**Note: this is an edited version of what I preached. I had originally planned on using a particular story in this, but it was not appropriate for the context of the congregation, so I've also taken it out to post here.**
Is It True?
Well, it’s our second Sunday of Easter…Just like Christmas, our celebration of Easter lasts longer than just one day…We celebrate the 50 days of Easter…The time between Easter Sunday and Pentecost…After Jesus rose from the dead, he spent time with the disciples before he ascended to heaven…During this time, Jesus ate, spoke, taught, and shared with his disciples and many of his followers.
As happy as people were to hear that Jesus was indeed alive, there were just as many who weren’t sure what to make of everything. Last week, we heard about Mary Magdalene who didn’t recognize who Jesus was until he spoke her name…There were the other disciples too, who just looked in the tomb and saw Jesus was gone and they went back home…This week our story of Jesus takes us to his appearance to the disciples…
The disciples had gathered together in a home after Jesus’ death…They were probably together mourning the loss of their teacher and friend. As Mary Magdalene was at the tomb of Jesus, the disciples were gathered together—perhaps they were sharing stories of Jesus’ life with them, recalling his teachings, laughing together, crying together…When Mary Magdalene came and told them that Jesus’ body was gone Peter and another disciple ran to the tomb…As they returned to the house where the rest of the disciples were, Mary was having a conversation with Jesus…He told her that he was going to the rest of disciples and that she should tell them what she had seen and heard…
Jesus made due on his promises, like always and came into the house where the disciples were…John, the Gospel writer makes sure to point out that the doors to this house were locked when Jesus appeared to them…There was something different about this Jesus…He wasn’t quite the man that they had spent time with—something was different about him. But lest they think that Jesus wasn’t really there and this was just some kind of spirit or something, Jesus showed them his wounds in his hands and his side.
This was such an amazing experience for the disciples and as amazing as it would be to see their teacher and friend standing in front of them again—Jesus breathed on them and told them that they were to go out…Just as Jesus had been sent into the world, the disciples were sent into the world in the power of the Holy Spirit…They saw their Lord and Jesus sent them out into the world to continue the work that he had been doing.
As the disciples went out and started to do what Jesus had told them to do…There was one who was missing—Thomas…Many of us are familiar with Thomas—Doubting Thomas…The disciple who didn’t believe…The disciple who needed proof…The disciple who put his finger in Jesus’ wounds…We’re familiar with the story of Thomas…
Now just like many of the stories of the disciples, this is one of a disciple who just doesn’t quite get it…Jesus had been telling his disciples over and over what was going to happen—that he was going to die and rise again, but it just never made sense to the disciples…And Thomas wasn’t with the disciples when they saw Jesus for the first time after he was raised…And he had a few questions…Wouldn’t you? Don’t you?
The disciples get a bad rap sometimes for just not getting it…But, how many times can you identify with the disciples? Confused about what Jesus is saying…Not wanting it to be real…Not wanting it to have to apply to us…We’re a lot more like the disciples than we want to believe…
Have you ever felt like Thomas? Have you ever doubted? Usually when something traumatic happens in our life, we start to question a lot of things…Sometimes that questioning leads to a questioning of our faith, a questioning of God, wanting to put our finger in the wounds…Have you ever doubted? Have you ever questioned? Thomas was out in the open about his doubts and questions—he was adamant about what he needed and wanted to see in order to believe…Have you ever been in a situation like Thomas? Thomas had just lost his friend and his teacher to a brutal killing…His leader Jesus had been whipped and crucified…He had to be devastated…In his devastation, he doubted and questioned…
Thomas wasn’t with the other disciples when they saw Jesus…He must have felt so alone…So out of the loop…Everyone else is rejoicing and happy to share that Jesus is risen, but he didn’t know what to do with what they were saying…He couldn’t fathom how it could be true…All he knew of death was that it was permanent…And here were the other disciples celebrating that Jesus is risen…It had to be a very lonely place for him to be in…Full of these questions and doubts and no one seemed to understand…
Have you ever doubted? Have you ever had questions? It’s okay to doubt…It’s okay to question…But even in the midst of those questions, Jesus is there…Ready for us to touch his wounds…Ready to show to us how much he loves us…
It’s what we do with our questions and doubts that’s important…Because just like Thomas, we’re not left in the doubting and in the questioning…Because Jesus is there…Offering comfort and healing…Offering love and grace…
In the waters of our baptism, we are claimed by God…We are claimed as God’s children…In the waters of our baptism, God says to us, “You are my child, my beloved; with you I am well pleased.” God calls us to be God’s people…God calls us to be a part of God’s church…God chooses us…Through Jesus’ resurrection that claim went that much farther…If God chooses us…If Jesus died for us…How can we think that we would be left in our doubts and in our questions? We’re not…We have been chosen by God and in that choosing, we’re not alone…Jesus breathed on the disciples and gave them the Holy Spirit…He had promised the disciples that they would never be alone…That in the midst of the times that there were difficulties and questions and hard times…They weren’t alone…No matter what they felt…No matter what they doubted…No matter what they questioned they were not alone…
Thomas was open and honest about his doubts and his questions…He wrestled with them…He demanded proof and wanted answers…Jesus appeared to him and offered his hands and his side and told Thomas to believe
Thomas said to Jesus, “My Lord, my God.” He believed…He knew who Jesus is…He knew that Jesus is the Lord…Jesus is God…He came to the other end of his doubts and he believed…
The author of the Gospel said that there were other signs that were given to the disciples so that they may believe…Maybe they needed more to understand what it was that had happened…What Jesus had truly done through his resurrection…
Although there were more signs, John only recorded these…There were the ones that John saw as most important…John saw that it was important to show that Jesus is alive to offer love and grace…To love us through our questions…To love us through our doubts…To offer us grace when we cry out, “My Lord, my God!”
Monday, March 31, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
She Left Me For Jesus (Part 2)
Okay, so after listening to the song a few more times and doing some more thinking and reflecting...And after talking with several people about this song in particular, plus the fact that the previous post I made about the song literally had 200 new "hits" to my little blog here (which I'm not sure how I feel about that...)...Anyway, I feel the need to clarify and begin more conversation about this topic.
My reaction to the song was "disturbing" on many levels...On first listen, I wasn't amused by the lyrics and maybe it's because I was expecting to be more amused than I thought it was upon first listen. There are funny moments and irony abounds-- as long as one takes it that way. However, I think that there are people who will listen to the song and be justified in what they believe to be correct. While there are some funny/ironic moments, there are also moments that I'm not sure are really all that funny even though they are intended to be...
In terms of looking at this song through the Wesleyan Quadrilateral (Scripture, Experience, Reason, Tradition), I've become a bit more objective and really wrestled with what it is that makes me most uncomfortable...The truth is that I'm still not sure. I think that part of it is that it just plays up the stereotypes of southern culture...Had this song been sung in a different genre, would I have bristled up as much? I'm not sure-- because certainly some of my favorite songs have been ones that call the church into accountablility and call out the stereotypes and hypocrises of the church--so, should this be so different? I'm not sure yet...
The other piece that I'm wrestling with somewhat is how this song plays into what has been called the "feminization of the church." There have been many pieces written about how the church isn't "masculine" enough anymore thanks to all "those women" who have helped to create that. So, the church needs to reclaim its masculinity...These kinds of dialouges have been very "big" in several of the circles in which I communicate and for me, this song just seemed to jump into it that much more.
Bottom line...I do find the song disturbing on many levels, but that doesn't mean that I think it should be banned or taken away by any means. If anything else, it is another push for these kinds of conversations to happen in new and different ways. These conversations which are important for our personal faith development and for the faith development of the church.
My reaction to the song was "disturbing" on many levels...On first listen, I wasn't amused by the lyrics and maybe it's because I was expecting to be more amused than I thought it was upon first listen. There are funny moments and irony abounds-- as long as one takes it that way. However, I think that there are people who will listen to the song and be justified in what they believe to be correct. While there are some funny/ironic moments, there are also moments that I'm not sure are really all that funny even though they are intended to be...
In terms of looking at this song through the Wesleyan Quadrilateral (Scripture, Experience, Reason, Tradition), I've become a bit more objective and really wrestled with what it is that makes me most uncomfortable...The truth is that I'm still not sure. I think that part of it is that it just plays up the stereotypes of southern culture...Had this song been sung in a different genre, would I have bristled up as much? I'm not sure-- because certainly some of my favorite songs have been ones that call the church into accountablility and call out the stereotypes and hypocrises of the church--so, should this be so different? I'm not sure yet...
The other piece that I'm wrestling with somewhat is how this song plays into what has been called the "feminization of the church." There have been many pieces written about how the church isn't "masculine" enough anymore thanks to all "those women" who have helped to create that. So, the church needs to reclaim its masculinity...These kinds of dialouges have been very "big" in several of the circles in which I communicate and for me, this song just seemed to jump into it that much more.
Bottom line...I do find the song disturbing on many levels, but that doesn't mean that I think it should be banned or taken away by any means. If anything else, it is another push for these kinds of conversations to happen in new and different ways. These conversations which are important for our personal faith development and for the faith development of the church.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Idol Chatter: Top 10
Well, here we are...Now it's time to decide if this top 10 is good enough to be on tour! For the most part, they're all pretty deserving to be there, except really for 1 (I'm looking at you Kristy Lee Cook!)
Ramiele Malubay--I disagree with Randy, I thought that in theory this was a good song choice for her. I couldn't tell that she was sick while she was singing, it wasn't until the judges said anything that I could tell...It really wasn't a good performance and I'm wondering about her as well-- I think that she may be a good studio singer, but not so much a live performer--I haven't listened to any of her itunes songs, so my theory right now is unsubstantiated! I don't know that the pitch was "all over the place", but it really wasn't awful...I'd hesitate to say that performance will keep her in though--she's not completely safe!
Jason Castro--I really like Jason, I'm still not convinced that he'll win and to be completely honest, I hope that he doesn't. Idol doesn't really know what to do with those artists who don't fit a mold. Tonight, he really reminded me of a John Mayer-type performer. I thought it was a really solid performance. I agree that he's been playing it safe, but it is what he does well. I feel bad when people (including myself) compare them to their best performance, but he does need to pull off at least one more "Hallelujah" moment and then keep going...He's not really growing or improving at least not vocally...He is looking more comfortable performing though!
Syesha Mercado--I'm really sorry to have to say that she's improving...I really just don't like her for whatever reason, but she has been coming around as a performer. There's not a doubt that she can sing, but I'm really not sure where she'll fit in the mainstream market...Not to compare her with any previous contestants, but there have been others in her position (Vonzell Soloman, Latoya London) where they were down to the bottom and then pulled it out, but were never heard from again...I don't think I'll ever be a fan of hers, but based on performance, she deserves to stay.
Chikezie--I think that the soulful singer a la Brian McKnight is pase at this point...It doesn't fit in the mainstream market that well...Well, at least the way Chikezie does it...When he sinds ballads, his inner, cheezy, lounge singer comes out! The voice was nice and smooth, but it really brought back the cheese! Randy was right-- it was old school and boring...Again, it's not a performance that should send him home.
Brooke White--The little stutter start wasn't a good move, but it also showed her professionalism and understanding that it wasn't right and she wasn't going to push through just to make it through and by playing her own instrument she had that luxury! She's becoming a very strong contender in this competition. I'm still not a big fan of her playing the piano and not interacting much with the audience, but she plays and sings so well...I'd like to see her pull an Alicia Keys type move and start playing the piano, then walk away or stand playing...Do something a little bit more up tempo...But at the same time, she's not that kind of a performer! I think that she really has a shot in the mainstream market--that's the kind of sound that's picking up steam...If they do a current songs week, she would do really well with Sara Bareillies "Love Song"
Michael Johns--Okay, I'm still not a fan...But...This was a really great perforamnce. It's not surprising that the last time he did really great was when he did "Bohemian Rhapsody"...There's still somethign about him that I don't like, but this was the night that I felt like he really liked what he was singing and did it very, very well. If he could continue to sing like that, I might become a fan (might...). We'll have to see what happens next week! I really don't think that he'll be going home, if he does it'll be the shock elimination! Hopefully his fans don't get comfortable and get on the horn and vote!
Carly Smithson--I'm still growing to like Carly Smithson...Also, in theory this was a good song for her, but I think that she oversang it by a mile. I have a hard time saying that it was a good performance because she oversang so much, but I also don't think that it was terrible...I don't think that it was a song that would pull her out of the bottom 3.
David Archuleta--He's got such a baby face...Ryan shouldn't pick on him like that! I'm not sure how I feel about the song choice--being a song that I had never heard of...But, he sang it very well and it fit very well into his range...He could use some help in performing though...He's got to open his eyes a bit more and command the stage bit more...I'm not sure that it's a theme park performance, but he needs to work up his confidence a little bit more. What I think with David is that he peaked a little too early...I think that he's still got the really strong fanbase of tweeners, but I think that there are others who are sneaking up on him.
Kristy Lee Cook--Okay...pulling out a patriotic song to garner votes? Seriously--there were no other songs from the year? Here's the bad thing...She sang it well. Her performance could use a little bit of work but she sang it well...Truthfully, it reminded me of a theme park performance or something that you hear at a county fair...Unfortunately, I think that it has the potential to keep her in the competition, but we'll see if she has any fans!
David Cook--What an interesting arrangement of the song! I couldn't figure out what it was until the chorus to be honest with you! I'd be interested to see once again if he came up with this or heard it someplace else-- either way is fine, but I'd just be curious. I love how he takes songs and makes them his own. I haven't been a huge David Cook fan, but I can see him sneaking up and taking the competition easily...Truthfully, he doesn't need to be there because he is a really good performer already, but he really needs the publicity and Idol needs to get him fans. He could be the shock elimination around the 4-5 marker though (a la Chris Daughtry!)
Bottom 3 is kind of tough because no one had a mess of a performance, but there were several that just weren't Idol level...And as well as they can sing, there are some who really need to learn how to perform--even if they've performed for awhile...There are some who really don't deserve to be there, but this wasn't the night for them to get sent home...I would be really surprised if Kristy Lee Cook went home after singing "God Bless the USA", but I don't think that she deserves to be there...
Bottom 3--Ramiele, Chekizie, Carly (although I won't be sad or surprised if Kristy Lee is there!)
Going home--Ramiele
Ramiele Malubay--I disagree with Randy, I thought that in theory this was a good song choice for her. I couldn't tell that she was sick while she was singing, it wasn't until the judges said anything that I could tell...It really wasn't a good performance and I'm wondering about her as well-- I think that she may be a good studio singer, but not so much a live performer--I haven't listened to any of her itunes songs, so my theory right now is unsubstantiated! I don't know that the pitch was "all over the place", but it really wasn't awful...I'd hesitate to say that performance will keep her in though--she's not completely safe!
Jason Castro--I really like Jason, I'm still not convinced that he'll win and to be completely honest, I hope that he doesn't. Idol doesn't really know what to do with those artists who don't fit a mold. Tonight, he really reminded me of a John Mayer-type performer. I thought it was a really solid performance. I agree that he's been playing it safe, but it is what he does well. I feel bad when people (including myself) compare them to their best performance, but he does need to pull off at least one more "Hallelujah" moment and then keep going...He's not really growing or improving at least not vocally...He is looking more comfortable performing though!
Syesha Mercado--I'm really sorry to have to say that she's improving...I really just don't like her for whatever reason, but she has been coming around as a performer. There's not a doubt that she can sing, but I'm really not sure where she'll fit in the mainstream market...Not to compare her with any previous contestants, but there have been others in her position (Vonzell Soloman, Latoya London) where they were down to the bottom and then pulled it out, but were never heard from again...I don't think I'll ever be a fan of hers, but based on performance, she deserves to stay.
Chikezie--I think that the soulful singer a la Brian McKnight is pase at this point...It doesn't fit in the mainstream market that well...Well, at least the way Chikezie does it...When he sinds ballads, his inner, cheezy, lounge singer comes out! The voice was nice and smooth, but it really brought back the cheese! Randy was right-- it was old school and boring...Again, it's not a performance that should send him home.
