with the good stuff. It helps to see images that might give us some idea of what the characters in scripture actually faced, or at least give us an impression to go along with the story. We are such a visually oriented culture now that we need pictures to go along with our words. The Bible on TV has given us some images to float around in our heads. The rocking back and forth on the Ark with Noah was a pretty good way to paint some pictures. Seeing the animals inside gave me a better sense of appreciation for the work that Noah had to do and how anxious that task would be.
I digress for a brief moment, those animals in the Ark, reminded me of the challenge of being the pastor for a congregation, floating along in the sea of turmoil we have today in our culture. We all want to be safe and on board during the storms of life that are raging all around us. Each animal has their own set of circumstances, issues, places in their spiritual journey and a different reason for coming to church and a different diet necessary and appropriate for their well being. Some get along great, others look at each other with either fear or longing depending on their spiritual maturity or place on the food chain? Trying to watch over the whole boat for the whole trip, is what God's help is for. Makes me want to pray that much harder for God's help and intervention.
Back to the Bible on TV, getting some pictures to go along with the story will help us keep the details and the main purpose of learning about God's relationship to us in focus, is a good thing. Watching David recite the 23rd psalm as he walked out to meet Goliath, is a lesson we can all learn. Ask God to help us each step of the way and know that God will prepare the way ahead for us. Goliath in this case took off his helmet because he was laughing so hard, made it that much easier for David's rock to hit him. God does open up doors and ways for us if we prepare as we approach the challenge with prayer and remembering the help that God has given us in the past.
I'll write more about this later.
I'm a little overwhelmed by how fast the stories go by. I am very aware that trying to tell God's story in ten hours is almost impossible. But maybe this is part of the point, we long for more, that we will read it for ourselves. Now what I need to do is to find condensed and appropriate versions of the Bible for people who are now interested, but are not about to get bogged down on all those begat so and so's. I'm going to have to really look for helpful resources in this direction. May I offer the Story, a readers digest type of writing as a good starting place. Even the Story, produced by Zondervan press tells the whole story but in a shorter version. It's great for the Old Testament, I would like a longer version of the Jesus sections. But that too is a topic for another Blog session.
Part of what I missed in the going fast version is the story of Joseph, son of Jacob, one of the twelve. Joseph is such a good example of a person after God's own heart and his ability to be used by God no matter what the circumstances should not have been skipped over. I also missed the deeper presentation about the Passover, so that it could be tied in with Jesus at the Last Supper. I know members of my Bible Study really appreciate the connections when they can see them so clearly.
Keep watching the Bible on History Channel. It will be available in stores in April as a DVD set. But more importantly, find a Bible and read some, you will be amazed at how much help God is offering us for life.
Thanks for your patience, I plan to write a whole lot more now. Grace & Peace on your spiritual journey
Pastor Jeff
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