The week has started to go a bit sideways on me I fear.
You know how when its early in the week and things are getting done so very well and the sermon seems to be nicely falling into place, and the week gets busy with peoples "urgent" things and you end up reading your sermon notes on a Friday afternoon and they don't make as much sense as they did at the start, and so you need to start over but by now its Friday and the Christmas concert is tonight and you are, well, tired out, making it hard to concentrate and to shape the words you'll need in two days as you stand in front of the people talking about the Advent gift of PEACE..........???
Yeah. That.
Thats where I am today.
Showing posts with label Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Church. Show all posts
EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
Isaiah 60
1 “Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see.
For the glory of the LORD rises to shine on you.
2 Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth,
but the glory of the LORD rises and appears over you.
3 All nations will come to your light;
mighty kings will come to see your radiance.
4 “Look and see, for everyone is coming home!
Your sons are coming from distant lands;
your little daughters will be carried home.
5 Your eyes will shine,
and your heart will thrill with joy,
for merchants from around the world will come to you.
They will bring you the wealth of many lands.
6 Vast caravans of camels will converge on you,
the camels of Midian and Ephah.
The people of Sheba will bring gold and frankincense
and will come worshiping the LORD.
This is yet to be completed and the Second Advent of Christ is yet to come.
And so we live, not yet there but not here either.
We live in the in-between world for now.
And our security is found in the One who will accomplish these amazing things.
1 “Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see.
For the glory of the LORD rises to shine on you.
2 Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth,
but the glory of the LORD rises and appears over you.
3 All nations will come to your light;
mighty kings will come to see your radiance.
4 “Look and see, for everyone is coming home!
Your sons are coming from distant lands;
your little daughters will be carried home.
5 Your eyes will shine,
and your heart will thrill with joy,
for merchants from around the world will come to you.
They will bring you the wealth of many lands.
6 Vast caravans of camels will converge on you,
the camels of Midian and Ephah.
The people of Sheba will bring gold and frankincense
and will come worshiping the LORD.
--------------------------------------------------
This is yet to be completed and the Second Advent of Christ is yet to come.
And so we live, not yet there but not here either.
We live in the in-between world for now.
And our security is found in the One who will accomplish these amazing things.
In corporations or in your church, the best leaders are loving servants. Period.
What makes a great leader?
Management theorist Simon Sinek suggests, it's someone who makes their employees feel secure.
The approach sounds, familiar.
The church is training it's leaders to lead like the business world does, and the corporate world is starting to lead as Jesus suggested.
Wow.
Management theorist Simon Sinek suggests, it's someone who makes their employees feel secure.
The approach sounds, familiar.
The church is training it's leaders to lead like the business world does, and the corporate world is starting to lead as Jesus suggested.
Wow.
Thin Places, Thin Moments
I have spoken before about what some might call Thin Places. Places where the space between heaven and earth seem especially "thin." Places where it seems very easy to pray, to talk with God.
A couple of weeks ago I explored my experience at the Western Wall where I spent time praying. I've also been on a pilgrimage to Iona which too I found to be "Thin."
But there are also thin moments, thin seasons, thin times.
Times when the space between heaven and our hearts is so thin as to be transparent. Times when God by his spirit, is so present that our hearts are effected, or should I say affected. These times are precious and all about God being present in a much closer or deeper way.
One of the first times I remember this sort of thinness was when I was eight. God was doing something big and deep in Saskatoon Saskatchewan in November of 1971 and I attended the services with my family. I remember when the services were moved to the 3rd Avenue United Church which seats around 1400, and the only seats left were in the choir loft up front and so there I sat with my Aunt. I had a commanding view of the whole room. I remember that there was something different then. That there was strange activity happening for a church service. People were clearly under some kind of power that left them reacting quite emotionally. But those meetings changed the city and the church in the city. But what I remember of that night, which interests me, is that in my memory there was a mist in the room. I think it's just in my memory, but that's one of the impressions I have left over from that time when I was eight.
We as humans have different ways of understanding these things and we all have different sensitivities to the things of the heart.
Last Sunday here in the field, at the church I serve as a shepherd, there was something very thin going on. There were "Thin" moments here.
I began to recognize it as I came into the worship space and people were laughing and connecting, sorting out the kids and finding seats. Those things in themselves happen weekly, but there was a different sense in the room.
The service started and I began to feel this almost overwhelming sense of God being there. It's a strength and love that absolutely draws your attention, no matter what is being sung or what is being spoken. And all you start to notice is that you are not so much concerned with what you are singing, but that the singing is glorious. That you don't realize what is being spoken, except that the words are exactly what you need.
Until then I only had these "senses" of things. I didn't think it was enough to make a comment about. But then I began to notice that four or five different people were beginning to weep openly, right where they were worshiping. They would just start weeping, at different times through the service. To me, that's an indication that God is moving and touching lives.