Brooke White--The little stutter start wasn't a good move, but it also showed her professionalism and understanding that it wasn't right and she wasn't going to push through just to make it through and by playing her own instrument she had that luxury! She's becoming a very strong contender in this competition. I'm still not a big fan of her playing the piano and not interacting much with the audience, but she plays and sings so well...I'd like to see her pull an Alicia Keys type move and start playing the piano, then walk away or stand playing...Do something a little bit more up tempo...But at the same time, she's not that kind of a performer! I think that she really has a shot in the mainstream market--that's the kind of sound that's picking up steam...If they do a current songs week, she would do really well with Sara Bareillies "Love Song"
Michael Johns--Okay, I'm still not a fan...But...This was a really great perforamnce. It's not surprising that the last time he did really great was when he did "Bohemian Rhapsody"...There's still somethign about him that I don't like, but this was the night that I felt like he really liked what he was singing and did it very, very well. If he could continue to sing like that, I might become a fan (might...). We'll have to see what happens next week! I really don't think that he'll be going home, if he does it'll be the shock elimination! Hopefully his fans don't get comfortable and get on the horn and vote!
Carly Smithson--I'm still growing to like Carly Smithson...Also, in theory this was a good song for her, but I think that she oversang it by a mile. I have a hard time saying that it was a good performance because she oversang so much, but I also don't think that it was terrible...I don't think that it was a song that would pull her out of the bottom 3.
David Archuleta--He's got such a baby face...Ryan shouldn't pick on him like that! I'm not sure how I feel about the song choice--being a song that I had never heard of...But, he sang it very well and it fit very well into his range...He could use some help in performing though...He's got to open his eyes a bit more and command the stage bit more...I'm not sure that it's a theme park performance, but he needs to work up his confidence a little bit more. What I think with David is that he peaked a little too early...I think that he's still got the really strong fanbase of tweeners, but I think that there are others who are sneaking up on him.
Kristy Lee Cook--Okay...pulling out a patriotic song to garner votes? Seriously--there were no other songs from the year? Here's the bad thing...She sang it well. Her performance could use a little bit of work but she sang it well...Truthfully, it reminded me of a theme park performance or something that you hear at a county fair...Unfortunately, I think that it has the potential to keep her in the competition, but we'll see if she has any fans!
David Cook--What an interesting arrangement of the song! I couldn't figure out what it was until the chorus to be honest with you! I'd be interested to see once again if he came up with this or heard it someplace else-- either way is fine, but I'd just be curious. I love how he takes songs and makes them his own. I haven't been a huge David Cook fan, but I can see him sneaking up and taking the competition easily...Truthfully, he doesn't need to be there because he is a really good performer already, but he really needs the publicity and Idol needs to get him fans. He could be the shock elimination around the 4-5 marker though (a la Chris Daughtry!)
Bottom 3 is kind of tough because no one had a mess of a performance, but there were several that just weren't Idol level...And as well as they can sing, there are some who really need to learn how to perform--even if they've performed for awhile...There are some who really don't deserve to be there, but this wasn't the night for them to get sent home...I would be really surprised if Kristy Lee Cook went home after singing "God Bless the USA", but I don't think that she deserves to be there...
Bottom 3--Ramiele, Chekizie, Carly (although I won't be sad or surprised if Kristy Lee is there!)
Going home--Ramiele
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
She Left Me for Jesus
So, I always download the free songs from itunes and today when I saw the title of one of the songs, I was ready for a good laugh...Last year my friend Brian introduced me to a country song with lyrics "Jesus may love you, but I don’t." Anyway...One of this week’s free downloads is a song by Hayes Carll "She Left Me for Jesus." I was expecting a good laugh...What I got was something really disturbing! You can download the song for free on itunes .....Then, let’s discus...............
Un-expectation of Hope
Un-expectations of Hope
Over the past 6 weeks, we’ve been in the season of Lent in the church…The season when we are preparing for Easter…Lent is a time of prayer, meditation, and self-reflection…It’s a season where we are in preparation for the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus…In that season of preparation, we look at ways that we can remove the things in our life that keep us from fully celebrating the resurrection of Jesus…Those things that are a stumbling block in our relationship with God—those places in our lives that have become too full, too busy, too overwhelmed with ourselves to spend quality time with God…Lent is an opportunity to examine those places and put the focus back on God.
During our season of Lent, our sermon series and Lenten study have been using the book by Rev. Paul Nixon, I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church. Through the series, Rev. Nixon has set forth 6 critical choices that need to be made…These 6 choices have been…Choosing life over death, choosing community over isolation, choosing fun over drudgery, choosing bold over mild, choosing frontier over fortress, choosing now over later…each of these choices are difficult on some level, but are important for each individual and each church to make…These choices have been ways for us as individuals, and as members of God’s church to examine those places where we have been too full, too busy, too overwhelmed with ourselves to focus on what it is that God is calling to us…
With all of this talk of self examination and reflection, it could be easy to think of Lent as something awful…But taking these times to examine is important…It’s when we can remember who we are and whose we are…Throughout these times of self-examination there are bound to be things that come up that no one could have ever thought of…Feelings, emotions, events that arise that no one could anticipate…
Over a year and a half ago, I told you about a word that I made up… Un-expectations…Those times when you have an idea of what is going to happen and it turns out opposite or something that you didn’t even think of, happens…It’s a moment of unexpected surprise or un-expectation…And these moments can turn out great or they can be a little nerve-wracking…They catch you off guard…
Jesus’ whole life was about un-expectations…Jesus constantly did thigns that were unexpected…He spoke out against injustices…He challenged the social norms of the day…He encouraged people in their faith…He taught that we should love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and love our neighbors as we love ourselves…He healed…He performed miracles…While Jesus’ messages were filled with hope and love, they were anything but expected…It was those messages that got Jesus attention from all people…There were people who were filled with hope because of his messages and there were people who were threatened by his messages. The un-expectations can be seen and heard throughout Jesus’ life, and especially during the last week of Jesus’ life, when we celebrate Holy Week with Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Mornign…
Our Holy Week journey started on Sunday with Palm Sunday—Jesus entered Jerusalem for the Passover festival to a celebration with people waving palm branches and shouting “Hosanna!” Things would change dramatically for Jesus…As we remember Jesus’ last supper with his disciples on Maundy Thursday, Jesus is aware of what is going to happen as he washes his disciples’ feet to the un-expectation of the disciples and breaks bread and shares the cup with them…As Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane and is betrayed by Judas and arrested…As we remember on Good Friday Jesus’ trial, beatings, and crucifixion…A life full of un-expectations…One of the things that we learn quickly about Jesus is that with him, you have to learn to expect the unexpected! And although we can say that, we say that knowing the whole story…
The disciples and followers of Jesus didn’t have the luxury of knowing the whole story…Although Jesus had told them over and over what was going to happen—that he would die and rise again…He had shared with them that he was going to be betrayed and killed, but that he would come back again…It wasn’t something that Jesus mentioned in passing once or twice, he told the disciples many times what was going to happen…But they didn’t want to believe that was possible—how could this person that they had grown to love, respect, and follow—someone that they thought to be the Messiah really die?? Although it should have been expected, the disciples truly didn’t expect Jesus’ death to be real…Jesus’ death for them was an un-expectation…
Can you put yourself in the disciples’ shoes? Because we’re often so hard on the disciples because they should have “gotten it”…They should have understood what Jesus was talking about because they had spent so much time with him teaching them and talking with them…But think about yourself for a minute…In Jesus’ last moments—where would you have been? Would you have been standing by his side or would you have fled to avoid arrest like the disciples? Would you have remembered Jesus’ teachings or would you have gotten lost in your own emotions and fears? And not just in those last moments with Jesus…Do you remember Jesus’ teachings today or do you get lost in your own emotions and fears? The disciples aren’t the only ones who have a hard time with what Jesus was telling them to do…We still have that difficulty today…Do we live our life in un-expectation or do we try and make sure everything is all together?
The disciples scattered when Jesus was arrested…Some watched from a distance, some fled entirely…At some point they all must have gathered together to share in what had just happened…We know that they were together the morning after the Sabbath…As they gathered together, did they recount all the moments in their time with Jesus that they had experienced those moments of un-expectation…Where they had watched Jesus teach, preach, and share…How they had each experienced those thigns with Jesus…The last days and hours of Jesus’ life…Did they recount those times with tears, laughter, or another emotion?
Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb at dawn to anoint Jesus’ body with spices and oils. She wouldn’t have been able to do it earlier because Jesus died on a Friday just before sundown. The Jewish Sabbath begins on Friday at sundown and is over on Saturday just after sundown. The Sabbath is a day of rest—there were and still are specific rules about what can and cannot be done on the Sabbath. There were rules about how many steps you could take and still be considered observing the Sabbath. Observing the Sabbath was part of their religious observances and part of their law. Mary and the rest of Jesus’ followers being Jews themselves, would have observed the Sabbath strictly…
After the Sabbath, Mary goes to the tomb at dawn to anoint Jesus’ body for burial…She knew what she should expect—she saw where Jesus’ body had been laid and had seen the stone rolled in front of the tomb…She expects to see that stone, the guard, and the body of her Lord laying in the tomb…And as she approaches the place where she has seen her Lord’s body being laid, there have to be a number of emotions going, but all knowing what she is going to encounter at the tomb…
As she approaches the entry of the tombs, she receives a surprise as the stone is rolled away from the tomb. She ran to get the other disciples, thinking that someone has taken his body…As the disciples investigate and find that yes, Jesus’ body truly is gone, they have forgotten what Jesus said would happen and they simply return home. Mary stays outside of the tomb, weeping…Not only does she believe that her Lord is dead, but she thinks his body has been taken…
Mary sees two angels sitting in the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid…She speaks with them and wants to find Jesus’ body…As she turns around she runs into who she assumes to be the gardener…She asks him also where the body of Jesus is, not recognizing that he is in fact Jesus…As a matter of fact, she doesn’t recognize that he is her Lord until he speaks her name… “Mary”…
Jesus broke the silence…The silence that he had kept when he breathed his last to when he said Mary’s name…That silence can be deafening…That silence can overwhelm us at times…But that’s not all that there is…It’s not all just silence…Where are the moments in our life that Jesus calls our name? Those un-expected moments when we think we know what’s happening and Jesus calls our name? Where have you encountered Jesus? Where have you seen the resurrected Christ?
Two years ago, I was in seminary, getting ready to graduate and waiting for a phone call about where I would be appointed in the United Methodist Church…I took on more than I should have my last year at United Theological Seminary…I was working 3 jobs, organizing student activities for the campus, serving as an associate pastor, taking double the full time credits, serving the church on a national level, preparing to graduate and on top of that, I had volunteered to lead a Bible study on a college campus in Cincinnati…I know, I was crazy! About a month before the semester was going to end, I was getting very crabby…I had long past my breaking point and was working on about the third one! Thursdays were particularly difficult because I had a class that started at 8 am, which meant that I needed to leave my house by at least 7…Then, I was either working, studying, or in class from 8 am until 7 pm. After that, I would grab something quick for dinner and head down to the college to lead the Bible study. One Thursday I was just not in the mood to go, but it was too late to call anyone to cancel and it would have been irresponsible to just not show up…So, I grabbed something quick to eat and turned up my angry music in the car and drove the hour and a half down to Cincinnati—all the while whining and complaining and screaming my angry music! When I got to the college, I tried to put on a happy face, but it wasn’t my best attempt and quite frankly, I wanted everyone to know that I wasn’t happy…So, I sit down in the room where we have Bible study—cranky and crabby and in no position to lead a prayerful discussion on anything, let alone Scripture! When Erin walks in…Now, Erin and I were at odds a lot of the time—sometimes it was on theology, sometimes it was about nothing at all…Erin sometimes had a hard time communicating herself and often came out sounding judgemental, harsh, rude, or just awkward…In my crabby state, she was really the last person that I wanted to see come! I tried to make small talk and pretend like everything was okay, but I’m sure she could see right through everything…We made small talk for about 30 awkward minutes and we both came to the realization that it would just be she and I tonight…In my head, I’m screaming and so angry that I just drove an hour and a half and here I have to sit with a person that I really just don’t want to be in the room with…I tried to take a couple deep breaths and figure out what to do with our time when I continued to make small talk with Erin…Kind of half paying attention, I asked her how classes were going…. “Oh, okay…” she said… “Well, not really okay…I don’t think I’m going to pass this class and I have spent hours studying and preparing for it…I’m so tired of studying, but I can’t break away because I really need to pass…” With that, Erin started to cry…She looked at me with tears streaming down her face trying to hold back sobs… “Even if I wanted to break away from studying, I don’t really have any friends…No one wants to spend any time with me…All I want to do is get together with a group of friends and fly a kite or play a game…But, I can’t…” As Erin cried and apologized for her outburst, my heart broke…I met Jesus in an unexpected place…In my own emotions and stresses, I almost missed this opportunity to interact with the risen Christ…I heard Jesus say my name…I handed Erin a box of Kleenex and asked her, “How can I best minister to you today?” She wiped her eyes and sniffled, then a smile crossed her lips… “Do you want to play Scrabble?” Erin and I didn’t open the Bible that night, but it was one of the most spiritual experiences that I have had…I met the risen Christ in one of the most unexpected places…The most unexpected place to see Jesus was where I saw Jesus …In the un-expectation, I heard Jesus call my name…I saw the resurrected Christ…
In between Jesus’ death and resurrection, much had changed…Not just that Jesus had been resurrected…But the whole universe had been changed…The whole universe has changed and will never be the same…Through Jesus’ resurrection, the universe was turned upside-down… Resurrection is new life; the reality of a new creation. We can see glimpses of the power resurrection in creation as the plants that seemed to die in the winter show new life in the spring. The power of the resurrection makes us into a new creation as we die to ourselves and rise in Christ. Jesus’ death isn’t about the devesation…It’s about the hope…
Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are no longer able to be defeated by death. Within the resurrection of Jesus, we have hope in eternal life. In John 3:16 it is written “God so loved the whole world that God sent Jesus Christ, God’s only son, so that whoever believes in Jesus will not perish, but have everlasting life.” That’s the hope that we have in Jesus Christ! Through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, we have the promise of eternal life. It begins when we live into our resurrection. Eternal life is a present and future reality as it is God’s future and not solely our own. It’s an un-expectation of hope!
Where Jesus’ life had been a series of reversals…On Easter morning the ultimate reversal happened. Jesus defeated death and rose again. What was once dead, was now and forevermore alive.
What was un-expected became the reality…The silence was shattered with shouts of joy, with cries of amazement…With shouts that Christ has risen! Christ has risen in deed!
Over the past 6 weeks, we’ve been in the season of Lent in the church…The season when we are preparing for Easter…Lent is a time of prayer, meditation, and self-reflection…It’s a season where we are in preparation for the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus…In that season of preparation, we look at ways that we can remove the things in our life that keep us from fully celebrating the resurrection of Jesus…Those things that are a stumbling block in our relationship with God—those places in our lives that have become too full, too busy, too overwhelmed with ourselves to spend quality time with God…Lent is an opportunity to examine those places and put the focus back on God.
During our season of Lent, our sermon series and Lenten study have been using the book by Rev. Paul Nixon, I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church. Through the series, Rev. Nixon has set forth 6 critical choices that need to be made…These 6 choices have been…Choosing life over death, choosing community over isolation, choosing fun over drudgery, choosing bold over mild, choosing frontier over fortress, choosing now over later…each of these choices are difficult on some level, but are important for each individual and each church to make…These choices have been ways for us as individuals, and as members of God’s church to examine those places where we have been too full, too busy, too overwhelmed with ourselves to focus on what it is that God is calling to us…
With all of this talk of self examination and reflection, it could be easy to think of Lent as something awful…But taking these times to examine is important…It’s when we can remember who we are and whose we are…Throughout these times of self-examination there are bound to be things that come up that no one could have ever thought of…Feelings, emotions, events that arise that no one could anticipate…
Over a year and a half ago, I told you about a word that I made up… Un-expectations…Those times when you have an idea of what is going to happen and it turns out opposite or something that you didn’t even think of, happens…It’s a moment of unexpected surprise or un-expectation…And these moments can turn out great or they can be a little nerve-wracking…They catch you off guard…
Jesus’ whole life was about un-expectations…Jesus constantly did thigns that were unexpected…He spoke out against injustices…He challenged the social norms of the day…He encouraged people in their faith…He taught that we should love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and love our neighbors as we love ourselves…He healed…He performed miracles…While Jesus’ messages were filled with hope and love, they were anything but expected…It was those messages that got Jesus attention from all people…There were people who were filled with hope because of his messages and there were people who were threatened by his messages. The un-expectations can be seen and heard throughout Jesus’ life, and especially during the last week of Jesus’ life, when we celebrate Holy Week with Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Mornign…
Our Holy Week journey started on Sunday with Palm Sunday—Jesus entered Jerusalem for the Passover festival to a celebration with people waving palm branches and shouting “Hosanna!” Things would change dramatically for Jesus…As we remember Jesus’ last supper with his disciples on Maundy Thursday, Jesus is aware of what is going to happen as he washes his disciples’ feet to the un-expectation of the disciples and breaks bread and shares the cup with them…As Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane and is betrayed by Judas and arrested…As we remember on Good Friday Jesus’ trial, beatings, and crucifixion…A life full of un-expectations…One of the things that we learn quickly about Jesus is that with him, you have to learn to expect the unexpected! And although we can say that, we say that knowing the whole story…
The disciples and followers of Jesus didn’t have the luxury of knowing the whole story…Although Jesus had told them over and over what was going to happen—that he would die and rise again…He had shared with them that he was going to be betrayed and killed, but that he would come back again…It wasn’t something that Jesus mentioned in passing once or twice, he told the disciples many times what was going to happen…But they didn’t want to believe that was possible—how could this person that they had grown to love, respect, and follow—someone that they thought to be the Messiah really die?? Although it should have been expected, the disciples truly didn’t expect Jesus’ death to be real…Jesus’ death for them was an un-expectation…
Can you put yourself in the disciples’ shoes? Because we’re often so hard on the disciples because they should have “gotten it”…They should have understood what Jesus was talking about because they had spent so much time with him teaching them and talking with them…But think about yourself for a minute…In Jesus’ last moments—where would you have been? Would you have been standing by his side or would you have fled to avoid arrest like the disciples? Would you have remembered Jesus’ teachings or would you have gotten lost in your own emotions and fears? And not just in those last moments with Jesus…Do you remember Jesus’ teachings today or do you get lost in your own emotions and fears? The disciples aren’t the only ones who have a hard time with what Jesus was telling them to do…We still have that difficulty today…Do we live our life in un-expectation or do we try and make sure everything is all together?
