Image by echobase_2000 via Flickr"Mother Theresa always said, "Calcuttas are everywhere if only we have eyes to see. Find your Calcutta."— Shane Claiborne (The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical)...
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Cover via Amazon"And I think that's what our world is desperately in need of - lovers, people who are building deep, genuine relationships with fellow strugglers along the way, and who actually know the faces of the people behind the issues they are concerned about."— Shane Claiborne (The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical)...
Monday, June 28, 2010
Image by echobase_2000 via Flickr"Only Jesus would be crazy enough to suggest that if you want to become the greatest, you should become the least. Only Jesus would declare God's blessing on the poor rather than on the rich and would insist that it's not enough to just love your friends. I just began to wonder if anybody still believed Jesus meant those things he said."— Shane Claiborne (The Irresistible...
Image by loswl via FlickrWhen dealing with politics in this nation of ours, I am a firm believer that we've lost an ability to discuss issues about which passionately disagree. We read our liberal or conservative news. We blog with like-minded folk. We turn opposing positions into caricatures and oversimplify with sound-bites. And what we get is...well...we get what we normally...
Sunday, June 27, 2010
At Girdwood Chapel, we are getting into the Parables of Jesus throughout the summer and I've been saying that it's true that we learn though stories. They teach us. The shape us into being certain types of people.That said, I have four daughters and each of them has latched on to a particular Disney Princess. Our youngest twins idealize Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella and, on many nights...
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Cover via AmazonCheck out this review of Irresistible Revolution by Internet Monk, Michael Spencer, from 2006. Here's a little of what he says of Shane. This gets my spiritual blood pumping.Claiborne is the typical youth group kid I worked with for 15 years. (He’s a just turned thirty-something who grew up in a UMC youth group in Eastern Tennessee.) He’s the popular, small town boy from...
Cover via Amazon"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown out on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy." - George Bernard S...
Friday, June 25, 2010
Image via WikipediaI enjoy the stuff over at NextReformation, especially getting deeper into the concept of mission and missions. The church IS A MISSION. We participate in the story of God for the world. And yet, the church is involved IN MISSIONS. We have a food bank and we do outreach in the community. And it's interesting pondering what the whole point is of the church...
Image via WikipediaText: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32We are well into our summer sermon series, looking at the parables of Jesus. Part of the premise of this series is that stories are one of the main ways we learn and share and relate with one another. When children are first learning concepts, it is often through storybooks. When persons are welcomed into a family, there are a whole...
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Image via WikipediaWhen I started out in ministry, I was very headstrong, very sure of myself, and convinced that I was entirely theologically correct. It was obnoxious, I'm sure, for those in Frankfort, Indiana to whom I was sent to serve. Here I was, 24 years-old, right out of a prestigious seminary at Duke, I had had all the correct classes with all of the correct professors, and had gotten all...
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Image by bartmaguire via FlickrThis is another Charles Wesley hymn. Man, that guy wrote a lot. Check out the "worms" in that last verseGOD of almighty love, By whose sufficient graceI lift my heart to things above, And humbly seek thy face;Through Jesus Christ the Just, My faint desires receive;And let me in thy goodness trust, And to thy glory live.Whate'er I say or do, Thy glory be...
Monday, June 21, 2010
Image by whologwhy via FlickrWell, yesterday was "Father's Day." I have to confess that I try to "tapdance" around this and "Mother's Day." I understand the importance of fathers and mothers. I appreciate fathers and mothers. However, I recognize that some of our folk...some of any church actually...never knew their biological mothers and fathers. And we have folks who,...
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Image by WolfS♡ul via Flickr"Dear Lord, I do not ask to see the path. In darkness, in anguish, and in fear, I will hang on tightly to your hand, and I will close my eyes, so that you know how much trust I place in you, Spouse of my soul." (Blessed Maria Elizabetta Hesselblad) Found over at Of All the Liars in the World...