That was enough for me to see and know that God was there and was doing what he does best, loving people. So as I got up to talk a bit, I gave people room to feel free to quietly engage with what God was doing in their hearts right then, because He was for sure there, at work.
It was interesting to me afterwards that very few people gave any mention to the difference in the morning. They didn't necessarily have the language to say "Wow, God was in his house." Their interpretation was personally experienced, like the few who mentioned how the music had deeply moved them this day. Or the four or five who approached me directly and and told me that the message I shared was made exactly for them. Or the few who shared with me what God had been speaking into their hearts and what freedom they knew as they leaned into him silently and received from his heart to theirs.
Honestly, the music was regular and the preaching was so-so.
But God was there, and he was in a mind to be heard.
Now, God is always there, to varying degrees. But the moments he shared with us on Sunday were Thin moments. The gaps between people and Him were tiny. People sorted out their business with him, heard from him, received from Him, talked with him.
Now not everyone might agree, and not everyone would witness my claim, but the things I felt in my spirit, and the things I saw with my eyes, and the ten plus people who approached me to tell me that something crazy good had happened to them Sunday morning, well I add all that up and that equals something I want more of.
Thin moments happen in life and thankfully I don't completely know how to repeat them, because if I did, I'd probably try to manage them for my own benefit. They are rather, gifts born out of a relationship with a deeply loving God. A God whose very make up is love.
My response is to be overwhelmed with gratitude and to ask for more for the people who need more of that thinness between them and God.
Oh yes there are thin places, but there are also thin moments.
May God bless you with many many thin moments in what may seem like a lifetime of thick slogging.
A couple of weeks ago I explored my experience at the Western Wall where I spent time praying. I've also been on a pilgrimage to Iona which too I found to be "Thin."
But there are also thin moments, thin seasons, thin times.
Times when the space between heaven and our hearts is so thin as to be transparent. Times when God by his spirit, is so present that our hearts are effected, or should I say affected. These times are precious and all about God being present in a much closer or deeper way.
 |
| A Cross on Iona |
One of the first times I remember this sort of thinness was when I was eight. God was doing something big and deep in Saskatoon Saskatchewan in November of 1971 and I attended the services with my family. I remember when the services were moved to the 3rd Avenue United Church which seats around 1400, and the only seats left were in the choir loft up front and so there I sat with my Aunt. I had a commanding view of the whole room. I remember that there was something different then. That there was strange activity happening for a church service. People were clearly under some kind of power that left them reacting quite emotionally. But those meetings changed the city and the church in the city. But what I remember of that night, which interests me, is that in my memory there was a mist in the room. I think it's just in my memory, but that's one of the impressions I have left over from that time when I was eight.
We as humans have different ways of understanding these things and we all have different sensitivities to the things of the heart.
Last Sunday here in the field, at the church I serve as a shepherd, there was something very thin going on. There were "Thin" moments here.
I began to recognize it as I came into the worship space and people were laughing and connecting, sorting out the kids and finding seats. Those things in themselves happen weekly, but there was a different sense in the room.
The service started and I began to feel this almost overwhelming sense of God being there. It's a strength and love that absolutely draws your attention, no matter what is being sung or what is being spoken. And all you start to notice is that you are not so much concerned with what you are singing, but that the singing is glorious. That you don't realize what is being spoken, except that the words are exactly what you need.
Until then I only had these "senses" of things. I didn't think it was enough to make a comment about. But then I began to notice that four or five different people were beginning to weep openly, right where they were worshiping. They would just start weeping, at different times through the service. To me, that's an indication that God is moving and touching lives.
That was enough for me to see and know that God was there and was doing what he does best, loving people. So as I got up to talk a bit, I gave people room to feel free to quietly engage with what God was doing in their hearts right then, because He was for sure there, at work.
It was interesting to me afterwards that very few people gave any mention to the difference in the morning. They didn't necessarily have the language to say "Wow, God was in his house." Their interpretation was personally experienced, like the few who mentioned how the music had deeply moved them this day. Or the four or five who approached me directly and and told me that the message I shared was made exactly for them. Or the few who shared with me what God had been speaking into their hearts and what freedom they knew as they leaned into him silently and received from his heart to theirs.
Honestly, the music was regular and the preaching was so-so.
But God was there, and he was in a mind to be heard.
Now, God is always there, to varying degrees. But the moments he shared with us on Sunday were Thin moments. The gaps between people and Him were tiny. People sorted out their business with him, heard from him, received from Him, talked with him.
Now not everyone might agree, and not everyone would witness my claim, but the things I felt in my spirit, and the things I saw with my eyes, and the ten plus people who approached me to tell me that something crazy good had happened to them Sunday morning, well I add all that up and that equals something I want more of.
Thin moments happen in life and thankfully I don't completely know how to repeat them, because if I did, I'd probably try to manage them for my own benefit. They are rather, gifts born out of a relationship with a deeply loving God. A God whose very make up is love.