The disciples scattered when Jesus was arrested…Some watched from a distance, some fled entirely…At some point they all must have gathered together to share in what had just happened…We know that they were together the morning after the Sabbath…As they gathered together, did they recount all the moments in their time with Jesus that they had experienced those moments of un-expectation…Where they had watched Jesus teach, preach, and share…How they had each experienced those thigns with Jesus…The last days and hours of Jesus’ life…Did they recount those times with tears, laughter, or another emotion?
Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb at dawn to anoint Jesus’ body with spices and oils. She wouldn’t have been able to do it earlier because Jesus died on a Friday just before sundown. The Jewish Sabbath begins on Friday at sundown and is over on Saturday just after sundown. The Sabbath is a day of rest—there were and still are specific rules about what can and cannot be done on the Sabbath. There were rules about how many steps you could take and still be considered observing the Sabbath. Observing the Sabbath was part of their religious observances and part of their law. Mary and the rest of Jesus’ followers being Jews themselves, would have observed the Sabbath strictly…
After the Sabbath, Mary goes to the tomb at dawn to anoint Jesus’ body for burial…She knew what she should expect—she saw where Jesus’ body had been laid and had seen the stone rolled in front of the tomb…She expects to see that stone, the guard, and the body of her Lord laying in the tomb…And as she approaches the place where she has seen her Lord’s body being laid, there have to be a number of emotions going, but all knowing what she is going to encounter at the tomb…
As she approaches the entry of the tombs, she receives a surprise as the stone is rolled away from the tomb. She ran to get the other disciples, thinking that someone has taken his body…As the disciples investigate and find that yes, Jesus’ body truly is gone, they have forgotten what Jesus said would happen and they simply return home. Mary stays outside of the tomb, weeping…Not only does she believe that her Lord is dead, but she thinks his body has been taken…
Mary sees two angels sitting in the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid…She speaks with them and wants to find Jesus’ body…As she turns around she runs into who she assumes to be the gardener…She asks him also where the body of Jesus is, not recognizing that he is in fact Jesus…As a matter of fact, she doesn’t recognize that he is her Lord until he speaks her name… “Mary”…
Jesus broke the silence…The silence that he had kept when he breathed his last to when he said Mary’s name…That silence can be deafening…That silence can overwhelm us at times…But that’s not all that there is…It’s not all just silence…Where are the moments in our life that Jesus calls our name? Those un-expected moments when we think we know what’s happening and Jesus calls our name? Where have you encountered Jesus? Where have you seen the resurrected Christ?
Two years ago, I was in seminary, getting ready to graduate and waiting for a phone call about where I would be appointed in the United Methodist Church…I took on more than I should have my last year at United Theological Seminary…I was working 3 jobs, organizing student activities for the campus, serving as an associate pastor, taking double the full time credits, serving the church on a national level, preparing to graduate and on top of that, I had volunteered to lead a Bible study on a college campus in Cincinnati…I know, I was crazy! About a month before the semester was going to end, I was getting very crabby…I had long past my breaking point and was working on about the third one! Thursdays were particularly difficult because I had a class that started at 8 am, which meant that I needed to leave my house by at least 7…Then, I was either working, studying, or in class from 8 am until 7 pm. After that, I would grab something quick for dinner and head down to the college to lead the Bible study. One Thursday I was just not in the mood to go, but it was too late to call anyone to cancel and it would have been irresponsible to just not show up…So, I grabbed something quick to eat and turned up my angry music in the car and drove the hour and a half down to Cincinnati—all the while whining and complaining and screaming my angry music! When I got to the college, I tried to put on a happy face, but it wasn’t my best attempt and quite frankly, I wanted everyone to know that I wasn’t happy…So, I sit down in the room where we have Bible study—cranky and crabby and in no position to lead a prayerful discussion on anything, let alone Scripture! When Erin walks in…Now, Erin and I were at odds a lot of the time—sometimes it was on theology, sometimes it was about nothing at all…Erin sometimes had a hard time communicating herself and often came out sounding judgemental, harsh, rude, or just awkward…In my crabby state, she was really the last person that I wanted to see come! I tried to make small talk and pretend like everything was okay, but I’m sure she could see right through everything…We made small talk for about 30 awkward minutes and we both came to the realization that it would just be she and I tonight…In my head, I’m screaming and so angry that I just drove an hour and a half and here I have to sit with a person that I really just don’t want to be in the room with…I tried to take a couple deep breaths and figure out what to do with our time when I continued to make small talk with Erin…Kind of half paying attention, I asked her how classes were going…. “Oh, okay…” she said… “Well, not really okay…I don’t think I’m going to pass this class and I have spent hours studying and preparing for it…I’m so tired of studying, but I can’t break away because I really need to pass…” With that, Erin started to cry…She looked at me with tears streaming down her face trying to hold back sobs… “Even if I wanted to break away from studying, I don’t really have any friends…No one wants to spend any time with me…All I want to do is get together with a group of friends and fly a kite or play a game…But, I can’t…” As Erin cried and apologized for her outburst, my heart broke…I met Jesus in an unexpected place…In my own emotions and stresses, I almost missed this opportunity to interact with the risen Christ…I heard Jesus say my name…I handed Erin a box of Kleenex and asked her, “How can I best minister to you today?” She wiped her eyes and sniffled, then a smile crossed her lips… “Do you want to play Scrabble?” Erin and I didn’t open the Bible that night, but it was one of the most spiritual experiences that I have had…I met the risen Christ in one of the most unexpected places…The most unexpected place to see Jesus was where I saw Jesus …In the un-expectation, I heard Jesus call my name…I saw the resurrected Christ…
In between Jesus’ death and resurrection, much had changed…Not just that Jesus had been resurrected…But the whole universe had been changed…The whole universe has changed and will never be the same…Through Jesus’ resurrection, the universe was turned upside-down… Resurrection is new life; the reality of a new creation. We can see glimpses of the power resurrection in creation as the plants that seemed to die in the winter show new life in the spring. The power of the resurrection makes us into a new creation as we die to ourselves and rise in Christ. Jesus’ death isn’t about the devesation…It’s about the hope…
Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are no longer able to be defeated by death. Within the resurrection of Jesus, we have hope in eternal life. In John 3:16 it is written “God so loved the whole world that God sent Jesus Christ, God’s only son, so that whoever believes in Jesus will not perish, but have everlasting life.” That’s the hope that we have in Jesus Christ! Through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, we have the promise of eternal life. It begins when we live into our resurrection. Eternal life is a present and future reality as it is God’s future and not solely our own. It’s an un-expectation of hope!
Where Jesus’ life had been a series of reversals…On Easter morning the ultimate reversal happened. Jesus defeated death and rose again. What was once dead, was now and forevermore alive.
What was un-expected became the reality…The silence was shattered with shouts of joy, with cries of amazement…With shouts that Christ has risen! Christ has risen in deed!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
In the Quiet--(Sunrise service)
In the Quiet
There’s something so serene about the early morning hours…After a night of slumber and it feels like the whole world is just waking up…Before the activities of the day start and everything starts to run and go…Before all the noise, there’s the stillness of the morning…Once the sun rises and light floods through, that stillness fades away…We begin this Easter morning in the stillness…In the quiet…
Jesus’ life was anything but quiet…He spoke out against injustices…He encouraged people in their faith…He taught that we should love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and love our neighbors as we love ourselves…He healed…He performed miracles…While Jesus’ messages were filled with hope and love, they were anything but quiet…It was those messages that got Jesus attention from all people…There were people who were filled with hope because of his messages and there were people who were threatened by his messages.
Our Holy Week journey started on Sunday with Palm Sunday—Jesus entered Jerusalem for the Passover festival to a celebration with people waving palm branches and shouting “Hosanna!” Things would change dramatically for Jesus…As we remember Jesus’ last supper with his disciples on Maundy Thursday, Jesus is aware of what is going to happen as he washes his disciples’ feet and breaks bread and shares the cup with them…As Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane and is arrested…As we remember on Good Friday Jesus’ trial, beatings, and crucifixion…Then, there was silence…
Although there was silence, there were certainly many emotions felt by Jesus’ disciples and followers…Most of them had abandoned Jesus in his last hours—literally running away and hiding…As they recounted what had happened, did they feel shame for abandoning this man who had done so much for them? Or if they did stay, did they recount what they had seen with anguish and tears? Were there moments of laughter as they recounted Jesus’ life with them? Where there echoes of tears and sobs as they tried to make sense of what happened? And then there was the silence…
This silence had be deafening…Lost in their own thoughts and emotions…We don’t have an account of what they were thinking and feeling, we don’t have an account of those days and hours in between Jesus’ death on the cross…To the morning when the women went to the tomb in the silence…
Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb at dawn to anoint Jesus’ body with spices and oils. She wouldn’t have been able to do it earlier because Jesus died on a Friday just before sundown. The Jewish Sabbath begins on Friday at sundown and is over on Saturday just after sundown. The Sabbath is a day of rest—there were and still are specific rules about what can and cannot be done on the Sabbath. There were rules about how many steps you could take and still be considered observing the Sabbath. Observing the Sabbath was part of their religious observances and part of their law. Mary and the rest of Jesus’ followers being Jews themselves, would have observed the Sabbath strictly…
After the Sabbath, Mary goes to the tomb at dawn to anoint Jesus’ body for burial…In the stillness of the morning…In the silences…And as she approaches the place where she has seen her Lord’s body being laid, there have to be a number of emotions going…She was approaching the tomb that she knew was being guarded and watched by Roman soldiers…And she’s going to this place in the silence…
As she approaches the entry of the tombs, she receives a surprise as the stone is rolled away from the tomb. She ran to get the other disciples, thinking that someone has taken his body…As the disciples investigate and find that yes, Jesus’ body truly is gone, they have forgotten what Jesus said would happen and they simply return home. Mary stays outside of the tomb, weeping…Not only does she believe that her Lord is dead, but she thinks his body has been taken…
Mary sees two angels sitting in the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid…She speaks with them and wants to find Jesus’ body…As she turns around she runs into who she assumes to be the gardener…She asks him also where the body of Jesus is, not recognizing that he is in fact Jesus…As a matter of fact, she doesn’t recognize that he is her Lord until he speaks her name… “Mary”…
Jesus broke the silence…The silence that he had kept when he breathed his last to when he said Mary’s name…In that silence, much had changed…Not just that Jesus had been resurrected…But the whole universe had been changed…The whole universe has changed and will never be the same…Through Jesus’ resurrection, the universe was turned upside-down…
Where Jesus’ life had been a series of reversals…On Easter morning the ultimate reversal happened. Jesus defeated death and rose again. What was once dead, was now and forevermore alive.
What happened in the silence is silent no longer…The silence was shattered with shouts of joy, with cries of amazement…With shouts that Christ has risen! Christ has risen in deed!
There’s something so serene about the early morning hours…After a night of slumber and it feels like the whole world is just waking up…Before the activities of the day start and everything starts to run and go…Before all the noise, there’s the stillness of the morning…Once the sun rises and light floods through, that stillness fades away…We begin this Easter morning in the stillness…In the quiet…
Jesus’ life was anything but quiet…He spoke out against injustices…He encouraged people in their faith…He taught that we should love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and love our neighbors as we love ourselves…He healed…He performed miracles…While Jesus’ messages were filled with hope and love, they were anything but quiet…It was those messages that got Jesus attention from all people…There were people who were filled with hope because of his messages and there were people who were threatened by his messages.
Our Holy Week journey started on Sunday with Palm Sunday—Jesus entered Jerusalem for the Passover festival to a celebration with people waving palm branches and shouting “Hosanna!” Things would change dramatically for Jesus…As we remember Jesus’ last supper with his disciples on Maundy Thursday, Jesus is aware of what is going to happen as he washes his disciples’ feet and breaks bread and shares the cup with them…As Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane and is arrested…As we remember on Good Friday Jesus’ trial, beatings, and crucifixion…Then, there was silence…
Although there was silence, there were certainly many emotions felt by Jesus’ disciples and followers…Most of them had abandoned Jesus in his last hours—literally running away and hiding…As they recounted what had happened, did they feel shame for abandoning this man who had done so much for them? Or if they did stay, did they recount what they had seen with anguish and tears? Were there moments of laughter as they recounted Jesus’ life with them? Where there echoes of tears and sobs as they tried to make sense of what happened? And then there was the silence…
This silence had be deafening…Lost in their own thoughts and emotions…We don’t have an account of what they were thinking and feeling, we don’t have an account of those days and hours in between Jesus’ death on the cross…To the morning when the women went to the tomb in the silence…
Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb at dawn to anoint Jesus’ body with spices and oils. She wouldn’t have been able to do it earlier because Jesus died on a Friday just before sundown. The Jewish Sabbath begins on Friday at sundown and is over on Saturday just after sundown. The Sabbath is a day of rest—there were and still are specific rules about what can and cannot be done on the Sabbath. There were rules about how many steps you could take and still be considered observing the Sabbath. Observing the Sabbath was part of their religious observances and part of their law. Mary and the rest of Jesus’ followers being Jews themselves, would have observed the Sabbath strictly…
After the Sabbath, Mary goes to the tomb at dawn to anoint Jesus’ body for burial…In the stillness of the morning…In the silences…And as she approaches the place where she has seen her Lord’s body being laid, there have to be a number of emotions going…She was approaching the tomb that she knew was being guarded and watched by Roman soldiers…And she’s going to this place in the silence…
As she approaches the entry of the tombs, she receives a surprise as the stone is rolled away from the tomb. She ran to get the other disciples, thinking that someone has taken his body…As the disciples investigate and find that yes, Jesus’ body truly is gone, they have forgotten what Jesus said would happen and they simply return home. Mary stays outside of the tomb, weeping…Not only does she believe that her Lord is dead, but she thinks his body has been taken…
Mary sees two angels sitting in the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid…She speaks with them and wants to find Jesus’ body…As she turns around she runs into who she assumes to be the gardener…She asks him also where the body of Jesus is, not recognizing that he is in fact Jesus…As a matter of fact, she doesn’t recognize that he is her Lord until he speaks her name… “Mary”…
Jesus broke the silence…The silence that he had kept when he breathed his last to when he said Mary’s name…In that silence, much had changed…Not just that Jesus had been resurrected…But the whole universe had been changed…The whole universe has changed and will never be the same…Through Jesus’ resurrection, the universe was turned upside-down…
Where Jesus’ life had been a series of reversals…On Easter morning the ultimate reversal happened. Jesus defeated death and rose again. What was once dead, was now and forevermore alive.
What happened in the silence is silent no longer…The silence was shattered with shouts of joy, with cries of amazement…With shouts that Christ has risen! Christ has risen in deed!
Friday, March 21, 2008
Good Friday
Good Friday is not the day that Jesus was shot...About 6-7 years ago my brother called to ask me if Good Friday was the day that Jesus got shot...I don't think that he was kidding when he asked, because he had a good question and rationale why...Because of the loud bang...But no, Good Friday is not the day that Jesus was shot...
