Happy New Year! We made it to 2009, and every New Year we are overwhelmed with the optimistic promises and vows made by us all. " I am going to exercise this year", " This year I promise to eat healthier!" "This year I will kiss my debt goodbye!". Of course all these promises are made with the best of intentions, and many do follow through on their commitments. However, what's really new about this year? With the boom in technology and the increase of information, human beings are pretty much the same. We still have wars, crime, divorce, the killing of babies, and we all battle with the deadly disease of selfishness. Of course goodness is seeping through the cracks of our broken world all the time. I have chosen to place my hope in Jesus the "Christ", the Savior of the Cosmos! In the midst of a broken world and fast cracking world, His words ring vibrantly in my soul " See, I am making all things new." (Rev. 21:5).
It is this hope of a real living God-Man who came into time as a part of His creation to transform time as well as to renew His creation! Just as it was revealed in the story of The Creation in Genesis, He is once again at work in the midst of chaos. Just as in the story of the Exodus he is once again at work to liberate all of creation from bondage. He experienced our brokenness and our fallenness so that he might mend us as well as lift us up! It is my hope that this New Year will be filled with renewal for the People of God that we might work with our God to Make All Things New. Happy New Year!
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Taking Advantage of Advent
Rhythm, music would be meaningless without it, rhyming would be off and time would cease to tick. Our world is full of Rhythm...evening and morning, winter, spring, summer and autumn. We even have our own rhythmic rituals. As I have been challenged to grow and be intentional regarding my own spiritual formation, I have come to discover one of the many jewels in the treasury of the Church, the christian calendar. In my own protestant tradition we saw the christian calendar as another meaningless ritual and a bunch of fraudulent holidays. However, as I have sought to live my life rooted in God's narrative, I have come to recognize the genius in the rhythm of the christian calendar. It not only proclaims the gospel story, but it calls out to us to learn, remember, celebrate, and live within it.
Currently we are in the season of Advent, which means arrival or coming. It is when the people of God look back with expectancy to the day when the eternal Son entered into the temporal world, and it also when we look forward with anticipation to His coming again to restore justice, to make everything right!
So far my wife and I have been diving fully into the season as well as retelling and reliving the story with our younglings ( and we got four of em!). It has been quite the journey, we gravitate between the poles of "c'mon guys don't you get it" and "wow I think they actually got it". Sounds like a familiar story huh. Anyways I hope you find your hearts brimming with Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love as you to relive and retell His Story.....our story.
Currently we are in the season of Advent, which means arrival or coming. It is when the people of God look back with expectancy to the day when the eternal Son entered into the temporal world, and it also when we look forward with anticipation to His coming again to restore justice, to make everything right!
So far my wife and I have been diving fully into the season as well as retelling and reliving the story with our younglings ( and we got four of em!). It has been quite the journey, we gravitate between the poles of "c'mon guys don't you get it" and "wow I think they actually got it". Sounds like a familiar story huh. Anyways I hope you find your hearts brimming with Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love as you to relive and retell His Story.....our story.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Completed "The Jesus Creed"
"The Jesus Creed" by Dr. Scot McKnight proved to be a great read all the way through! It was one of those interactive reads where you are forced to pause, reflect, examine, repent, and then act. In Chapter 21, "Surrendering In Jesus", Dr. McKnight wrote, "Surrendering ourselves to love God is not giving up things for God so much as giving ourselves to God." In another post I previously stated that I was using "The Jesus Creed" as sort of a road map on my Lenten my Lenten journey. The aforementioned quote proved to be a rest stop, a place to camp out a bit and repent. During lent we think of things to give up, which is not a bad practice, but the call is to give up ourselves. It was a good reminder of God's claim upon my life, the whole of my life. The whole of my life includes my time, resources, decisions, family, rights, and I'm sure you get the point. It is the call to a very old word known as devotion, it is the consecration of ones' self to God. After all That is the Jesus Creed, To love God with our entire self, and to love others as our self! Check it out for yourself!
Thursday, March 06, 2008
The Jesus Creed
As a part of my Lenten Experience, I have meditating and trying to live out the Jesus Creed. For those of you who don't know, The Jesus Creed is a book written by New Testament scholar Scot McKnight. The Jesus Creed is simply the Jewish Creed, the Shema combined with loving your neighbor as yourself.
"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." [Deut. 6:4-5]
[And now Jesus adds a verse from Leviticus. 19:18.]
"The second is this: "Love your neighbor as yourself." There is no commandment greater than these."
In his book, Dr. McKnight encourages readers to use the Jesus Creed as guide toward spiritual formation. He believes that this creed was the core of all that Jesus taught and exemplified. He writes, "For Jesus, love of God and love of others is the core. Love, a term almost indefinable, is unconditional regard for a person that prompts and shapes behaviors in order to help that person to become what God desires. Love, when working properly, is both emotion and will, affection and action."
Needless to say this book is proving to be a challenging, and a prophetic read. It continually calls me back to that original human task, reflecting the Image of God.
"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." [Deut. 6:4-5]
[And now Jesus adds a verse from Leviticus. 19:18.]
"The second is this: "Love your neighbor as yourself." There is no commandment greater than these."