My response is to be overwhelmed with gratitude and to ask for more for the people who need more of that thinness between them and God.
Oh yes there are thin places, but there are also thin moments.
May God bless you with many many thin moments in what may seem like a lifetime of thick slogging.
Exactly how many Christians are there in your town? In the West Bank they know.
One of the funnier sort of moments I enjoyed in Palestine was when I met Arab Christians who would tell me about when many Western tourists would come and ask them when they converted to Christianity to which they would smartly reply "Oh about 2000 years ago when Jesus did mission work in the area."
See, sometimes our worldview shapes how we see events happening in other parts of the world.
I had the opportunity to meet with different religious leaders while I was in Israel/West Bank, and one of the paradigm shifting concepts I heard repeatedly was that there were no non-religious people in the Middle East. Everyone had some religious approach to life, often that was handed down to them by previous generations. You were either Jew, Christian, or Muslim.
From a secular society perspective where I come from in Canada, that was a stunning sort of thing. That everyone had a mark on their papers telling what religious flavour they were. This was why religious leaders were able to tell me exactly how many muslims there were in their town, or how many christians there were in this or that location.
There were no atheists or agnostics, at least officially anyway. Though within their own characterizations there must be those who are more or less faithful. So this religiosity was tied into their culture and history and family name.
When I asked what would happen to a convert to Christianity from a Muslim family the answer was quick and clear. "They would be killed." Usually by the family. When we asked about converts from christianity the answer was much less violent. Admittedly that question was asked of an Anglican priest.
There were those who had made conversion choices who would continue to live as cultural Muslims as long as it wouldn't mean they would have to renounce their following Jesus Christ. They were known as secret believers and they exist, quietly. But for many today, being a Muslim or Jew or Christian for that matter is not a matter of the heart or faith but a matter of the culture and family they were born into. You don't just turn away from that and head in another direction after your family has been known differently for thousands of years.
This difference was interesting to note.
It comes into play when the Jews want to be recognized as a State and the Arab nations surrounding don't want to give in to that requirement to peace. Partly in that mix is the question asking does Israel wish to be recognized as a full, secular nation state, or are they asking to be recognized as a religious, Jewish state? The subtleties of these arguments can easily be lost on us Westerners as the Arab neighbours react strongly to the idea.
In the mean time local neighbours, Muslims and Christians, and in parts of Israel, Jews, live with each other as they have for thousands of years. They get along for the most part and care for one another. Their kids play together in the streets and they both hide when the tensions turn violent. Then they check up on each other and watch out for one another. In that way they create amazingly warm communities where good neighbours make good neighbourhoods.
Now if only the politicians and the extremists on all sides, could figure that out.
See, sometimes our worldview shapes how we see events happening in other parts of the world.
I had the opportunity to meet with different religious leaders while I was in Israel/West Bank, and one of the paradigm shifting concepts I heard repeatedly was that there were no non-religious people in the Middle East. Everyone had some religious approach to life, often that was handed down to them by previous generations. You were either Jew, Christian, or Muslim.
From a secular society perspective where I come from in Canada, that was a stunning sort of thing. That everyone had a mark on their papers telling what religious flavour they were. This was why religious leaders were able to tell me exactly how many muslims there were in their town, or how many christians there were in this or that location.
There were no atheists or agnostics, at least officially anyway. Though within their own characterizations there must be those who are more or less faithful. So this religiosity was tied into their culture and history and family name.
When I asked what would happen to a convert to Christianity from a Muslim family the answer was quick and clear. "They would be killed." Usually by the family. When we asked about converts from christianity the answer was much less violent. Admittedly that question was asked of an Anglican priest.
There were those who had made conversion choices who would continue to live as cultural Muslims as long as it wouldn't mean they would have to renounce their following Jesus Christ. They were known as secret believers and they exist, quietly. But for many today, being a Muslim or Jew or Christian for that matter is not a matter of the heart or faith but a matter of the culture and family they were born into. You don't just turn away from that and head in another direction after your family has been known differently for thousands of years.
This difference was interesting to note.
It comes into play when the Jews want to be recognized as a State and the Arab nations surrounding don't want to give in to that requirement to peace. Partly in that mix is the question asking does Israel wish to be recognized as a full, secular nation state, or are they asking to be recognized as a religious, Jewish state? The subtleties of these arguments can easily be lost on us Westerners as the Arab neighbours react strongly to the idea.
In the mean time local neighbours, Muslims and Christians, and in parts of Israel, Jews, live with each other as they have for thousands of years. They get along for the most part and care for one another. Their kids play together in the streets and they both hide when the tensions turn violent. Then they check up on each other and watch out for one another. In that way they create amazingly warm communities where good neighbours make good neighbourhoods.
Now if only the politicians and the extremists on all sides, could figure that out.
Just a church in a field on the day of our annual meeting
Today the place that I work gathered together to share the stories of the past year and to plan a bit and look forward to the year to come. We talked ministry and money, caring and praying, buildings and direction. It was our Annual Meeting at Malmo Mission Covenant Church.