Almighty God, graciously behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Almighty God, graciously behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Idol Chatter: Top 11
Well, after my cable/internet fiasco, I'm blogging my idol thoughts now...Top 11 with another Beatles night...I was a little disappointed that David Hernandez went home last week, but I've read that he's not going to be disappearing from the industry!
Amanda Overmeyer--I really don't like her anymore...I'm just not feeling her-- She sounds the same and she slurs all her words, so I can't really understand what she's saying and I know that's part of her act, but I want to be able to understand the lyrics...She's growing in her performance style and working on connecting with the audience a little bit more, and I think she has a fan base, but I really don't see her in the competition beyond the top 8
Kristy Lee Cook--She really should have gone home last week...She really does not have the talent to compete, but according to one article, she's sticking around because she's hot...This performance was just terribly...She really looks terrified to be on stage and has little to no stage presence. This song was so pitchy and off at times...or the whole time! It fit a little better with a country twang, but she seriously could not pull it off...
David Archuleta--So much better than last week! He can absolutely sing and I didn't notice the breathing quite as often this week (although it was definately still there)...I love to listen to him sing, but my only criticism is that he really does well only with ballads, which is great to know that's the kind of singer that he is, but I don't know how well that will really play in the mainstream market. At this point, I think that he really is the one to beat at this point, but it's still early to say for sure...
Michael Johns--He still just isn't connecting with the audience as far as I'm concerned...Plus, this was really a rough week for him...His vocals just weren't on point...It was all over the place...I'm not a fan of his to begin with, but this just certainly isn't helping to win me over at all.
Brooke White--I'm glad to see Brooke not play an instrument this week and she's right...Coming off last week, she couldn't completely follow it up. Vocally it was nice, but the actuall performance was so full of cheese that it was ridiculous...I know that she doesn't necessarily pick what's on the screen behind her, but that was so over the top...Especially because her dress was yellow too...And the spin and "woo!"...Yuck!
David Cook--I'm also not a huge David Cook fan and apparently there's scandal with his last arrangement...There's a band called "Doxology" who came up with the arrangement of
Eleanor Rigby and they're not all that excited about Idol's release of the single...Anyway...David Cook can sing and he's a decent enough performer, but I think that he doesn't really belong on Idol and I know that it's good to have a variety of performers, but American Idol just doesn't feel right for him, but I don't think he would have gotten the popularity without Idol...He's not going anywhere for awhile, but I really don't see him winning the competition. I actually really agreed with Simon's critique tonight about David
Carly Smithson--Carly's been slowly growing on me...I still haven't decided how she will do in the mainstream market though...I'm not sure that I like her facial expressions...She looks angry a lot and I think that it's mostly the shape of her eyebrows. This wasn't a fabulous performance-- she didn't follow up from last week, but it wasn't a mess either...She was very controlled and very precise which is fun to see.
Jason Castro--I like Jason Castro-- he's got a spirit about him and he's pretty clear on who he is an artist. I loved that he learned French and he spoke very well to my ears! (those who speak French might disagree!) I liked this performance...There were parts that were a little off, but overall it was fun and playful and it showed another side to him as an artist...When did he get so cute?!
Syesha Mercado--Also not a Syesha fan...I know that she can sing, but I really just don't like her...There's something almost pretentious about her and I think that's what it is...I know that the judges loved this, but I just really didn't...I felt that she took too many liberties with the melody that I just didn't like. She sang it very well and it was pretty clean, but I just didn't like the choices she made. The guitar was beautiful and I'm glad that's the musical option rather than keyboard or full band. I'm not sure if she has the fan base to keep her out of the bottom again, but I don't think that this performance should send her home. There were others who performed far worse.
Chikezie--I started to like him last week, and I thought that he had done enough to keep him in the competion, but he had to keep that up. Unfortunately, this week wasn't a good week for him. His vocals are good and again there is not a question that he can sing, but he doesn't know how to perform well and pick good songs and make good choices about style...I actually almost liked the beginning of the song better than the country pick up...It was pretty and I felt like that was a good styles for him...The harmonica was terrible! And while he also should sing uptempo songs, this wasn't a good choice. I worried about fanbase last week, but I think this is the week to worry about fanbase.
Ramiele Malubay--I'm still waiting for her big voice to come back and to be completely wowed by her. I know that it's in there and I'm not sure if she's gotten scared or is trying too hard to make people happy that she's lost who she is as an artist. This wasn't an awesome performance...There were brief moments when I thought she was going to pick herself up out of it, but overall it just never happened...And I don't think that it was a very up-tempo song...It was mid-tempo really...
Bottom 3--Kristy Lee Cook, Michael Johns, Amanda Overmeyer (although I could see Ramiele Malubay in there instead of Michael Johns)
Going home--Kristy Lee Cook
Amanda Overmeyer--I really don't like her anymore...I'm just not feeling her-- She sounds the same and she slurs all her words, so I can't really understand what she's saying and I know that's part of her act, but I want to be able to understand the lyrics...She's growing in her performance style and working on connecting with the audience a little bit more, and I think she has a fan base, but I really don't see her in the competition beyond the top 8
Kristy Lee Cook--She really should have gone home last week...She really does not have the talent to compete, but according to one article, she's sticking around because she's hot...This performance was just terribly...She really looks terrified to be on stage and has little to no stage presence. This song was so pitchy and off at times...or the whole time! It fit a little better with a country twang, but she seriously could not pull it off...
David Archuleta--So much better than last week! He can absolutely sing and I didn't notice the breathing quite as often this week (although it was definately still there)...I love to listen to him sing, but my only criticism is that he really does well only with ballads, which is great to know that's the kind of singer that he is, but I don't know how well that will really play in the mainstream market. At this point, I think that he really is the one to beat at this point, but it's still early to say for sure...
Michael Johns--He still just isn't connecting with the audience as far as I'm concerned...Plus, this was really a rough week for him...His vocals just weren't on point...It was all over the place...I'm not a fan of his to begin with, but this just certainly isn't helping to win me over at all.
Brooke White--I'm glad to see Brooke not play an instrument this week and she's right...Coming off last week, she couldn't completely follow it up. Vocally it was nice, but the actuall performance was so full of cheese that it was ridiculous...I know that she doesn't necessarily pick what's on the screen behind her, but that was so over the top...Especially because her dress was yellow too...And the spin and "woo!"...Yuck!
David Cook--I'm also not a huge David Cook fan and apparently there's scandal with his last arrangement...There's a band called "Doxology" who came up with the arrangement of
Eleanor Rigby and they're not all that excited about Idol's release of the single...Anyway...David Cook can sing and he's a decent enough performer, but I think that he doesn't really belong on Idol and I know that it's good to have a variety of performers, but American Idol just doesn't feel right for him, but I don't think he would have gotten the popularity without Idol...He's not going anywhere for awhile, but I really don't see him winning the competition. I actually really agreed with Simon's critique tonight about David
Carly Smithson--Carly's been slowly growing on me...I still haven't decided how she will do in the mainstream market though...I'm not sure that I like her facial expressions...She looks angry a lot and I think that it's mostly the shape of her eyebrows. This wasn't a fabulous performance-- she didn't follow up from last week, but it wasn't a mess either...She was very controlled and very precise which is fun to see.
Jason Castro--I like Jason Castro-- he's got a spirit about him and he's pretty clear on who he is an artist. I loved that he learned French and he spoke very well to my ears! (those who speak French might disagree!) I liked this performance...There were parts that were a little off, but overall it was fun and playful and it showed another side to him as an artist...When did he get so cute?!
Syesha Mercado--Also not a Syesha fan...I know that she can sing, but I really just don't like her...There's something almost pretentious about her and I think that's what it is...I know that the judges loved this, but I just really didn't...I felt that she took too many liberties with the melody that I just didn't like. She sang it very well and it was pretty clean, but I just didn't like the choices she made. The guitar was beautiful and I'm glad that's the musical option rather than keyboard or full band. I'm not sure if she has the fan base to keep her out of the bottom again, but I don't think that this performance should send her home. There were others who performed far worse.
Chikezie--I started to like him last week, and I thought that he had done enough to keep him in the competion, but he had to keep that up. Unfortunately, this week wasn't a good week for him. His vocals are good and again there is not a question that he can sing, but he doesn't know how to perform well and pick good songs and make good choices about style...I actually almost liked the beginning of the song better than the country pick up...It was pretty and I felt like that was a good styles for him...The harmonica was terrible! And while he also should sing uptempo songs, this wasn't a good choice. I worried about fanbase last week, but I think this is the week to worry about fanbase.
Ramiele Malubay--I'm still waiting for her big voice to come back and to be completely wowed by her. I know that it's in there and I'm not sure if she's gotten scared or is trying too hard to make people happy that she's lost who she is as an artist. This wasn't an awesome performance...There were brief moments when I thought she was going to pick herself up out of it, but overall it just never happened...And I don't think that it was a very up-tempo song...It was mid-tempo really...
Bottom 3--Kristy Lee Cook, Michael Johns, Amanda Overmeyer (although I could see Ramiele Malubay in there instead of Michael Johns)
Going home--Kristy Lee Cook
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
You've got to be kidding me!
So...Yesterday I had to wait once again for the cable company to show up...I’m having a slight problem with my video on demand feature-- it’s not working...So, I’ve had to wait 3, yes, 3 days for someone to come out and fix it. Well, 3 is the magical number because someone finally showed up yesterday! Here’s the bad news...He didn’t fix anything...Instead he said that someone else needed to come out and fix the problem...Fortunately, he assured me that I don’t have to be there for that because they would do everything from the outside. Great! I finally breathed a sigh, although I was slightly irritated that the problem was still not fixed....Until.......10 minutes after the tech left, I went to check my e-mail.....No signal....Yeah, somehow while the tech was there trying to fix my problem, he disconnected my internet! I was so mad, so I called support who was absolutely not helpful at all and instead told me that I had to wait again for a tech to come out....And these waits aren’t like a 2 hour window...No, I have to wait for 5 flipping hours! So, let’s count...I’ve already waited 15+ hours for my original problem to get fixed only to get told that it can’t get fixed and a new problem arises by trying to "fix" the original! The customer service people have not been all that helpful either...I’ve already gotten 1 credit for them not showing up, they’re crediting my time without video on demand, but they won’t do anything about the internet until it gets turned back on....No, they’re not sending a special tech out to fix it...No, they’re not working around my schedule...The customer service person this morning said she’d put a request in that my appointment be first, but she can’t garauntee that will happen...So, I’m stcuk without internet until tomorrow....I am so annoyed!
Until this, I’ve had pretty decent service with my cable/internet company....There have been a couple other times when the time hasn’t been met, but it’s not been that over...So, this morning in frustration and anger, I called 3 other companies to get cable & internet prices....Now that I’ve calmed down (a little bit), I’m wondereing if that’s the best option...I have already made an appointment for another company to install, but I have 72 hours to cancel if I would like...So, what do you think? Should I let this episode set me over and get a new company or should I stick with and see what happens?
Until this, I’ve had pretty decent service with my cable/internet company....There have been a couple other times when the time hasn’t been met, but it’s not been that over...So, this morning in frustration and anger, I called 3 other companies to get cable & internet prices....Now that I’ve calmed down (a little bit), I’m wondereing if that’s the best option...I have already made an appointment for another company to install, but I have 72 hours to cancel if I would like...So, what do you think? Should I let this episode set me over and get a new company or should I stick with and see what happens?
Monday, March 17, 2008
Prayer of St. Patrick
I’m using Daniel’s edited version of this prayer to remind ya’ll that this is St. Patrick’s Day and that it is not just a day about drinking green beer, pinching if you don’t wear green, and overall merriment...This is a day that is the feast of St. Patrick (Padraig)...Keep that in mind today, too please...
"I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
...
I bind to myself today
God’s Power to guide me,
God’s Might to uphold me,
God’s Wisdom to teach me,
God’s Eye to watch over me,
God’s Ear to hear me,
God’s Word to give me speech,
God’s Hand to guide me,
God’s Way to lie before me,
God’s Shield to shelter me,
God’s Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.
...
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe."
"I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
...
I bind to myself today
God’s Power to guide me,
God’s Might to uphold me,
God’s Wisdom to teach me,
God’s Eye to watch over me,
God’s Ear to hear me,
God’s Word to give me speech,
God’s Hand to guide me,
God’s Way to lie before me,
God’s Shield to shelter me,
God’s Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.
...
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe."
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Choosing Now Over Later
Choosing Now Over Later
This is our last Sunday in Lent…It’s also the beginning of Holy Week…Our attention turns slightly from the prayer and meditation and inner searching to celebration and shouts of Hosanna! But…it’s still Lent…Still a time for prayer and meditation and inner searching…Because just as quickly as those shouts of “Hosanna” reigned for Jesus, they were just as quickly turned into cries of “Crucify Him!”
In our time together in prayer and inner searching, our Lenten series has been using Rev. Paul Nixon’s book I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church. As we’ve asked the 6 critical choices, we’ve looked at what the mean for us as individuals and what they mean for us as a church…We’ve looked at the choices of life over death, community over isolation, fun over drudgery, bold over mild, frontier over fortress and today we examine the choice choosing now over later…
A couple years ago, I organized a trip to Italy that included a faculty advisor, and my several friends…Our first day in Rome, we spent walking a lot…and all day one of my friends complained about all the walking that we were doing…Now, I suppose it’s pretty understandable because we did walk at least 7 miles everyday…But, it was only our first day! As we were walking back from dinner back to our host families’ home, I heard a voice behind me complaining about having to walk the ½ mile to the house…I finally had enough of it so I turned around quickly and said, “Suck it up, cupcake!” and turned back around to keep walking…When I heard the same voice say, “Excuse me?” and I realized that I had not said it to my friend…But instead, I had said “Suck it up cupcake” to my professor …Now, we all had a good laugh about it and he accepted the “cupcake” nickname for our time together…And really the phrase picked up momentum and really I still use the phrase quite a bit!
The phrase, “suck it up cupcake” really means a lot of the same thing as Nike’s “Just do it!” campaign…Do what needs to be done…Or to use our choice for today…Choose now over later…And as easy as it may sound to make that choice…It’s just as easy to say, maybe later…
If there’s something that you really don’t want to do or just aren’t happy about doing…What do you say? “Maybe later…” Because it’s so easy to just say, “maybe later” than to tackle things head on and just do it!
In our story of Jesus calling the disciples…they obviously choose now over later…Those that Jesus called and said, “maybe later” were left behind and they didn’t become one of Jesus’ 12 disciples…But those 12 that said Yes, I will follow you now spent intimate time with Jesus, hearing his message, learning about God’s love, and being sent out into the world to share the message of the Gospel…Sure, they weren’t the only ones who heard Jesus preach or who were called and sent, but there was certainly something different about these 12…These 12 were called and they immediately dropped their nets and followed Jesus…
They didn’t always understand what Jesus was talking about when he would teach and preach…And there were times that they disagreed with what he said…But, they always followed…Some of them even stayed until the very end…And some of them deserted Jesus…But throughout Jesus’ life and ministry, they followed, listened, and chose now…
Can you imagine what would have happened if they didn’t? Well, we know that those who were called by Jesus and said, “maybe later” were left behind…Maybe the did choose to follow Jesus later, but we don’t know…And I think that’s important to point out…The ones who said, “maybe later” were left behind…Or when Jesus gave the disciples the instructions of what to get before he entered Jerusalem…If the disciples had said, “yeah, maybe we’ll get that donkey later, Jesus.” Would the prophecy have been fulfilled? Would Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem have been such a scene with palm branches and shouts of Hosanna? It would take someone to say, “I’ll do it now!” It took someone to choose now over later…
The choice between now and later can be a scary one because there are times when we just don’t feel ready to make a decision or to do something new or different…Out of that fear, we may say, “someday we’ll think about that.” But that’s not where Jesus calls us…Jesus doesn’t call us to think about doing ministry…Jesus calls us to do ministry…We have to choose now over later…
Now, let’s be clear and say that there should always be sufficient time in prayer and discernment or listening to what God is calling and where God is leading…That is very important to spend time…But, a friend of mine said that sometimes discernment is just a “church word” for procrastination…That we can spend too much time in discernment and that makes us choose later instead of now.