The following is just a simple prayer that the bride and groom have requested for a wedding that I'm performing today. I'm attracted to the simplicity of this prayer.Lord, behold our family here assembled.We thank you for this place in which we dwell. For the love that unites us,For the peace given to us on this day,For the hope with which we expect tomorrow,For the healthy, the work, the food,And...
The heading of this video says:In memory of Olive MorganThe most amazing 80-something blogger we have ever met!Interview taken from Evangelical Alliance Godblogs Conference in September 2008Here's the wonderful video. Commentary below.I love her comment that, if John Wesley were alive today, he'd have a blog rather than a journal.And, more than that, I love how she was able to tell how her blog...
Saturday, June 19, 2010
O Lord my God, I thank you that you have brought this day to its close. I thank you that you have given rest to body and soul. Your hands have been over me, guarding me and preserving me. Forgive my feeble faith and all the wrong I have done this day, and help me to forgive all who have wronged me. Grant that I may sleep in peace beneath your care, and defend me from the temptations of darkness....
(Just a note from me: I confess that this post has a little more theological and philosophical depth than I'm used to and I might be in over my congested head. After finishing it, I feel a great need to post a funny music video or something.)I'm sure there are two persons out there who are less likely to appear together in a blog post...but I can't think of them right now.On one side,...
Friday, June 18, 2010
Luke 15:11-32 (The Message)The Story of the Lost Son 11-12Then he said, "There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, 'Father, I want right now what's coming to me.' 12-16"So the father divided the property between them. It wasn't long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted...
Ummm... EwwwI saw over at Mashable that Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff sent out a highly unnecessary tweet. Earlier today a Utah firing squaud executed a convicted killer by the name of Ronnie Lee Gardner. In the above tweet, Shurtleff announced the execution. In an earlier tweet, he wrote: “A solemn day. Barring a stay by Sup Ct, & with my final nod, Utah will use...
Thursday, June 17, 2010
At least now I know why I ate that extra cookie and why I chose to update my blog rather than go out for a bike ride (actually, it's because I'm sick---but I think I can blame that on the devil, too).The review of this book from 1977 over at The Pitch says the following:"The idea of being starved didn't originate with your stomach. It came from your MIND. It was SATAN'S IDEA. How do we know? A healthy...
I found the prayer below over at NextReformation and it reminded me of a time that was good and, well, holy to me. For quite some time, I kept a prayer journal. No, it was not just a list of persons I could pray for or a list of all the world's problems. It was a collection of prayers I liked and historic prayers. Each day I would journey through it, taking a slightly...
HAIL, thou once despised Jesus!Hail, thou Galilean King!Thou didst suffer to release us;Thou didst free salvation bring.Hail, thou agonizing Saviour,Bearer of our sin and shame!By thy merits we find favour;Life is given through thy name.Paschal Lamb, by God appointed,All our sins on thee were laid;By almighty love anointed,Thou hast full atonement made;All thy people are forgivenThrough the virtue...
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Thinking about finances...for both family and church and for the people around us.I Found this over at Pete Wilson's "Without Wax."Andy Stanley once asked, “Do you have money in the bank, but no peace in your heart?”There is no correlation between money and peace.Zip.Zero.Nada.Get, earn, save, and invest all of it you want… but you’ll never squeeze an ounce of peace out of ...
Omnipotent Redeemer,Our ransomed souls adore thee,Whate’er is doneThy work we own,And give thee all the glory;With thankfulness acknowledgeOur time of visitation;Thine hand confess,And gladly blessThe God of our salvation.Thou hast employed thy servants,And blest their weak endeavours,And lo! in theeWe myriads seeOf justified believers;The church of pardoned sinners,Exulting in their Saviour,Sing...
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Text: Matthew 13:31-34 Here we are in our summer sermon series, looking at the Parables of Jesus. We’re going to hit the ones we could tell from memory and the ones we’re not sure we’ve ever heard before. We’re going to look at the big ones and, like this week, the small ones. To begin, we’ve been saying that stories are very important to us as human beings. They have a role in defining...
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