These things always take so much out of me. Tons of prep work and thought and direction. Hours of reports and writing. It's all just a part of the thing.
And I tend to serve churches that have a long and sometimes difficult story so I've seen AGM's become battle zones. Blood baths where Roberts Rules of Order is the book we can all agree on when we don't trust each other.
But that was not our story today thankfully. By the way, when Roberts rules of Order get pulled out at a meeting, you know it's usually too late for good communication to happen.
When Lauralea and I were making plans to move to Malmo and take up the pastoral responsibilities here, I remember in my conversations with God how I asked him for clarity and direction. His response was that my work here was to simply take people by the hands and to start walking towards Christ and the Cross. I was not to fix people or relationships or try to set my own direction. My only course was to be in movement towards Him, with others in tow.
And so this has been my goal with each passing year, to be moving towards Christ, bringing others with me. This comes out in my meetings with boards and committees and individuals. It comes out in my preaching and talking up front. It comes out in my one on one conversations, my counseling situations, my service opportunities, my life of example.
And I can do that. I can point others to Him and walk with them.
I can do that.
So today good day here and the support we have for our work here is very encouraging.
These things always take so much out of me. Tons of prep work and thought and direction. Hours of reports and writing. It's all just a part of the thing.
And I tend to serve churches that have a long and sometimes difficult story so I've seen AGM's become battle zones. Blood baths where Roberts Rules of Order is the book we can all agree on when we don't trust each other.
But that was not our story today thankfully. By the way, when Roberts rules of Order get pulled out at a meeting, you know it's usually too late for good communication to happen.
When Lauralea and I were making plans to move to Malmo and take up the pastoral responsibilities here, I remember in my conversations with God how I asked him for clarity and direction. His response was that my work here was to simply take people by the hands and to start walking towards Christ and the Cross. I was not to fix people or relationships or try to set my own direction. My only course was to be in movement towards Him, with others in tow.
And so this has been my goal with each passing year, to be moving towards Christ, bringing others with me. This comes out in my meetings with boards and committees and individuals. It comes out in my preaching and talking up front. It comes out in my one on one conversations, my counseling situations, my service opportunities, my life of example.
And I can do that. I can point others to Him and walk with them.
I can do that.
So today good day here and the support we have for our work here is very encouraging.
But now I am tired and ready for supper and sleep.
Play. It's in our DNA.
When King David's wife berates him for making a fool of himself by leaping and dancing before the ark of the Lord, he protests by saying that it seemed exactly the right thing to do, considering all the Lord had done for him. "Therefore will I play before the Lord," he tells her (2 Samuel 6:14-21)...
The king, the boys and girls, the whale-they are none of them accomplishing anything. They are none of them providing anything. There's nothing edifying or educational or particularly help-ful in what they are doing, nothing that you'd be likely to think of as religious. They haven't a thought in their heads. They are just playing, that's all. They are letting themselves go and having a marvelous time at it…
"Be fruitful and multiply!" God calls, and creator and creature both all but lose track of which is which in the wonder of their playing.
Rev. Frederick Buechner.
An ordained Presbyterian minister and author of numerous bestselling books and novels.
via.
A Gentle Advent
Wednesday before the week before Christmas, and I'm in my office working away.
It's kinda cold in here now because the window replacement guys came to swap out a broken window, and in the end it didn't fit so they put the old one back in for now. Besides that, it is cooling off out there today. It's overcast and the temperature is dropping as the day progresses.
I'm about to leave for town to visit some of the people who can't get out of their homes these days, but the roads and weather should be alright.
All morning I've been working on our Carol Service for this Sunday. It's where we tell some of the stories of the christmas carols and we sing them together. It's a fun day but requires a good deal of gathering and rewriting the stories of the songs, so we can enjoy the morning in worship together. I've done the work so if any of you want the printed service complete with the stories, just let me know and you can use them. No sense in reinventing the wheel.
This Christmas has been surprisingly still. I don't know if it's my Christmas Miracle or what, but it seems quieter and feels a better pace than it normally does. I like this sort of Advent. I usually try to do some volunteering in the community and this years work has finally fallen into place. I'll be doing that this week too, but it's good and blessed work.
Then this Friday at our home is the usual cider and cookies, or party at the pastors place. So if you are in the area, come by for a warm cup of fun and a cookie or eight. From three till nine pm. All are welcome.
Saturday Hillary arrives home and then off we go into the Christmas week activities.
All that to say that things are ok, and Advent has been particularly good to me this year so far. I like that, and I like the space it's created for me to be praying for those of you who are having tough going this year. You are being prayed for and Father God is close.
But for now, I'm off to town.
Blessings from the temperature dropping Field.
It's kinda cold in here now because the window replacement guys came to swap out a broken window, and in the end it didn't fit so they put the old one back in for now. Besides that, it is cooling off out there today. It's overcast and the temperature is dropping as the day progresses.