Rev. Nixon gives examples of how churches can choose later…He says that churches choose later by saying among these, “We need to work first on doing a better job at pastoral care of our current members.” (p.98) or “We don’t have enough workers for the things we are trying to do currently.” (p.98) “We should just wait until we get a different pastor.” “There’s a new condo development in the mix. When that is built in a couple of years, we will have the people we need to do this.” (p.99) There are several other ways which are by no means an exhaustive list…Have you heard these things said before? All of these ways are choosing later instead of now…
When we choose later, it gives the space for something or someone else…If we don’t share the message of the Gospel now with people who need to hear it, someone else will share a message with them and it may not be the Gospel…If we don’t share the Good News of Jesus now, someone else will share their message of “good news” that may have nothing to do with Jesus…When that happens, we’ve just said “maybe later” not just to Jesus and Jesus’ call, but we’ve also said “maybe later” to the people who need to hear the Gospel…
Jesus knew that he had a limited time on earth to share the message of God’s love and God’s grace…He knew that he had a limited time to spend with the disciples, teaching and sharing with them…Jesus chose now at every turn…And you may be thinking, “well, duh…He’s Jesus!” But as Christians, we are called to imitate Christ…That’s what being a Christian means…Literally… “Christian” means “little Christ”…So how are you choosing to be a little Christ now? As the church, we are the body of Christ at work in the world today…How are we choosing to be the body of Christ now?
We have to choose now…Because if we say, “maybe later”…It might be too late…Let’s choose now together because God is calling to us still and God is calling to us now…There are people who need to hear the message of the Gospel…There are people who need to know the love of God…We have to show them now…We need to be “little Christs”…We need to be the body of Christ at work in the world…And we need to do it now…
This is our last Sunday in Lent…It’s also the beginning of Holy Week…Our attention turns slightly from the prayer and meditation and inner searching to celebration and shouts of Hosanna! But…it’s still Lent…Still a time for prayer and meditation and inner searching…Because just as quickly as those shouts of “Hosanna” reigned for Jesus, they were just as quickly turned into cries of “Crucify Him!”
In our time together in prayer and inner searching, our Lenten series has been using Rev. Paul Nixon’s book I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church. As we’ve asked the 6 critical choices, we’ve looked at what the mean for us as individuals and what they mean for us as a church…We’ve looked at the choices of life over death, community over isolation, fun over drudgery, bold over mild, frontier over fortress and today we examine the choice choosing now over later…
A couple years ago, I organized a trip to Italy that included a faculty advisor, and my several friends…Our first day in Rome, we spent walking a lot…and all day one of my friends complained about all the walking that we were doing…Now, I suppose it’s pretty understandable because we did walk at least 7 miles everyday…But, it was only our first day! As we were walking back from dinner back to our host families’ home, I heard a voice behind me complaining about having to walk the ½ mile to the house…I finally had enough of it so I turned around quickly and said, “Suck it up, cupcake!” and turned back around to keep walking…When I heard the same voice say, “Excuse me?” and I realized that I had not said it to my friend…But instead, I had said “Suck it up cupcake” to my professor …Now, we all had a good laugh about it and he accepted the “cupcake” nickname for our time together…And really the phrase picked up momentum and really I still use the phrase quite a bit!
The phrase, “suck it up cupcake” really means a lot of the same thing as Nike’s “Just do it!” campaign…Do what needs to be done…Or to use our choice for today…Choose now over later…And as easy as it may sound to make that choice…It’s just as easy to say, maybe later…
If there’s something that you really don’t want to do or just aren’t happy about doing…What do you say? “Maybe later…” Because it’s so easy to just say, “maybe later” than to tackle things head on and just do it!
In our story of Jesus calling the disciples…they obviously choose now over later…Those that Jesus called and said, “maybe later” were left behind and they didn’t become one of Jesus’ 12 disciples…But those 12 that said Yes, I will follow you now spent intimate time with Jesus, hearing his message, learning about God’s love, and being sent out into the world to share the message of the Gospel…Sure, they weren’t the only ones who heard Jesus preach or who were called and sent, but there was certainly something different about these 12…These 12 were called and they immediately dropped their nets and followed Jesus…
They didn’t always understand what Jesus was talking about when he would teach and preach…And there were times that they disagreed with what he said…But, they always followed…Some of them even stayed until the very end…And some of them deserted Jesus…But throughout Jesus’ life and ministry, they followed, listened, and chose now…
Can you imagine what would have happened if they didn’t? Well, we know that those who were called by Jesus and said, “maybe later” were left behind…Maybe the did choose to follow Jesus later, but we don’t know…And I think that’s important to point out…The ones who said, “maybe later” were left behind…Or when Jesus gave the disciples the instructions of what to get before he entered Jerusalem…If the disciples had said, “yeah, maybe we’ll get that donkey later, Jesus.” Would the prophecy have been fulfilled? Would Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem have been such a scene with palm branches and shouts of Hosanna? It would take someone to say, “I’ll do it now!” It took someone to choose now over later…
The choice between now and later can be a scary one because there are times when we just don’t feel ready to make a decision or to do something new or different…Out of that fear, we may say, “someday we’ll think about that.” But that’s not where Jesus calls us…Jesus doesn’t call us to think about doing ministry…Jesus calls us to do ministry…We have to choose now over later…
Now, let’s be clear and say that there should always be sufficient time in prayer and discernment or listening to what God is calling and where God is leading…That is very important to spend time…But, a friend of mine said that sometimes discernment is just a “church word” for procrastination…That we can spend too much time in discernment and that makes us choose later instead of now.
Rev. Nixon gives examples of how churches can choose later…He says that churches choose later by saying among these, “We need to work first on doing a better job at pastoral care of our current members.” (p.98) or “We don’t have enough workers for the things we are trying to do currently.” (p.98) “We should just wait until we get a different pastor.” “There’s a new condo development in the mix. When that is built in a couple of years, we will have the people we need to do this.” (p.99) There are several other ways which are by no means an exhaustive list…Have you heard these things said before? All of these ways are choosing later instead of now…
When we choose later, it gives the space for something or someone else…If we don’t share the message of the Gospel now with people who need to hear it, someone else will share a message with them and it may not be the Gospel…If we don’t share the Good News of Jesus now, someone else will share their message of “good news” that may have nothing to do with Jesus…When that happens, we’ve just said “maybe later” not just to Jesus and Jesus’ call, but we’ve also said “maybe later” to the people who need to hear the Gospel…
Jesus knew that he had a limited time on earth to share the message of God’s love and God’s grace…He knew that he had a limited time to spend with the disciples, teaching and sharing with them…Jesus chose now at every turn…And you may be thinking, “well, duh…He’s Jesus!” But as Christians, we are called to imitate Christ…That’s what being a Christian means…Literally… “Christian” means “little Christ”…So how are you choosing to be a little Christ now? As the church, we are the body of Christ at work in the world today…How are we choosing to be the body of Christ now?
We have to choose now…Because if we say, “maybe later”…It might be too late…Let’s choose now together because God is calling to us still and God is calling to us now…There are people who need to hear the message of the Gospel…There are people who need to know the love of God…We have to show them now…We need to be “little Christs”…We need to be the body of Christ at work in the world…And we need to do it now…
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Idol Chatter: Top 12
Oh, I'm so glad that they're in the top 12 and Idol isn't on 3 nights a week! As much as I love the show...It was way past time...Plus, I'm glad that we're really getting into the competition and some of the people that shouldn't be there will actually leave! I have to say that I was sorry to see some of the ones go home earlier than they should have, but it is what it is!
The newness looks interesting-- I guess it was about time to spice things up a little bit!
Syesha Mercado--Okay, I'm not a huge Syesha fan...But, this really wasn't a good performance...She started really rough and while she got into it as everything went along it still wasn't very good...I think that she might be a good studio singer when the manipulation can happen, but she's not really a live singer...Which is not going to help her in the long run...I'm really surprised that Simon didn't hear her sound as bad as she did...
Chikezie--I felt like the interview with Ryan was just a little bit too long...I'm a little torn on this one...He can sing and I think that for the first time tonight he didn't remind me of a cheezy lounge singer. I actually kind of enjoyed his performance...What I'm torn on is that I'm wondering now who he is as a singer. With that performance, I saw him get back into this competition. I just hope that he has a large enough fan base to pull this off! I'm looking forward to seeing what he'll do next week.
BTW--Simon thought Chikezie looked drunk...I think Ryan was!!
Ramiele Malubay--I like Ramiele, but as I've looked at the past posts, she's not really done that well so far...I think she's got amazing potential, though...Tonight was so-so...She had moments that were kind of rough, but then there were moments that were just beautiful...I thought it was a good song choice for her, but I agree that it was a boring and safe performance. She really does have great potential, and I hope that she breaks out of her shell a little bit more...
Jason Castro--I love that he knows who he is as an accoustic artist and embraces that. He's not the dancy pop star or the rock out rocker! Although he did wonderful last week without the guitar, he really does need it because it just "completes" him. Although I could have done with the crazy John Mayer faces! It was a nice performance...I really and truly don't see him winning or even going past the top 5...But, I like him!
Carly Smithson--The controversy over her past seems to have died done for a little bit and she's proved that she can really sing...I think that there's something that's not connecting with the audience though...She looks almost angry when she sings! The performance was really pretty good and although I can't say that I'm a "fan", I don't dislike her as much as I used to...
David Cook--I'm not sure how I feel about this performance...I think that he did very well vocally and performance wise and yet at the same time there was just something that didn't feel right...I'm not sure if it was the song choice or not...Maybe if I listen to it again I'll feel differently...I don't think he's going anywhere, but I'm not sure that I see him winning because beyond what Simon says, it is both a talent competition and a popularity contest...
Brooke White--I think that this is a good week for her-- the theme really fits into her range. I think that I would have liked this better for her if she hadn't played the piano...Her vocals were stunning and she did really well...I didn't like that we couldn't really see her face, but I thought this was an amazing song choice for her. I'm still not convinced that she could win, but right now she's my favorite female singer in the competition...
David Hernandez--I've been impressed with David Hernandez leading up to tonight...He's done a good job of improving each week, but...Tonight's performance seemed karoke/cheezy/cruise-ship...I did not like it tonight...I hope that it doesn't hurt his chances...I'd like to see what else he can do, but I don't want to see anymore of this kind of performance...
Amanda Overmeyer--I really am over her...I think that she's over American Idol too...She seems to be not as interested or holding back or maybe she's just uncomfortable with the attention...I thought the performance was decent, but I'm really not a fan of hers anymore...
BTW--This show seems sooo freaking long! I'm done with it and there are 3 more to go!
Michael Johns--Another one that I just really don't like...I can't decide what it is about him that I just don't like...I wasn't in love with tonight either...I thought that he sang it well, but that's really all it was...He said it meant a lot to him, but I really didn't feel that connection...I think that I was also waiting for something big to happen...I think that I just don't feel a connection with him and that's what I don't like...Maybe?
Kristy Lee Cook--I'm glad that she knows who she is as an artist, but I just don't like her...She doesn't command that stage and really doesn't perform...She looked scared to death up there too!! I really didn't like the arrangement at all, it was far too country for me and she didn't show enough of herself in there...It was a risk, but she didn't pull it off...Does she have the fan base?
David Archuleta--Oh honey...He forget the words and not just a little bit...I think that his fan base is strong enough to pull him out of it, but that is not good...He seemed a bit psyched out from the very beginning and there is no way that was his best performance at all...His vocals are good and it wasn't pitchy or off key, it was just a weak performance...I really think that his fan base will pull him out of this and I still think that he is the one to beat, but he really needs to step it up hardcore!
Bottom 3--Syesha Mercado, Kristy Lee Cook, Ramiele Malubay
Going Home--Kristy Lee Cook
The newness looks interesting-- I guess it was about time to spice things up a little bit!
Syesha Mercado--Okay, I'm not a huge Syesha fan...But, this really wasn't a good performance...She started really rough and while she got into it as everything went along it still wasn't very good...I think that she might be a good studio singer when the manipulation can happen, but she's not really a live singer...Which is not going to help her in the long run...I'm really surprised that Simon didn't hear her sound as bad as she did...
Chikezie--I felt like the interview with Ryan was just a little bit too long...I'm a little torn on this one...He can sing and I think that for the first time tonight he didn't remind me of a cheezy lounge singer. I actually kind of enjoyed his performance...What I'm torn on is that I'm wondering now who he is as a singer. With that performance, I saw him get back into this competition. I just hope that he has a large enough fan base to pull this off! I'm looking forward to seeing what he'll do next week.
BTW--Simon thought Chikezie looked drunk...I think Ryan was!!
Ramiele Malubay--I like Ramiele, but as I've looked at the past posts, she's not really done that well so far...I think she's got amazing potential, though...Tonight was so-so...She had moments that were kind of rough, but then there were moments that were just beautiful...I thought it was a good song choice for her, but I agree that it was a boring and safe performance. She really does have great potential, and I hope that she breaks out of her shell a little bit more...
Jason Castro--I love that he knows who he is as an accoustic artist and embraces that. He's not the dancy pop star or the rock out rocker! Although he did wonderful last week without the guitar, he really does need it because it just "completes" him. Although I could have done with the crazy John Mayer faces! It was a nice performance...I really and truly don't see him winning or even going past the top 5...But, I like him!
Carly Smithson--The controversy over her past seems to have died done for a little bit and she's proved that she can really sing...I think that there's something that's not connecting with the audience though...She looks almost angry when she sings! The performance was really pretty good and although I can't say that I'm a "fan", I don't dislike her as much as I used to...
David Cook--I'm not sure how I feel about this performance...I think that he did very well vocally and performance wise and yet at the same time there was just something that didn't feel right...I'm not sure if it was the song choice or not...Maybe if I listen to it again I'll feel differently...I don't think he's going anywhere, but I'm not sure that I see him winning because beyond what Simon says, it is both a talent competition and a popularity contest...
Brooke White--I think that this is a good week for her-- the theme really fits into her range. I think that I would have liked this better for her if she hadn't played the piano...Her vocals were stunning and she did really well...I didn't like that we couldn't really see her face, but I thought this was an amazing song choice for her. I'm still not convinced that she could win, but right now she's my favorite female singer in the competition...
David Hernandez--I've been impressed with David Hernandez leading up to tonight...He's done a good job of improving each week, but...Tonight's performance seemed karoke/cheezy/cruise-ship...I did not like it tonight...I hope that it doesn't hurt his chances...I'd like to see what else he can do, but I don't want to see anymore of this kind of performance...
Amanda Overmeyer--I really am over her...I think that she's over American Idol too...She seems to be not as interested or holding back or maybe she's just uncomfortable with the attention...I thought the performance was decent, but I'm really not a fan of hers anymore...
BTW--This show seems sooo freaking long! I'm done with it and there are 3 more to go!
Michael Johns--Another one that I just really don't like...I can't decide what it is about him that I just don't like...I wasn't in love with tonight either...I thought that he sang it well, but that's really all it was...He said it meant a lot to him, but I really didn't feel that connection...I think that I was also waiting for something big to happen...I think that I just don't feel a connection with him and that's what I don't like...Maybe?
Kristy Lee Cook--I'm glad that she knows who she is as an artist, but I just don't like her...She doesn't command that stage and really doesn't perform...She looked scared to death up there too!! I really didn't like the arrangement at all, it was far too country for me and she didn't show enough of herself in there...It was a risk, but she didn't pull it off...Does she have the fan base?
David Archuleta--Oh honey...He forget the words and not just a little bit...I think that his fan base is strong enough to pull him out of it, but that is not good...He seemed a bit psyched out from the very beginning and there is no way that was his best performance at all...His vocals are good and it wasn't pitchy or off key, it was just a weak performance...I really think that his fan base will pull him out of this and I still think that he is the one to beat, but he really needs to step it up hardcore!
Bottom 3--Syesha Mercado, Kristy Lee Cook, Ramiele Malubay
Going Home--Kristy Lee Cook
Monday, March 10, 2008
Learning..
So, this morning I woke up at 6:00 to make my chicken noodle soup for lunch today with the Bishop, DS, & members of SUMC. It took longer than I thought it would to get everything ready to make my soups, but they were still done in more than enough time for today!
These soups are super easy to make and really quite fun to make! I made Rachael Ray's Spanish Style Chicken Noodle & Italian Style Chicken Noodle Soup...and while I really enjoed the process, here's what I learned...
I like to cook...really, I do...I know that I'm not totally domestic, but I do like to cook & bake, especially new recipes...I think that I don't really like to do the same 'ol stuff...But, here's what I don't like...
I hate cleaning up my mess...Seriously, I hate it! As a matter of fact the mess is still sitting in my kitchen right now...blech!
Here's what else I don't like...I don't like chopping vegetables...Especially onions...I hate chopping onions! The carrots weren't a breeze either...The celery was okay because I could just use my kitchen scissors...
