I use this blog as part of my journaling. Last year my goal was to make 24 posts (averaging two per month). This year my goal was 36 posts, and next year, my final goal is to write 48 posts in a year. I have achieved my goal for the year, and I still have four months remaining! I hope these have been edifying and enjoyable for those few of you that read my notes. Continue reading Goal Achievement
Call to Worship: Caring Community
The first few verses of Galatians chapter six are interesting. With the span of a few verses we have admonitions to both “carry each other’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2) and for “each one [to] carry his own load” (Gal. 6:5). In the church, being responsible for one’s own walk and being responsible for others is not an either or scenario.
Messy Pastoring: To Perform or Not Perform a Wedding
Last Saturday I was planning on attending a wedding, as a guest, but less than two hours before the ceremony was to begin I received a phone call from the maid of honor, informing me that the person who was supposed to officiate the ceremony was in the emergency room, and requesting if I would conduct the ceremony. I chose to fill in, but now that I have more than one minute to reflect, I can ask myself if I ethically made the correct decision. Continue reading Messy Pastoring: To Perform or Not Perform a Wedding
Integration Paper Thoughts: Congregational Spiritual Formation
Usually I am several months ahead in coming up with potential research paper topics, but for the final two Wesley Seminary praxis courses (Congregational Spiritual Formation and Congregational Relationships) I have not come up with anything solid. This is especially frustrating because spiritual formation is supposed to be one of my strengths. Here are the two ideas I have been tossing around for spiritual formation.
Creation Care
Al Gore recently went into a rant over climate change. Someone’s use of profanity in their argument has never been particularly persuasive for me, but, in my opinion, it does not matter so much if one believes if climate change is human caused, naturally cyclical, or occurring at all, we still have a responsibility for creation care. Even if one believes that the world will go from bad to worse in every way until Christ returns, since we do not know when Christ will return, why not strive to live in a world that is moral, pleasant, and healthy?
Baptism According to The Didache
After this past weekend, I am starting a push for baptisms to be conducted in the manner prescribed in The Didache. Continue reading Baptism According to The Didache
Call to Worship: The Sweet Word of God
A tragedy struck a man. An explosion had left him without hands or sight. Fortunately, he recovered from the accident, but one thing he regretted was that he could no longer read. Specifically, he wanted to be able to read the Bible. Hope came when he heard of a person who had learned to read Braille using her lips. He thought he could also learn to read Braille in that way, but he was disappointed. The burns on his face had so damaged the nerves in his lips that he could not feel the raised dots of Braille. However, as he experimented, he accidental stuck out his tongue and found that he could feel the Braille with his tongue. Thus he was able to eventually read the Bible again using his tongue.
Language and the Multi-Ethnic Church
Language can both exclude and invite. By language I do not mean the use of certain words, but languages, such as English, Spanish, Korean, etc.
SoulShift #7: Me to We
Even though there are two chapters and an epilogue remaining, this will be my final post on SoulShift. The final chapters contain good practical aids for making a personal plan to achieve a soul shift and encouraging words to spur us on.
Chapter 7 begins with the most powerful illustration in the book, and I will not spoil it by re-posting it here; read the book. Continue reading SoulShift #7: Me to We
SoulShift #6: Sheep to Shepherd
As I read this chapter, I recalled a cartoon I watched as a child. A wolf sits in a cave reading the newspaper. He reads the front page headline with delight. The U.S. Army has drafted the sheep dog for the war (WWII) effort. The wolf races from his den, down the hill to have a sheep lunch, but he is quickly and brutally rebuffed. The battered wolf returns to the cave to read the continuation of the news article below the fold line. The second headline reads: Continue reading SoulShift #6: Sheep to Shepherd