I'm about to leave for town to visit some of the people who can't get out of their homes these days, but the roads and weather should be alright.
All morning I've been working on our Carol Service for this Sunday. It's where we tell some of the stories of the christmas carols and we sing them together. It's a fun day but requires a good deal of gathering and rewriting the stories of the songs, so we can enjoy the morning in worship together. I've done the work so if any of you want the printed service complete with the stories, just let me know and you can use them. No sense in reinventing the wheel.
This Christmas has been surprisingly still. I don't know if it's my Christmas Miracle or what, but it seems quieter and feels a better pace than it normally does. I like this sort of Advent. I usually try to do some volunteering in the community and this years work has finally fallen into place. I'll be doing that this week too, but it's good and blessed work.
Then this Friday at our home is the usual cider and cookies, or party at the pastors place. So if you are in the area, come by for a warm cup of fun and a cookie or eight. From three till nine pm. All are welcome.
Saturday Hillary arrives home and then off we go into the Christmas week activities.
All that to say that things are ok, and Advent has been particularly good to me this year so far. I like that, and I like the space it's created for me to be praying for those of you who are having tough going this year. You are being prayed for and Father God is close.
But for now, I'm off to town.
Blessings from the temperature dropping Field.
And now Advent is upon us
This Sunday is the First Sunday in Advent.
The church year begins anew.
And as it has done the previous three weekends, snow is in the forecast.
Not just a dusting of snow either. It's another 20+ centimeters on the way.
So I'm trying to enter Advent as Isaiah encourages when he says:
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength. - Isaiah 30:15
Simple really, salvation is a place of rest and repentance and strength comes in quietness and trust.
I'm going to need that again this Advent and Christmas.
Peace on earth. Here we go.
But the heart of the heart of the matter is that it matters what place our heart is in.
In moments now I will participate as a leader in the first worship service since my break began back in late September.
It's good to be home, and to call this place my home even though I am in a strange land. Strange because it's not my birth home nor my growing up home. Strange because apart from the work that I do here, I'd never have thought to live here, or even have had the opportunity to live here.
Still I, we, are examples of the fact that you can make your home just about anywhere, and that it can be home at very deep levels. So it's good to be home.
Gathering to worship this God we know can break down into a very mundane weekly experience. It can shift our thinking into a consumer thought process. What is going on here, what's going on there in other churches, should I go here or there...
For the leaders it can be an incredibly stressful experience with a million details to attend to and things to try and not get wrong. Challenges to our plans and sudden changes needed. Judgements about the worship experience. Being a leader of worship can be a challenging thing.
But for both groups, it can be a transcendent thing too. It can be an appointment that lifts us to another place. A place where we can do together what we can't do apart.
If we come for what we get, we miss the point completely.
If we try to offer something for everyone, we too miss the point completely.
This is a gathering for a target group of three, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Yes we will be changed in His presence.
Yes we will grow because we are in His presence.
Yes help and support will come because we are in His presence.
But the heart of the heart of the matter is that it matters what place our heart is in.
So posture your heart to receive, and you will.
Prepare your heart to cry out to God and you will be heard.
Place your heart in Gods hands, and he will care for you.
Welcome to church, the people, not the meeting.
There is a disturbance in the force field today
As I look out my office window high atop my castle this morning, I can see for feet and feet and feet.
It's bleak out there and it's bleak in here too.
It feels heavy, the sort of heavy that takes the joy out of what I do.
The interesting thing about shepherding a church is that it's a group of mostly human beings who are not yet perfect, so when we sin, we effect people all around us.
Well, people have been people, and people have made choices for themselves, rather than making choices with the consideration of others.
My work today, in part, is to help those effected by other peoples unwise choices.
And if there is room, to speak into the lives of those making those decisions.
It's not my best way to live out a day, but it is what it is. And people being people, there will be more days like this.
But for now, there is work to be done.
It's bleak out there and it's bleak in here too.
It feels heavy, the sort of heavy that takes the joy out of what I do.
The interesting thing about shepherding a church is that it's a group of mostly human beings who are not yet perfect, so when we sin, we effect people all around us.
Well, people have been people, and people have made choices for themselves, rather than making choices with the consideration of others.
My work today, in part, is to help those effected by other peoples unwise choices.
And if there is room, to speak into the lives of those making those decisions.
It's not my best way to live out a day, but it is what it is. And people being people, there will be more days like this.
But for now, there is work to be done.
A full Sunday
One service done.
One child christened.
One Holy Communion Celebrated.
One Twenty Fifth Anniversary Celebrated.
Six Worship Songs Sung.
One fun message on our dependence on the Holy Spirit.
Many bits of brought worst eaten.
Two cakes eaten.
I was nervous and uncomfortable about this morning for a variety of reasons, but the best part of the day was that God was in the house, and his people met together with him.