Here's what I really like...New kitchen gadgets! If there were an invention that would chop my vegetables for me, I'd so be all over that! I got a jar opener/can opener on clearance from Target and I found out that I love electric can openers...I so didn't use to! I have 3 can openers just because I refused to have an electric one...But, I like this electric one! So, what is the best gadget for chopping? Is a food processor, a hand chopper, or what? Because I think I might cook more if I didn't have to do all the prep stuff and clean up...
These soups are super easy to make and really quite fun to make! I made Rachael Ray's Spanish Style Chicken Noodle & Italian Style Chicken Noodle Soup...and while I really enjoed the process, here's what I learned...
I like to cook...really, I do...I know that I'm not totally domestic, but I do like to cook & bake, especially new recipes...I think that I don't really like to do the same 'ol stuff...But, here's what I don't like...
I hate cleaning up my mess...Seriously, I hate it! As a matter of fact the mess is still sitting in my kitchen right now...blech!
Here's what else I don't like...I don't like chopping vegetables...Especially onions...I hate chopping onions! The carrots weren't a breeze either...The celery was okay because I could just use my kitchen scissors...
Here's what I really like...New kitchen gadgets! If there were an invention that would chop my vegetables for me, I'd so be all over that! I got a jar opener/can opener on clearance from Target and I found out that I love electric can openers...I so didn't use to! I have 3 can openers just because I refused to have an electric one...But, I like this electric one! So, what is the best gadget for chopping? Is a food processor, a hand chopper, or what? Because I think I might cook more if I didn't have to do all the prep stuff and clean up...
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Choosing Frontier Over Fortress
Choosing Frontier Over Fortress
Well, here we are again…It’s now our 5th of 6 weeks of Lent…Lent is a time of reflection and questioning as we look forward to the celebration of Easter…As part of our reflection, our Lenten series has been working through Rev. Paul Nixon’s book, I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church…Throughout these past weeks, we’ve looked at the six critical choices that every church and every individual need to make…These choices have been choosing life over death, choosing community over isolation, choosing fun over drudgery, and choosing bold over mild. Last week, I had said that the first three weeks, although the choices had some difficulty to them, they were relatively easier choices to make…Last week began the first of the final three choices which are a little bit more difficult to make…They’re not difficult in that we don’t know what the choice should be, but they’re difficult in that they’re harder to make and they might push us a little bit more out of our comfort zone than what we like…This week is one of those choices as we examine our choice “choosing frontier over fortress.”
What does the choice frontier over fortress really mean? What do you think of when you hear the word “frontier”? wild west, untamed, scary, unknown etc… What do you think of when you hear the word “fortress” safety, secure, imposing, etc… Well, the choice between frontier and fortress is about choosing out verses in…The unknown verses the known…
There was a computer game that was played in the 80’s called “Oregon Trail”…Has anyone ever heard of it or played it? There’s been a recent resurgence of the game on other Internet sites like facebook…In the game, you played a pioneer on the trail heading west…Leaving home and venturing into the great unknown…Along the way you encountered a lot if different and sometimes difficult situations…Foraging rivers, hunting, gathering, and even illnesses…It was an adventure to try and get through! The game itself was choice of choosing frontier over fortress…
The whole idea of choosing frontier can be very scary for some people…It’s venturing into new territory…Into something that’s unknown…It’s outside of comfort zones…In many cases, it’s just outside! Many of you may be thinking, “Yeah! That is scary!” And for those who think that way, the idea of a fortress seems like a good idea, it’s safe…It’s secure…It’s not dangerous…And yet…
Choosing fortress really takes all of the previous choices at their word…Because if we say that we choose life, community, fun, and boldness…Well, in those decisions we really have to choose frontier…Because if we choose life, that means that we really have to live and can you live when you’re stuck behind walls? And if we choose community, well…can you be in community when you’ve sequestered yourself in a fortress? And how fun can it really be to be cooped up in some imposing structure…And can you be that bold with the same people over and over again? I mean it’s important to encourage others in their faith journey, but if that’s all the folks that we interact with…isn’t that kind of a problem?
As Jesus talks with his disciples on the top of the mountain and he’s telling the disciples what their responsibilities are in what is referred to as the great commission…Jesus tells the disciples “All authority has been given to me.” And in that statement is a boldness from Jesus…That he has all the authority on earth and in heaven…Not only does he have that, but he’s passing the torch to the disciples…Now, he’s not giving up any of his authority, because certainly Jesus is Lord! But, he’s giving the disciples an authority to continue to share the message of the Gospel and to continue to share his teachings with the world!
The first thing that Jesus gives the disciples to do is in that very first word in the great commission… “Go.” Jesus doesn’t say “Wait for people to come to you.” Jesus says, “Go.”
Chuck & Krissie Cilano are missionaries currently serving in Thailand…One of the pieces of advice that they give the teams they work with is to first and foremost pray…Prayer is not something that’s that unusual or something that would be that out of the ordinary really…But what they also say is to pray for opportunities to be able to minister and not just for the opportunities, but also to recognize when those opportunities arise…In almost every one of those opportunities, it takes us to get outside of ourselves to be able to minister…To get outside of the fortress of our own comfort zone…
And at the same it’s not just a figurative getting outside of the fortress…But it’s also a literal getting outside of the fortress…In the chapter in I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church, Rev. Nixon shares some of the history of the United Methodist Church….From 1790 to 1830 the members of the Methodist movement grew from 58,000 to 501,000 in 40 years which is a 900% growth…That’s pretty amazing! Of those 501,000 people who made up congregations of the Methodist Episcopal church…about a third of them had no building whatsoever…In just 10 years in the 1840’s the number of new members joining had stopped and in those same 10 years, more church buildings were built…Is there a correlation?
The Methodist movement was founded on people who were willing to get outside of both themselves and out of the church buildings to meet people where they were…John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement spent just as much time, if not more outside of the sanctuary preaching in fields as he did in the sanctuaries and churches…What are we doing as a church to encourage people to meet Jesus? What are we doing to tell them that Jesus meets them right where they are…that Jesus is present in their very lives? That Jesus is calling to them…That Jesus is calling to us? How do they know? Do we give people the impression that they need to come to us to know about Jesus or do we give people the impression that they need to make the first move?
Now, please don’t get the impression that having a building is a bad thing…But, how is it that we use the building as a tool for ministry rather than the entire ministry itself? Meaning that if we woke up tomorrow and the building just vanished, would the ministries of the church still happen? How do we ensure that happens?
After Jesus told the disciples to “Go,” he game them the rest of the instruction… “Go and make disciples of all nations”…Go and make disciples of all people….ALL PEOPLE ARE WELCOME! We are to invite all people into a relationship with Jesus…Baptizing them in the name of God three-in-one…The triune God…The Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost…And teaching to obey the commandments of Jesus…The commandments where Jesus said, “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as you love yourself.” And all of the teachings that Jesus shared with his disciples that helped to give examples of those commandments and those that challenged the society of the day…And those are things that we all should be diving into to work at understanding our faith…Jesus asks us to enter the frontier…
The frontier can be an intimidating place, but the last part of the passage from Matthew says a lot…Jesus gives this commission and then he says…And I will be with you always…Remember that I am with you always…We’re not left alone in the frontier to flounder or to be alone…We’re in the frontier with Jesus…With the One who has sent us…we are not alone…We have heard the commission to Go and make and create disciples of Jesus Christ…And we go in the strength of Jesus Christ…The same Jesus Christ who is God made flesh…The same Jesus Christ who entered the frontier to live among us…The same Jesus Christ who lived and died for us…The same Jesus Christ who rose again and calls to us still…As we go into the frontier, we know that we are entering with Jesus…As we go with Jesus, let us also go together!
Well, here we are again…It’s now our 5th of 6 weeks of Lent…Lent is a time of reflection and questioning as we look forward to the celebration of Easter…As part of our reflection, our Lenten series has been working through Rev. Paul Nixon’s book, I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church…Throughout these past weeks, we’ve looked at the six critical choices that every church and every individual need to make…These choices have been choosing life over death, choosing community over isolation, choosing fun over drudgery, and choosing bold over mild. Last week, I had said that the first three weeks, although the choices had some difficulty to them, they were relatively easier choices to make…Last week began the first of the final three choices which are a little bit more difficult to make…They’re not difficult in that we don’t know what the choice should be, but they’re difficult in that they’re harder to make and they might push us a little bit more out of our comfort zone than what we like…This week is one of those choices as we examine our choice “choosing frontier over fortress.”
What does the choice frontier over fortress really mean? What do you think of when you hear the word “frontier”? wild west, untamed, scary, unknown etc… What do you think of when you hear the word “fortress” safety, secure, imposing, etc… Well, the choice between frontier and fortress is about choosing out verses in…The unknown verses the known…
There was a computer game that was played in the 80’s called “Oregon Trail”…Has anyone ever heard of it or played it? There’s been a recent resurgence of the game on other Internet sites like facebook…In the game, you played a pioneer on the trail heading west…Leaving home and venturing into the great unknown…Along the way you encountered a lot if different and sometimes difficult situations…Foraging rivers, hunting, gathering, and even illnesses…It was an adventure to try and get through! The game itself was choice of choosing frontier over fortress…
The whole idea of choosing frontier can be very scary for some people…It’s venturing into new territory…Into something that’s unknown…It’s outside of comfort zones…In many cases, it’s just outside! Many of you may be thinking, “Yeah! That is scary!” And for those who think that way, the idea of a fortress seems like a good idea, it’s safe…It’s secure…It’s not dangerous…And yet…
Choosing fortress really takes all of the previous choices at their word…Because if we say that we choose life, community, fun, and boldness…Well, in those decisions we really have to choose frontier…Because if we choose life, that means that we really have to live and can you live when you’re stuck behind walls? And if we choose community, well…can you be in community when you’ve sequestered yourself in a fortress? And how fun can it really be to be cooped up in some imposing structure…And can you be that bold with the same people over and over again? I mean it’s important to encourage others in their faith journey, but if that’s all the folks that we interact with…isn’t that kind of a problem?
As Jesus talks with his disciples on the top of the mountain and he’s telling the disciples what their responsibilities are in what is referred to as the great commission…Jesus tells the disciples “All authority has been given to me.” And in that statement is a boldness from Jesus…That he has all the authority on earth and in heaven…Not only does he have that, but he’s passing the torch to the disciples…Now, he’s not giving up any of his authority, because certainly Jesus is Lord! But, he’s giving the disciples an authority to continue to share the message of the Gospel and to continue to share his teachings with the world!
The first thing that Jesus gives the disciples to do is in that very first word in the great commission… “Go.” Jesus doesn’t say “Wait for people to come to you.” Jesus says, “Go.”
Chuck & Krissie Cilano are missionaries currently serving in Thailand…One of the pieces of advice that they give the teams they work with is to first and foremost pray…Prayer is not something that’s that unusual or something that would be that out of the ordinary really…But what they also say is to pray for opportunities to be able to minister and not just for the opportunities, but also to recognize when those opportunities arise…In almost every one of those opportunities, it takes us to get outside of ourselves to be able to minister…To get outside of the fortress of our own comfort zone…
And at the same it’s not just a figurative getting outside of the fortress…But it’s also a literal getting outside of the fortress…In the chapter in I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church, Rev. Nixon shares some of the history of the United Methodist Church….From 1790 to 1830 the members of the Methodist movement grew from 58,000 to 501,000 in 40 years which is a 900% growth…That’s pretty amazing! Of those 501,000 people who made up congregations of the Methodist Episcopal church…about a third of them had no building whatsoever…In just 10 years in the 1840’s the number of new members joining had stopped and in those same 10 years, more church buildings were built…Is there a correlation?
The Methodist movement was founded on people who were willing to get outside of both themselves and out of the church buildings to meet people where they were…John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement spent just as much time, if not more outside of the sanctuary preaching in fields as he did in the sanctuaries and churches…What are we doing as a church to encourage people to meet Jesus? What are we doing to tell them that Jesus meets them right where they are…that Jesus is present in their very lives? That Jesus is calling to them…That Jesus is calling to us? How do they know? Do we give people the impression that they need to come to us to know about Jesus or do we give people the impression that they need to make the first move?
Now, please don’t get the impression that having a building is a bad thing…But, how is it that we use the building as a tool for ministry rather than the entire ministry itself? Meaning that if we woke up tomorrow and the building just vanished, would the ministries of the church still happen? How do we ensure that happens?
After Jesus told the disciples to “Go,” he game them the rest of the instruction… “Go and make disciples of all nations”…Go and make disciples of all people….ALL PEOPLE ARE WELCOME! We are to invite all people into a relationship with Jesus…Baptizing them in the name of God three-in-one…The triune God…The Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost…And teaching to obey the commandments of Jesus…The commandments where Jesus said, “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as you love yourself.” And all of the teachings that Jesus shared with his disciples that helped to give examples of those commandments and those that challenged the society of the day…And those are things that we all should be diving into to work at understanding our faith…Jesus asks us to enter the frontier…
The frontier can be an intimidating place, but the last part of the passage from Matthew says a lot…Jesus gives this commission and then he says…And I will be with you always…Remember that I am with you always…We’re not left alone in the frontier to flounder or to be alone…We’re in the frontier with Jesus…With the One who has sent us…we are not alone…We have heard the commission to Go and make and create disciples of Jesus Christ…And we go in the strength of Jesus Christ…The same Jesus Christ who is God made flesh…The same Jesus Christ who entered the frontier to live among us…The same Jesus Christ who lived and died for us…The same Jesus Christ who rose again and calls to us still…As we go into the frontier, we know that we are entering with Jesus…As we go with Jesus, let us also go together!
Saturday, March 08, 2008
What to wear?
While I was at the hospital this morning, a side conversation was happening that got me to thinking (I know it's a surprise that something gets me thinking!)...I started thinking about clothing and part of it comes from a conversation that happened during my commissioning interview...
A question that came up in my interview that I've been trying to wrestle with a little bit and not really coming up with much right now...But, I recieved some criticism from my interview team for not robing in worship. Now, it was an intentional decision that I made to not robe and it really happened over time...I used to robe for sacraments, funerals and weddings, but now I really just robe for funerals and weddings...I think that it's important to remember context in these types of situations and there are some churches that clearly would need their pastor to wear a robe or vestments of some kind...To me, this church was not that kind...And maybe I helped to facilitate that a bit more because to be very honest, I don't like to robe...I'm not trying to make any real theological statement by that and I surely appreciate the theological ideals about robing and wearing vestments and I would agree with many of those theological arguments! I suppose it's where theology meets practicality and contextually what places and worship services need a pastor to robe...Because certainly it would disrupt the flow and atmosphere of a contemporary service for the pastor to be fully robed...
The conversation this morning was also about doctors not wearing lab coats anymore and nurses wearing various colors/patterns of scrubs...While there are some hospitals and offices that require certain "uniforms" and whatnot, but overall it doesn't seem to be the case anymore...
So, I started to think about other professions who don't seem to wear common garments anymore and we've gone from "business attire" even to "business casual"...So, I wondered if it's a casualization of the culture and everywhere seems to be embracing wardrobe as another freedom and a way to express individuality. Then it made me wonder if we've lost anything because of that...Has society become "too casual"...And is this an American trend that will be an issue in the global society? Or...Am I just way ovethinking?
What do you notice?
A question that came up in my interview that I've been trying to wrestle with a little bit and not really coming up with much right now...But, I recieved some criticism from my interview team for not robing in worship. Now, it was an intentional decision that I made to not robe and it really happened over time...I used to robe for sacraments, funerals and weddings, but now I really just robe for funerals and weddings...I think that it's important to remember context in these types of situations and there are some churches that clearly would need their pastor to wear a robe or vestments of some kind...To me, this church was not that kind...And maybe I helped to facilitate that a bit more because to be very honest, I don't like to robe...I'm not trying to make any real theological statement by that and I surely appreciate the theological ideals about robing and wearing vestments and I would agree with many of those theological arguments! I suppose it's where theology meets practicality and contextually what places and worship services need a pastor to robe...Because certainly it would disrupt the flow and atmosphere of a contemporary service for the pastor to be fully robed...
The conversation this morning was also about doctors not wearing lab coats anymore and nurses wearing various colors/patterns of scrubs...While there are some hospitals and offices that require certain "uniforms" and whatnot, but overall it doesn't seem to be the case anymore...
So, I started to think about other professions who don't seem to wear common garments anymore and we've gone from "business attire" even to "business casual"...So, I wondered if it's a casualization of the culture and everywhere seems to be embracing wardrobe as another freedom and a way to express individuality. Then it made me wonder if we've lost anything because of that...Has society become "too casual"...And is this an American trend that will be an issue in the global society? Or...Am I just way ovethinking?
What do you notice?
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Idol Chatter: Girls Week 3
The girls are on tonight! I remembered to tape this time because I was in Bible study during Idol...So, here are my Idol thoughts!
Asia'h Epperson--Paula wanted to know where the ugly clothes were...Asia'h has got them! Sorry, that was a low blow...I'm still over her voice...I liked that picked an upbeat song, but unfortunately I don't think it was near as good as Whitney...And to pick a Whitney song you really have to be able to do it as good or better than and I don't know if it was good...I think she might make the Top 12
Kady Malloy--Oh Kady...There were very few notes in that song that were on...I think that just about everything was off...She said she had something to prove and she certainly did not prove anything...She was in the bottom 3 last week and did herself no favors...
Amanda Overmeyer--I think that I might be starting to be over her voice too...I mean it was great and original in the beginning, but I'm not sure anymore...She did pretty decent on this song and I'm really glad that she's able to pick songs that are in her comfort zone and she knows what songs to pick for herself, but I'm not sure that we're seeing the variety in her that we are in other contestants...I do think that she'll make the top 12 also
Carly Smithson--What is the deal with the girls and these high pants? I'm not a fan of those at all! I'm torn on Carly...Part of me kind of likes her and part of me is so over her...She is very talented and can sing very well...I'm actually wondering about the song choice like Simon said...Maybe that's why I'm torn on her...
BTW--what's going on at the judges table?? Paula is pretty out of it and crazy at the table there-- Even Randy held her back once or twice and Simon seems like he's in a foul mood too!
Kristy Lee Cook--Okay...picking a Journey with Randy Jackson right there? Is anyone going to do a Paula Abdul song because that would just be amazing! I'm not sure how I feel about her rendition...It was okay...I wasn't blown away by her performance and there were some times that I was cringing...I'm not sure if it could be a hit for her or not...I also have a question--why is her tongue so red??
Ramiele Maluby--I would have liked to see her tackle a Paula song...Maybe a little Forever Your Girl or Straight Up? I'm still surprised when the big voice comes out of her...This started out pretty decent, but got shaky toward the end...It wasn't fabulous...I don't know how she stands in the rankings, but I'd like to see her make the top 12 and see where she goes from there...
BTW--Oh, Paula...shut your mouth honey...What is going on with her???
Brooke White--Whoah...What an interesting version of this song! Is this another one that's "original" or has someone covered it this way before? I'm torn on Brooke too...I think that she's too nice to sing songs like this and it doesn't really seem authentic to who she is...That being said, it was a good vocal tonight and I did like the arrangement...The guitar was great...I'm torn-- it would have been good to build a bit more, but it was also nice to be accoustic...
BTW--Paula! Is she going to leave "sick"?
Syesha Mercado--Another pair of the high pants! Yuck!! Another Whitney song? This is dangerous territory folks...No where near as good as Whitney...I'm not even sure she's second rate Whitney...It was okay, but not fabulous...I'm not her number one fan either and she's oging to have to do an awful lot to win me over...I'm sad that there wasn't a whole lot of feedback from the judges, but I guess that's the way it goes sometimes!
So, going home? Eh, I'm not all too sure...Several of them could go home and I would be okay with it...
Going home: Kady Malloy & Syesha Mercado
Asia'h Epperson--Paula wanted to know where the ugly clothes were...Asia'h has got them! Sorry, that was a low blow...I'm still over her voice...I liked that picked an upbeat song, but unfortunately I don't think it was near as good as Whitney...And to pick a Whitney song you really have to be able to do it as good or better than and I don't know if it was good...I think she might make the Top 12
Kady Malloy--Oh Kady...There were very few notes in that song that were on...I think that just about everything was off...She said she had something to prove and she certainly did not prove anything...She was in the bottom 3 last week and did herself no favors...
Amanda Overmeyer--I think that I might be starting to be over her voice too...I mean it was great and original in the beginning, but I'm not sure anymore...She did pretty decent on this song and I'm really glad that she's able to pick songs that are in her comfort zone and she knows what songs to pick for herself, but I'm not sure that we're seeing the variety in her that we are in other contestants...I do think that she'll make the top 12 also
Carly Smithson--What is the deal with the girls and these high pants? I'm not a fan of those at all! I'm torn on Carly...Part of me kind of likes her and part of me is so over her...She is very talented and can sing very well...I'm actually wondering about the song choice like Simon said...Maybe that's why I'm torn on her...
BTW--what's going on at the judges table?? Paula is pretty out of it and crazy at the table there-- Even Randy held her back once or twice and Simon seems like he's in a foul mood too!
Kristy Lee Cook--Okay...picking a Journey with Randy Jackson right there? Is anyone going to do a Paula Abdul song because that would just be amazing! I'm not sure how I feel about her rendition...It was okay...I wasn't blown away by her performance and there were some times that I was cringing...I'm not sure if it could be a hit for her or not...I also have a question--why is her tongue so red??
Ramiele Maluby--I would have liked to see her tackle a Paula song...Maybe a little Forever Your Girl or Straight Up? I'm still surprised when the big voice comes out of her...This started out pretty decent, but got shaky toward the end...It wasn't fabulous...I don't know how she stands in the rankings, but I'd like to see her make the top 12 and see where she goes from there...
BTW--Oh, Paula...shut your mouth honey...What is going on with her???
Brooke White--Whoah...What an interesting version of this song! Is this another one that's "original" or has someone covered it this way before? I'm torn on Brooke too...I think that she's too nice to sing songs like this and it doesn't really seem authentic to who she is...That being said, it was a good vocal tonight and I did like the arrangement...The guitar was great...I'm torn-- it would have been good to build a bit more, but it was also nice to be accoustic...
BTW--Paula! Is she going to leave "sick"?
Syesha Mercado--Another pair of the high pants! Yuck!! Another Whitney song? This is dangerous territory folks...No where near as good as Whitney...I'm not even sure she's second rate Whitney...It was okay, but not fabulous...I'm not her number one fan either and she's oging to have to do an awful lot to win me over...I'm sad that there wasn't a whole lot of feedback from the judges, but I guess that's the way it goes sometimes!
So, going home? Eh, I'm not all too sure...Several of them could go home and I would be okay with it...
Going home: Kady Malloy & Syesha Mercado
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Idol Chatter: Week 3 Guys
Well, in all nerves/anxiety and excitement of yesterday, I forgot to tape Idol! Whoops! I did catch the last 3 performances live, but the others I've had to catch from clips on other web pages...So, here are my thoughts!
Luke Menard--I just noticed that he's from Crawfordsville, IN! I've been there...So, Luke...Dude, I gotta be honest...It was a good song choice for him, but I still can't get past that he's really a "choir" kind of singer and not a pop star...He's obviously gotten some support from somewhere, but I still consider him the Ace Young of this year...
David Archuleta--This young man is nothing short of amazing! I absolutely adore him and at this point I truly hope that he wins the competition...He is absolutely the best that is in the competition right now...I've read rumours that has made him not so well liked by the rest of the contestants, but they should be afraid! This song was AMAZING! He sure knows how to pick songs and not only pick them but do them amazing...The only criticism that I have for him is to work on his breathing...It can be distracting when he takes those big gasps in the middle...Kelly Clarkson does the same thing and there are several other artists who do as well, but I find it annoying and distracting...That being said, if that's the only thing to criticize...Yeah...
Danny Noriega--Oh, Danny and his scandal this week! His video diary clip has been making the rounds...Yes, it's disturbing and no I wouldn't want any children to watch it, but he was a teenager and looked pretty angsty...I think he's grown up from it and it shouldn't be taken in consideration about his performance...There is still something that I like about Danny...He's spunky! But, I've decided that he looks like Jessica Alba! He can sing and that's not a question...There were a few pitch problems here, but nothing that he couldn't work out...I think that it was a good song choice for him, but I think that it's his performance that's distracting...I like him but I know that there are a lot of people that disagree with that...
David Hernandez--Another scandal! Apparently, David was a male stripper with primarily male clientele...Several are recalling the Frenchie scandal when she was kicked off for having pictures on an adult website...I can't put this in the same category because there are no pictures floating around (yet) nor did he pose for pictures...I don't think that it's appropriate, but I don't think that's something he should be kicked off for at least at this point...David really has a great voice and I'm torn on this song choice...A Celine song? I think that he did better last week, but he still can sing and perform...I hope that he makes it next week, but we'll see what happens!
Michael Johns--I am still not a fan of Michael Johns and I can't put my finger on why that is...I mean he can sing and he's a good performer, but I just don't like him...I don't really see him going anywhere...Although, this song choice was a little confusing for me...There were a few times when I cringed, but overall I think it was decent...I'm just not on board the Michael Johns hype train...If I jump on board later, feel free to call me a jumper!
David Cook-- This is where I came in live! I like David Cook...I think that there's something complex about him...He can sing & he can perform and I really liked the song this week-- it was a really great version of the song...I'm just curious if this was an original arrangement of the song or if someone else had come up with it before (like Daughtry's version of Walk the Line)...The vocals were a little rough, but the music did cover it up...I really don't see him going anywhere
Jason Castro--First and foremost, I want to say that I absolutely love the song that he chose and I was a little nervous for him about the song in general...I know that the judges told him not to play the guitar this week, but I would really have like to see him play...That being said, I wasn't a huge fan of the performance when I saw it the first time live, but I watched it again on youtube...And I have to say I became a much, much bigger fan! It's not my favorite version of the song (I really like Kevin Max's version as well as Jeff Buckley's) But...This was really amazing...I still don't see Jason Castro as the winner of American Idol, but more as an accoustic performer and I don't see that fairing well in the mainstream pop industry...I really like him and I become more of a fan each week...
Chikezie--He's growing on me...I'm still not 100% sold on him yet and I don't know if he's original enough...I think he's done this song before-- was it his audition song? It was really nice...Very clean and smooth...There were a few bum notes here and there and the last one was really rough and he knew it...Unfortunately, that's what people will probably remember because it was the last thing that they heard...I'm disappointed that Simon slammed him for picking a Whitney song, but not David Hernandez for picking a Celine song...
This is a really tough week for me...All of the guys really brought their A game this week! So, I'm really torn...I don't think that there was an overwhelming awful performance...
Going Home: Luke Menard & gosh this is hard...Chikezie? I'm really not sure who the second person will or should be...So I'll go with that for now...
Luke Menard--I just noticed that he's from Crawfordsville, IN! I've been there...So, Luke...Dude, I gotta be honest...It was a good song choice for him, but I still can't get past that he's really a "choir" kind of singer and not a pop star...He's obviously gotten some support from somewhere, but I still consider him the Ace Young of this year...
David Archuleta--This young man is nothing short of amazing! I absolutely adore him and at this point I truly hope that he wins the competition...He is absolutely the best that is in the competition right now...I've read rumours that has made him not so well liked by the rest of the contestants, but they should be afraid! This song was AMAZING! He sure knows how to pick songs and not only pick them but do them amazing...The only criticism that I have for him is to work on his breathing...It can be distracting when he takes those big gasps in the middle...Kelly Clarkson does the same thing and there are several other artists who do as well, but I find it annoying and distracting...That being said, if that's the only thing to criticize...Yeah...
Danny Noriega--Oh, Danny and his scandal this week! His video diary clip has been making the rounds...Yes, it's disturbing and no I wouldn't want any children to watch it, but he was a teenager and looked pretty angsty...I think he's grown up from it and it shouldn't be taken in consideration about his performance...There is still something that I like about Danny...He's spunky! But, I've decided that he looks like Jessica Alba! He can sing and that's not a question...There were a few pitch problems here, but nothing that he couldn't work out...I think that it was a good song choice for him, but I think that it's his performance that's distracting...I like him but I know that there are a lot of people that disagree with that...
David Hernandez--Another scandal! Apparently, David was a male stripper with primarily male clientele...Several are recalling the Frenchie scandal when she was kicked off for having pictures on an adult website...I can't put this in the same category because there are no pictures floating around (yet) nor did he pose for pictures...I don't think that it's appropriate, but I don't think that's something he should be kicked off for at least at this point...David really has a great voice and I'm torn on this song choice...A Celine song? I think that he did better last week, but he still can sing and perform...I hope that he makes it next week, but we'll see what happens!
Michael Johns--I am still not a fan of Michael Johns and I can't put my finger on why that is...I mean he can sing and he's a good performer, but I just don't like him...I don't really see him going anywhere...Although, this song choice was a little confusing for me...There were a few times when I cringed, but overall I think it was decent...I'm just not on board the Michael Johns hype train...If I jump on board later, feel free to call me a jumper!
David Cook-- This is where I came in live! I like David Cook...I think that there's something complex about him...He can sing & he can perform and I really liked the song this week-- it was a really great version of the song...I'm just curious if this was an original arrangement of the song or if someone else had come up with it before (like Daughtry's version of Walk the Line)...The vocals were a little rough, but the music did cover it up...I really don't see him going anywhere
Jason Castro--First and foremost, I want to say that I absolutely love the song that he chose and I was a little nervous for him about the song in general...I know that the judges told him not to play the guitar this week, but I would really have like to see him play...That being said, I wasn't a huge fan of the performance when I saw it the first time live, but I watched it again on youtube...And I have to say I became a much, much bigger fan! It's not my favorite version of the song (I really like Kevin Max's version as well as Jeff Buckley's) But...This was really amazing...I still don't see Jason Castro as the winner of American Idol, but more as an accoustic performer and I don't see that fairing well in the mainstream pop industry...I really like him and I become more of a fan each week...
Chikezie--He's growing on me...I'm still not 100% sold on him yet and I don't know if he's original enough...I think he's done this song before-- was it his audition song? It was really nice...Very clean and smooth...There were a few bum notes here and there and the last one was really rough and he knew it...Unfortunately, that's what people will probably remember because it was the last thing that they heard...I'm disappointed that Simon slammed him for picking a Whitney song, but not David Hernandez for picking a Celine song...
This is a really tough week for me...All of the guys really brought their A game this week! So, I'm really torn...I don't think that there was an overwhelming awful performance...
Going Home: Luke Menard & gosh this is hard...Chikezie? I'm really not sure who the second person will or should be...So I'll go with that for now...
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
I've been approved!!!!
Today has been the most incredible day ever! Thank you so much for all of your thoughts/prayers/calls/e-mails/support! Today I was approved by the Northern Illinois Conference Board of Ordained Ministry for commissioning towards elders orders. That means that after the clergy vote at Annual Conference I will be a probationary elder...It's a three-year probationary period and then I will be eligible to go up for ordination. For more information on the probationary period, check here.
This was truly one of the best interviews that I have ever had...The interview team was amazing and I felt so, so good about the interview after it was over, but I tried so hard not to be overconfident because you never know what can happen or how other people percieve what happened...Not many questions were asked about my theological paperwork, which was just incredible and I have to say that I thank my District Committee for their support and work with me to help to make that the best that it could possibly be. It is so amazing to see this process when it is at its best!
The worst part of the day was the waiting...Oh! the waiting! I was literally the last person brought in to recieve the decision of the BOOM. As I was waiting the BOOM registrar came by the lounge and told me to smile and wait with joy...Ugh! I tried!! But it was so hard to wait for almost an hour before I was brought in...
I watched as people came in and out of the room and my mind was brought back to the last time I interviewed and I was the one who came in and was told "not yet"...I so wanted to reach out to those people, but my heart was in such turmoil with the waiting...Now, I'm sorry I didn't get the chance...I've been there, where they've been...It's hard to be there and to be told no or net yet...But, I've come out on the other side and it took a lot of growth and a lot of change on my part...And I'm still on this journey...Praise be to God and please continue to pray for me as I continue on this process...
This was truly one of the best interviews that I have ever had...The interview team was amazing and I felt so, so good about the interview after it was over, but I tried so hard not to be overconfident because you never know what can happen or how other people percieve what happened...Not many questions were asked about my theological paperwork, which was just incredible and I have to say that I thank my District Committee for their support and work with me to help to make that the best that it could possibly be. It is so amazing to see this process when it is at its best!
The worst part of the day was the waiting...Oh! the waiting! I was literally the last person brought in to recieve the decision of the BOOM. As I was waiting the BOOM registrar came by the lounge and told me to smile and wait with joy...Ugh! I tried!! But it was so hard to wait for almost an hour before I was brought in...
I watched as people came in and out of the room and my mind was brought back to the last time I interviewed and I was the one who came in and was told "not yet"...I so wanted to reach out to those people, but my heart was in such turmoil with the waiting...Now, I'm sorry I didn't get the chance...I've been there, where they've been...It's hard to be there and to be told no or net yet...But, I've come out on the other side and it took a lot of growth and a lot of change on my part...And I'm still on this journey...Praise be to God and please continue to pray for me as I continue on this process...