Now to change gears to camp and the Sr. Highs.
I LOVE talking with the youth, and hopefully they don't have to just put up with me. I don't like the quip that the youth are the future of the (Fill in the blank). I really believe that the youth are the present of whatever.
There are youth gathering churches in Asia and Africa, and doing powerful work around the world. They don't need to wait to be used of God.
So tonight I'm going to meet with them and talk a bit about listening. How it takes courage to listen and inner strength to listen and to hear.
But for now I'm going to grab a bite and then get ready for tonight.
Hope your Sunday involved a meeting with The Holy.
Getting my Mojo Back
It's been a tough month here at the ole mine face where the work is getting done, three steps forward, one step back. Two steps forward, one step back. You know how it is, you live life too.
But last night as Lauralea and I caught a bit of the show House Hunters International, I got really impatient with one of the house shoppers. The lady was searching for a house with her particular culture in mind, in a country that had a very different approach to room size, and all she could do was complain about everything. (By the way, why do people do that, pack up and move to another culture and get all whiny when it's not like their culture? Sheesh)
I could feel my blood pressure rising and so enough of that, off she went. I loaded up The Borne Identity and we watched Jason Borne find himself. :) That was better.
I've been noticing a few clues like this starting to call attention to myself that yes indeed, we need a break from things here.
I started looking at my calendar and realized that in the past six months only on Christmas day and Boxing day have I had two consecutive days off. That's not enough and yes I can see that now. So in one week we will take some time off. See if I can get my mojo back.
In the mean time, tomorrow here at the church in The Field, we will celebrate Holy Communion together. That's like a little holiday or a lush park in the middle of a busy city.
For me that's always something that engages me. An interaction with God himself in ways that I don't always get. But I always come away with more than I came with. More energy, more life, closer to Christ.
But it's also about being closer to the Body of Christ, the people gathered around. I come, with the others here, to Christs table to receive from Him. And they all come too, as paupers. People hungry for more. People aware of their failures and hopefully repentant of them, yet choosing to move towards Christ rather than running away from him. Together we come.
It is to me a life-giving break in the middle of the rush of life. And these days those life giving moments are not unwelcomed.
Come join us tomorrow.
But last night as Lauralea and I caught a bit of the show House Hunters International, I got really impatient with one of the house shoppers. The lady was searching for a house with her particular culture in mind, in a country that had a very different approach to room size, and all she could do was complain about everything. (By the way, why do people do that, pack up and move to another culture and get all whiny when it's not like their culture? Sheesh)
I could feel my blood pressure rising and so enough of that, off she went. I loaded up The Borne Identity and we watched Jason Borne find himself. :) That was better.
I've been noticing a few clues like this starting to call attention to myself that yes indeed, we need a break from things here.
I started looking at my calendar and realized that in the past six months only on Christmas day and Boxing day have I had two consecutive days off. That's not enough and yes I can see that now. So in one week we will take some time off. See if I can get my mojo back.
In the mean time, tomorrow here at the church in The Field, we will celebrate Holy Communion together. That's like a little holiday or a lush park in the middle of a busy city.
For me that's always something that engages me. An interaction with God himself in ways that I don't always get. But I always come away with more than I came with. More energy, more life, closer to Christ.
But it's also about being closer to the Body of Christ, the people gathered around. I come, with the others here, to Christs table to receive from Him. And they all come too, as paupers. People hungry for more. People aware of their failures and hopefully repentant of them, yet choosing to move towards Christ rather than running away from him. Together we come.
It is to me a life-giving break in the middle of the rush of life. And these days those life giving moments are not unwelcomed.
Come join us tomorrow.
Holy Weekend
How quickly we have gone from last Sundays crowds shouting "Hosanna Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord," to tonights anguished prayer in the garden. It will only get worse in the morning, Christ's death will come tomorrow.
The question needs to be considered, will we follow the crowds or will we follow Christ?
The question needs to be considered, will we follow the crowds or will we follow Christ?
Church Fined $10,000 for Fake Kidnapping
Well it seemed like a good idea at the time...
An East Shore church will pay a $10,000 fine, and its youth pastor will do community service for staging a fake “terrorist raid” during a youth group program.via.
Dauphin County authorities charged Glad Tidings Assembly of God of Lower Swatara Township and youth pastor Andrew Jordan with simple assault and false imprisonment after a grand jury probe.
The mother of a 14-year-old girl who was “kidnapped” and frightened during the March raid triggered the criminal case by calling police.
First Assistant District Attorney Fran Chardo said this morning that the charges were resolved with a plea deal. He said the church and Jordan entered no contest pleas before Judge Andrew H. Dowling.
Victims were consulted before the agreement was finalized, Chardo said.
“It was an appropriate punishment for what they did. And I’m confident they aren’t going to do it again,” he said.
“They’re not bad people,” Chardo added. “What they did wasn’t malicious. It was just foolhardy.”
During the mock raid, four men — one armed with an unloaded gun — rushed into a youth group meeting, put pillowcases over the heads of the kids and forced them into a van. One teen was injured.
The youth group members didn’t know the raid was fake. Church officials said it was staged to show the children the perils missionaries face overseas.
As an institution, the church couldn’t face a jail term, Chardo said, but the $10,000 fine is the maximum allowed by law.
He said Jordan will be allowed into the accelerated rehabilitative disposition program to avoid a criminal record. He will pay a $500 penalty, serve up to a year of probation and do 50 hours of community service, Chardo said.
Church pastor John Lanza and the congregation’s lawyer, William DeStefano, weren’t immediately available for comment on the outcome of the case.
The First Sunday in Advent in the Field
First Sunday in Advent.
You know, I love this stuff. This seasonal adjusting of worship according to the church calendar. That's what I thought this morning as I put on my rarely used suit and my Christmas Peanuts tie. I thought I love being a part of this community of people who gather together each week just to worship something or someone bigger than themselves. I like it indeed.
Oh there were bells to jingle while we sang and Nativity pieces to bring forward and put in their places. There were Advent songs sung and scriptures shared and donations made for homes and towns on the other side of the world as we enjoyed what we have. We started Advent at The Table, Christ's table he invites us to partake in, and to remember his obedient, faithful sacrifice. He came as a servant and as for us all, death was a part of his journey.
Then during coffee time with us all eating and drinking downstairs, somebody started up the Happy Birthday song for someone at their table and slowly the whole group lifted their voices to cheer on the birthday boy. I leaned over to the person beside me and commented that it had the distinct feel of a pub party.
This First Sunday in Advent. Today was a good start to the season, and a good reminder that this is different.
So, here we go, on a journey towards Christ. Watching for him, looking for him, welcoming him.
You should come and join us here in the field. It's going to be a good season.
You know, I love this stuff. This seasonal adjusting of worship according to the church calendar. That's what I thought this morning as I put on my rarely used suit and my Christmas Peanuts tie. I thought I love being a part of this community of people who gather together each week just to worship something or someone bigger than themselves. I like it indeed.
Oh there were bells to jingle while we sang and Nativity pieces to bring forward and put in their places. There were Advent songs sung and scriptures shared and donations made for homes and towns on the other side of the world as we enjoyed what we have. We started Advent at The Table, Christ's table he invites us to partake in, and to remember his obedient, faithful sacrifice. He came as a servant and as for us all, death was a part of his journey.
Then during coffee time with us all eating and drinking downstairs, somebody started up the Happy Birthday song for someone at their table and slowly the whole group lifted their voices to cheer on the birthday boy. I leaned over to the person beside me and commented that it had the distinct feel of a pub party.
This First Sunday in Advent. Today was a good start to the season, and a good reminder that this is different.
So, here we go, on a journey towards Christ. Watching for him, looking for him, welcoming him.
You should come and join us here in the field. It's going to be a good season.
Finding a spiritual home in a field.
And so the field here bounds with new life and people arrive who are looking for a Spiritual home.
The Vandersluys family, Marc & Dixie and their kids are our new neighbours, and are busying themselves with settling down, purchasing tables to eat on and bedroom suites to sleep in and computers to work on and looking for schools for their three kids to attend and all those sorts of things that you do in a new place. We will have our first staff meeting this afternoon and begin a process of working together that will shift my workload, and see Marc begin to experience ministry in realtime. It's a place we've been praying toward for a couple of years though I never would have guessed it would be Marc here.
Then there are the others, the community people and friends and families who are attending this church more and more these days. At last count it was over twenty new people who make there way out here from surrounding farms and towns, to find a spiritual home. It's encouraging that way.
The challenge always comes when the present homeowners try to make room for the new ones. It's about being intentional to welcome and pull up chairs up for the new ones. It's about connecting and getting to know them, and maybe most challenging of all, to create space for them and invite them to a piece of the place.
It's an every church sort of struggle I think, at least any church that is over ten years old. To be able to welcome spiritual outsiders and take them in and set them up with a sense of belonging and ownership. That they with their various levels of maturity can make this their spiritual home too, and be invited to grow in Christ and what He has for us all.
It's the sort of thing we've been asking God to challenge us with, and now He is doing just that.
So I am happy to report that God continues to do a work here that is bigger than my abilities and that new faces are finding their way to the church in the field and that even as they are coming, God is bringing help to serve his purposes here in this place.
May many more spiritually homeless people be able to find home here in a church, in a field.
Marc Vandersluys is coming to a field near you, (If the field near you is the same one I'm in)
So it's sort of been my heart for these years as I've somehow become a senior pastoral leader in the Evangelical Covenant Church in Canada, that we need to be identifying and calling out young spiritual leaders from among us and to help them and see them raised up to do the work of shepherding/pastoring our churches in Canada.