BOOM!
Today I will be interviewing with the Northern Illinois Conference Board of Ordained Ministry (BOOM) for commissioning...If I am approved by the BOOM today, it means that I will be a probationary elder for 3 years and then I can go up for ordination for elder's orders...
This is a big interview today, so if you would pray for me, I would so appreciate it! Thanks!
This is a big interview today, so if you would pray for me, I would so appreciate it! Thanks!
Monday, March 03, 2008
The Big Give...
Okay, I have to admit first off that I didn't watch the entire show because I forgot that it was on...But I did catch the last 30 min of Oprah's new show "The Big Give" and I have to say...It was awful and dare I say very offensive...
Here's what I have a problem with...Judging people of how much they gave away and kicking people off the show because they didn't give enough away...When did being charitable become a challenge and something that should be rewarded? I find that idea repulsive. When being charitable becomes a challenge and something that one is rewarded for, what then is the real reason for giving? It's about what we can get and not about what we can do for others...
I would like to think that Oprah had good intentions with creating this show, but seriously...
Here's what I have a problem with...Judging people of how much they gave away and kicking people off the show because they didn't give enough away...When did being charitable become a challenge and something that should be rewarded? I find that idea repulsive. When being charitable becomes a challenge and something that one is rewarded for, what then is the real reason for giving? It's about what we can get and not about what we can do for others...
I would like to think that Oprah had good intentions with creating this show, but seriously...
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Choosing Bold Over Mild
Choosing Bold Over Mild
We’re in the fourth week of our Lenten series, I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church and in the 4th of 6 critical choices that need to be made…Each choice is vital and critical not only for individuals, but also for churches…Rev. Paul Nixon poses these choices to the Church universal, but also to every congregation…Our first choice is Choosing Life over Death, the second choice is choosing community over isolation, and the third choice is choosing fun over drudgery…The first 3 choices have seemed like they would be easy choices to make…Life obviously wins over death and community clearly trumps isolation and drudgery doesn’t even stand a chance against fun! But the next three choices, while it’s clear what the choice should be, the decision gets harder…Because the choices become more challenging…Which brings us to today where our choice is choosing bold over mild…
When you’re at the store and you have the option of choosing the product that’s “original” or the product that’s “new and improved”…Which one do you choose? More often than not, the product that’s new and improved wins out…There are the rare cases when it doesn’t…Like when Coca-Cola changed their name to “new Coke”—that one didn’t go over so well, but instead they went from “new Coke” to “Classic Coca-Cola” which was a bold change in and of itself as well!
Choosing Bold over Mild…Now, the choice is pretty clear which to make…We should choose Bold! But like I said the next 3 choices are more challenging…When we call something bold, it’s usually because it’s sharp or biting or harsh…Bold hasn’t been associated with many “good” ideas in more recent times…So, wouldn’t we want to choose mild? Because mild surely doesn’t offend anyone…
And therein lies the problem…Mild doesn’t offend anyone…And Jesus’ message was anything but mild…Now don’t misunderstand…Jesus’ message was about love and grace, but Jesus’ teachings weren’t easy to swallow for many people when they were first heard or when they’re heard today…Jesus’ teachings are very challenging and if you aren’t sure about that, the next time you read one of Jesus’ teachings, imagine that Jesus is talking directly to you…While Jesus’ message is one of love and grace, it is also very challenging…Jesus’ message…The message of the Gospel is very bold.
The story from this morning about the man born blind is a story filled with boldness and even within the story, there’s some mildness to be found…
Jesus & his disciples encounter this man born blind from birth and after some conversation about his condition, Jesus makes a bold statement about himself…He tells his disciples that he is the light of the world…Even more than that, Jesus says I AM the light of the world…In this short sentence, Jesus refers to himself as God simply by saying the words I AM…When Moses asked God for God’s name in the burning bush, God told Moses, “My name is I AM.” Jesus just made the bold statement, I AM the light of the world…
After Jesus makes the bold claim about himself, he then moves toward healing this man…This is another bold move…Not just because Jesus is going to heal this man, but because he’s going to heal this man on the Sabbath…According to law, no work must be done on the Sabbath—absolutely none! Jews were given specific instructions on how to observe the Sabbath and still continue the practice to this day…No cooking is to be done on the Sabbath, only a certain number of steps are allowed…Absolutely no work is to be done…So, if absolutely no work is to be done and Jesus is healing this man on the Sabbath…Jesus is doing something bold! He’s healing on the Sabbath and he knows that the Scribes & the Pharisees are not going to take kindly to this…But Jesus still spits on the ground and makes mud…then he takes that mud and puts it on the man’s eyes and tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloam…Now this man could have ignored Jesus, but instead he did what Jesus told him to do and he came back able to see…
The townsfolk didn’t believe that this could possibly be the same man that they knew who would beg…and after some questioning, they find out how this man could see again. And when word gets to the Pharisees, they are not happy…They refuse to believe that Jesus is doing this healing in the name of God because surely God of all would honor the Sabbath!
So the Pharisees started to make excuses because they didn’t want to believe many parts of this story…They didn’t want to believe that anyone from God would heal on the Sabbath, but they also didn’t want to believe that anyone but God would heal this man born blind…It’s a tough situation to be in!
The Pharisees call in the blind man’s parents and want to make sure that this man was really born blind and if it is their son, how was it that he could see…And what do his parents do? Well, they acknowledge that this man is their son, but they give no answers as to who healed their son…Instead they say, “Ask him! He’s of age!” They don’t want to get involved with the situation, because they don’t want to be caught up in anything if there’s trouble…They’ve heard their son’s stories and they could certainly share what their son has shared, but instead they take the mild approach… “Ask him yourself.”
Now to some, their mild approach may make sense…Why would they put themselves in a position of getting in trouble? I mean seriously, they weren’t there for the actual healing…So, why would they want to put themselves in a position to get into trouble or offend anyone? So, in today’s times…When someone asks you “Why do you go to church?” Of course you say, “Figure it out for yourself.” Or “Why are you so joyful all the time?” “Figure it out for yourself.” Or “Who is this Jesus I keep hearing about.” “Figure it out for yourself.” It’s a nice, mild response…
Well, the Pharisees then go to the man born blind and he has no problem telling the Pharisees what has happened…Now this man has never seen Jesus, so he answers honestly that he doesn’t really know who it was that healed him, but instead he starts teaching the Pharisees about God! The Pharisees who are the experts—the ones who claim to know everything that can possibly known about God and this man, this formerly blind man who they consider to be a sinner starts to tell them about God…Oh this formerly blind man is bold!
The Pharisees tell this man that they don’t know where Jesus came from…And the man says to them…You say that only one from God can heal…I once was blind and now I see…I’ve been healed and you’re still asking where this man came from? If only one from God can heal and he healed me…Don’t you see the connection here…So many bold statements in that man…He was standing up to the Pharisees and teaching them! And he was making the statement that Jesus came from God…A statement that was blasphemous…he could be put to death for it…And he makes it unabashedly! Much different from the mild response from his parents!
When Jesus encounters this man again he asks him, do you believe in the Son of Man? Now, remember that this formerly blind man has never actually seen Jesus, so he doesn’t know to recognize him by sight…But Jesus tells him that he is looking at the Son of Man…And he worships him!
Did you catch that? This man never physically saw Jesus and yet, he believed! He didn’t know how to recognize the one that healed him, but he believed that Jesus was from God…He made an incredibly bold decision…And when he finally did come face to face with Jesus, he told him that he believed and he worshiped him!
Are we that bold? Are you that bold? To unabashedly believe in Jesus that we don’t have to physically see him in order to believe? To not need proof in order to say that Jesus is Lord!?!?
That’s boldness there…Jesus doesn’t call us to be mild…Jesus doesn’t ask if we believe and then say, “Oh good, keep it a secret now!” Did Jesus die and rise again to keep that news a secret?? That’s bold news…That’s the Good News of the Gospel! That Jesus died and rose again…That Jesus is Lord! It’s bold news! So, what do we do with that bold news?? Think it’s great on Sunday morning, but on Monday morning in line at the grocery store forget about it?? Are we choosing bold over mild?
Now to be sure, there is a time when boldness can cross the line into pushy or rude…And there are probably times when there will be someone who is offended when I say that Jesus is my Lord…But I’m not going to hide that and I’m not going to keep it a secret…Because I am excited and impassioned that Jesus is my Lord…That God made the bold move to send Jesus Christ because God so loved the whole world! That Jesus was so bold to die for me, for us and that the whole world was changed when Jesus rose from the dead…That there was all this boldness and all this amazing activity that happened for me and on my behalf…For us and on our behalf…How can we not be bold in proclaiming that??
And it’s still a choice that we have to make…Are we going to be bold in our belief? Or are we going to be mild? And let me say that if we choose to be mild, there will be another bold statement to come along that people will listen to more…And that bold statement may not have anything to with Jesus or with God’s love…But we have the bolder statement…We have it…Are we going to share it? Choosing Bold Over Mild…It’s not always easy, but it’s what we’re called to do. Let’s choose bold over mild together.
We’re in the fourth week of our Lenten series, I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church and in the 4th of 6 critical choices that need to be made…Each choice is vital and critical not only for individuals, but also for churches…Rev. Paul Nixon poses these choices to the Church universal, but also to every congregation…Our first choice is Choosing Life over Death, the second choice is choosing community over isolation, and the third choice is choosing fun over drudgery…The first 3 choices have seemed like they would be easy choices to make…Life obviously wins over death and community clearly trumps isolation and drudgery doesn’t even stand a chance against fun! But the next three choices, while it’s clear what the choice should be, the decision gets harder…Because the choices become more challenging…Which brings us to today where our choice is choosing bold over mild…
When you’re at the store and you have the option of choosing the product that’s “original” or the product that’s “new and improved”…Which one do you choose? More often than not, the product that’s new and improved wins out…There are the rare cases when it doesn’t…Like when Coca-Cola changed their name to “new Coke”—that one didn’t go over so well, but instead they went from “new Coke” to “Classic Coca-Cola” which was a bold change in and of itself as well!
Choosing Bold over Mild…Now, the choice is pretty clear which to make…We should choose Bold! But like I said the next 3 choices are more challenging…When we call something bold, it’s usually because it’s sharp or biting or harsh…Bold hasn’t been associated with many “good” ideas in more recent times…So, wouldn’t we want to choose mild? Because mild surely doesn’t offend anyone…
And therein lies the problem…Mild doesn’t offend anyone…And Jesus’ message was anything but mild…Now don’t misunderstand…Jesus’ message was about love and grace, but Jesus’ teachings weren’t easy to swallow for many people when they were first heard or when they’re heard today…Jesus’ teachings are very challenging and if you aren’t sure about that, the next time you read one of Jesus’ teachings, imagine that Jesus is talking directly to you…While Jesus’ message is one of love and grace, it is also very challenging…Jesus’ message…The message of the Gospel is very bold.
The story from this morning about the man born blind is a story filled with boldness and even within the story, there’s some mildness to be found…
Jesus & his disciples encounter this man born blind from birth and after some conversation about his condition, Jesus makes a bold statement about himself…He tells his disciples that he is the light of the world…Even more than that, Jesus says I AM the light of the world…In this short sentence, Jesus refers to himself as God simply by saying the words I AM…When Moses asked God for God’s name in the burning bush, God told Moses, “My name is I AM.” Jesus just made the bold statement, I AM the light of the world…
After Jesus makes the bold claim about himself, he then moves toward healing this man…This is another bold move…Not just because Jesus is going to heal this man, but because he’s going to heal this man on the Sabbath…According to law, no work must be done on the Sabbath—absolutely none! Jews were given specific instructions on how to observe the Sabbath and still continue the practice to this day…No cooking is to be done on the Sabbath, only a certain number of steps are allowed…Absolutely no work is to be done…So, if absolutely no work is to be done and Jesus is healing this man on the Sabbath…Jesus is doing something bold! He’s healing on the Sabbath and he knows that the Scribes & the Pharisees are not going to take kindly to this…But Jesus still spits on the ground and makes mud…then he takes that mud and puts it on the man’s eyes and tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloam…Now this man could have ignored Jesus, but instead he did what Jesus told him to do and he came back able to see…
The townsfolk didn’t believe that this could possibly be the same man that they knew who would beg…and after some questioning, they find out how this man could see again. And when word gets to the Pharisees, they are not happy…They refuse to believe that Jesus is doing this healing in the name of God because surely God of all would honor the Sabbath!
So the Pharisees started to make excuses because they didn’t want to believe many parts of this story…They didn’t want to believe that anyone from God would heal on the Sabbath, but they also didn’t want to believe that anyone but God would heal this man born blind…It’s a tough situation to be in!
The Pharisees call in the blind man’s parents and want to make sure that this man was really born blind and if it is their son, how was it that he could see…And what do his parents do? Well, they acknowledge that this man is their son, but they give no answers as to who healed their son…Instead they say, “Ask him! He’s of age!” They don’t want to get involved with the situation, because they don’t want to be caught up in anything if there’s trouble…They’ve heard their son’s stories and they could certainly share what their son has shared, but instead they take the mild approach… “Ask him yourself.”
Now to some, their mild approach may make sense…Why would they put themselves in a position of getting in trouble? I mean seriously, they weren’t there for the actual healing…So, why would they want to put themselves in a position to get into trouble or offend anyone? So, in today’s times…When someone asks you “Why do you go to church?” Of course you say, “Figure it out for yourself.” Or “Why are you so joyful all the time?” “Figure it out for yourself.” Or “Who is this Jesus I keep hearing about.” “Figure it out for yourself.” It’s a nice, mild response…
Well, the Pharisees then go to the man born blind and he has no problem telling the Pharisees what has happened…Now this man has never seen Jesus, so he answers honestly that he doesn’t really know who it was that healed him, but instead he starts teaching the Pharisees about God! The Pharisees who are the experts—the ones who claim to know everything that can possibly known about God and this man, this formerly blind man who they consider to be a sinner starts to tell them about God…Oh this formerly blind man is bold!
The Pharisees tell this man that they don’t know where Jesus came from…And the man says to them…You say that only one from God can heal…I once was blind and now I see…I’ve been healed and you’re still asking where this man came from? If only one from God can heal and he healed me…Don’t you see the connection here…So many bold statements in that man…He was standing up to the Pharisees and teaching them! And he was making the statement that Jesus came from God…A statement that was blasphemous…he could be put to death for it…And he makes it unabashedly! Much different from the mild response from his parents!
When Jesus encounters this man again he asks him, do you believe in the Son of Man? Now, remember that this formerly blind man has never actually seen Jesus, so he doesn’t know to recognize him by sight…But Jesus tells him that he is looking at the Son of Man…And he worships him!
Did you catch that? This man never physically saw Jesus and yet, he believed! He didn’t know how to recognize the one that healed him, but he believed that Jesus was from God…He made an incredibly bold decision…And when he finally did come face to face with Jesus, he told him that he believed and he worshiped him!
Are we that bold? Are you that bold? To unabashedly believe in Jesus that we don’t have to physically see him in order to believe? To not need proof in order to say that Jesus is Lord!?!?
That’s boldness there…Jesus doesn’t call us to be mild…Jesus doesn’t ask if we believe and then say, “Oh good, keep it a secret now!” Did Jesus die and rise again to keep that news a secret?? That’s bold news…That’s the Good News of the Gospel! That Jesus died and rose again…That Jesus is Lord! It’s bold news! So, what do we do with that bold news?? Think it’s great on Sunday morning, but on Monday morning in line at the grocery store forget about it?? Are we choosing bold over mild?
Now to be sure, there is a time when boldness can cross the line into pushy or rude…And there are probably times when there will be someone who is offended when I say that Jesus is my Lord…But I’m not going to hide that and I’m not going to keep it a secret…Because I am excited and impassioned that Jesus is my Lord…That God made the bold move to send Jesus Christ because God so loved the whole world! That Jesus was so bold to die for me, for us and that the whole world was changed when Jesus rose from the dead…That there was all this boldness and all this amazing activity that happened for me and on my behalf…For us and on our behalf…How can we not be bold in proclaiming that??
And it’s still a choice that we have to make…Are we going to be bold in our belief? Or are we going to be mild? And let me say that if we choose to be mild, there will be another bold statement to come along that people will listen to more…And that bold statement may not have anything to with Jesus or with God’s love…But we have the bolder statement…We have it…Are we going to share it? Choosing Bold Over Mild…It’s not always easy, but it’s what we’re called to do. Let’s choose bold over mild together.
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