You see, because we are a relatively small group we must regularly call up pastors from America or from other denominational groups in Canada, and while thats not bad, it would be great to be seeing those people, leaders really, rise up from among us. I think its a next level of maturity for us as a church group in Canada.
So I pray to that end and work to that end and it's been really very cool to see some really quality young people take the next step into ministry from churches in Canada, as God calls them.
That's why this winter has been a bit of a surprise as the church here in the field, Malmo Mission Covenant Church, worked through a season of discernment for staff, and as a result of Gods leading, have seen fit to call Marc Vandersluys to minister here in the role of associate pastor, with responsibilities for youth, families, discipleship, and intergenerational sorts of stuff.
It's a surprise because Marc and I first met years ago, as a result of this here blogging enterprise.
He covered his first visit here, and I talked about it here. (Isn't that the beauty of bing an old fart at blogging?)
I am grateful beyond belief that someone is coming alongside here in the Field work. I think the last count of people who would consider this church their spiritual home whether they attend once a week, once a year, or once in a while, is over the 200 mark. Again, for a church located in a field, that number never ceases to amaze me.
But I digress. The awesome news is that this summer, Marc and his wife, Dixie and their brood of three will join us here in Alberta, in The Field.
Its such a cool thing. And to think that it started with a form of social media of its day, Blogging.
This here internet is just a great invention.
A Most Blessed Christmas to you.
Well, here we are.
We’ve made it through the baking and shopping lists. Through the signing and receiving of endless cards, shopping malls, parties, get-togethers and so many people to wish Merry Christmas or seasons greeting to.
The kids have made it through learning their songs and concerts and piano pieces. And the gifts, all purchased by now, lay silently beneath the tree, awaiting their excited new owners.
Perhaps its at moments like these that we are wise to stop and remember what Christmas really is about.
While for others Christmas can be so lonely. Nothing reminds us that we are utterly alone in the universe like not getting any cards or not being invited to parties.
Focus on the light of the world, born as a babe.
This is still the time that God chooses to be known.
Read with me...
We’ve made it through the baking and shopping lists. Through the signing and receiving of endless cards, shopping malls, parties, get-togethers and so many people to wish Merry Christmas or seasons greeting to.
The kids have made it through learning their songs and concerts and piano pieces. And the gifts, all purchased by now, lay silently beneath the tree, awaiting their excited new owners.
Perhaps its at moments like these that we are wise to stop and remember what Christmas really is about.
George Matthew Adams said:Maybe thats one reason that the Christmas season is so busy, because we are trying to love so many at once.
“Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world of the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years... Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart.”
While for others Christmas can be so lonely. Nothing reminds us that we are utterly alone in the universe like not getting any cards or not being invited to parties.
Taylor Caldwell (1900-1985), English novelist wrote:If you’ve been overly busy or perhaps find yourself a bit too lonely this evening, I welcome you to focus on the Story of Christ’s birth.
“I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the world seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses.”
Focus on the light of the world, born as a babe.
This is still the time that God chooses to be known.
Read with me...
Finding peace on bad days
"Let my soul take refuge, beneath the shadow of Your wings: let my heart, this sea of restless waves, find peace in you O God!" - Augustine
Yes indeed. Augustines words find a home within me as I struggle to focus and prepare my heart and mind and body for the work asked of me this Sunday.
My eyes are tired and not focusing properly as they will need to when I read things in public. My psoriasis is acting up and giving me trouble which means either I'm stressed or I'm not getting enough sun or I'm drinking too much. My heart is heavy with some news that will make life difficult for a friend for a season. Some Christmas deadlines are creeping up on me that I will need to really work towards this week that will take away any day off, so there will be not much for a turn around time here this week.
Today is a full day of teaching and leading worship and preaching, you know, the usual Sunday work of a pastor. Then we need to get to town in time for the High School Christmas Concert this afternoon, then supper with field people, then home to crash.
This morning Augustines words hit home just a bit closer than usual. On mornings like this I would like to simply take refuge and hide the day away.
May my heart, on days like this when cast about on seas of restless waves, find peace in you O God.
Yes indeed. Augustines words find a home within me as I struggle to focus and prepare my heart and mind and body for the work asked of me this Sunday.
My eyes are tired and not focusing properly as they will need to when I read things in public. My psoriasis is acting up and giving me trouble which means either I'm stressed or I'm not getting enough sun or I'm drinking too much. My heart is heavy with some news that will make life difficult for a friend for a season. Some Christmas deadlines are creeping up on me that I will need to really work towards this week that will take away any day off, so there will be not much for a turn around time here this week.
Today is a full day of teaching and leading worship and preaching, you know, the usual Sunday work of a pastor. Then we need to get to town in time for the High School Christmas Concert this afternoon, then supper with field people, then home to crash.
This morning Augustines words hit home just a bit closer than usual. On mornings like this I would like to simply take refuge and hide the day away.
May my heart, on days like this when cast about on seas of restless waves, find peace in you O God.
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