In his book, Dr. McKnight encourages readers to use the Jesus Creed as guide toward spiritual formation. He believes that this creed was the core of all that Jesus taught and exemplified. He writes, "For Jesus, love of God and love of others is the core. Love, a term almost indefinable, is unconditional regard for a person that prompts and shapes behaviors in order to help that person to become what God desires. Love, when working properly, is both emotion and will, affection and action."
Needless to say this book is proving to be a challenging, and a prophetic read. It continually calls me back to that original human task, reflecting the Image of God.
LEGENDS...
Growing up "the son of a preacher man" meant that I spent incredibly long hours in Church. Sometimes it was frustrating but the majority of the time it was full of excitement, comedy, and adventure. When it came to giving advice, no one beats the legendary Sam Benas. Watch the video (courtesy of Myron Boyd) to get a glimpse. This is an old video of a service taking place in the Church I grew up in! The one and only Mt. Carmel Holiness Church in Chicago.
A Long Hiatus .......
What's happening people? Since I last blogged much in my life has changed. For starters I am no longer living in Roc City (Rochester, NY), but my family and I have left the east coast to settle in the midwest. We are now living in Ft. Wayne, IN. I know what you're thinking........"How in the heck did that happen?" Don't feel bad, my wife and I often wake up asking ourselves the same question. In short in I accepted the invitation to serve as a youth pastor for a community here, and my life has been a wreck ever since...not really!
If anyone ever tells you that whenever you decide to follow God, that everything will go perfectly.."Don't Choo Believe It!" Ask Abraham, Elijah, Paul, or just ask Jesus! We looked intensely for several months to find a house or an apartment and we came up short each time. Either it was out of price range, too small, or it was just sold! As you can imagine we were terribly frustrated, with no place to call home, some generous folks opened their home to us. We have been living with them for 7mths now, and we have learned a great deal about hospitality and generosity. They have not only opened their home to us, but they have opened their lives to us. They have taught us what it means to hang on to possessions loosely! They, truly recognize everything they have as a gift from God, and part of their enjoyment has been watching my family and I enjoy their home. To be honest folks I don't know if I could do this before meeting them. You see I enjoy community but doggonit what's mine is mine! The Feays' have truly shown us what God is like. How did they do this? Not by opening a Bible, but rather opening up their lives. As you all know I am not against opening the Bible, but I think that too often we forget that God is continuing to write His story in our hearts within the context of our own lives. I guess community is not just sharing space or things, but more so the sharing of our lives. I wonder what kind of story we live out for others to read? Anyways all this to say this blog is now back open!
If anyone ever tells you that whenever you decide to follow God, that everything will go perfectly.."Don't Choo Believe It!" Ask Abraham, Elijah, Paul, or just ask Jesus! We looked intensely for several months to find a house or an apartment and we came up short each time. Either it was out of price range, too small, or it was just sold! As you can imagine we were terribly frustrated, with no place to call home, some generous folks opened their home to us. We have been living with them for 7mths now, and we have learned a great deal about hospitality and generosity. They have not only opened their home to us, but they have opened their lives to us. They have taught us what it means to hang on to possessions loosely! They, truly recognize everything they have as a gift from God, and part of their enjoyment has been watching my family and I enjoy their home. To be honest folks I don't know if I could do this before meeting them. You see I enjoy community but doggonit what's mine is mine! The Feays' have truly shown us what God is like. How did they do this? Not by opening a Bible, but rather opening up their lives. As you all know I am not against opening the Bible, but I think that too often we forget that God is continuing to write His story in our hearts within the context of our own lives. I guess community is not just sharing space or things, but more so the sharing of our lives. I wonder what kind of story we live out for others to read? Anyways all this to say this blog is now back open!
Monday, November 13, 2006
Cosmic Footsteps Part I
In the days of kings and warriors. A ruler laid siege to a city named Samaria in order to conquer it. This caused major distress to its inhabitants, prices soared and poverty sky rocketed. Mothers were so desparate for survival that they killed and ate their infants!
..........I guess we still live in a time of kings and warriors, only they dress differently and use different weapons, but the results and the victims are still the same. Poverty is still on the rise and mothers are seeking survival at the expense of their young & defenseless......
The army of this fierce ruler had set up camp not far from the city. Their camp is filled with food, wealth, and comfort. Outside the city were 4 outcasts who were not allowed inside the city due to their contagious disease. Who knew that these insignificant gentleman would do something of significant proportions. Recognizing that they had nothing to lose they decided to walk towards the enemies camp where more than what they needed could be found. There was one slight problem, there is no guarantee that their enemies will not kill them. These 4 outcasts did the figuring in their heads, they were going to die eventually by sickness so they reckoned their wasn't any need to fear the enemies spear or sword!
.........A brother of mine, a fellow comrade or I guess you could say a fellow warrior, only we dress diffrently from the warriors back then and our weapons are very different, decided to walk the streets of our city. We decided or perhaps maybe we were influenced to do something called the prayer of presence. We were going to walk the streets in our Cassocks (long black robes that priest wear)along with our crosses. Our desire was to pray silently while we walked, and to be a sign to those around us just to cause their minds to think of God, a least for a few seconds anyway. We were hoping that somehow God would use our walking for His Kingdom.
......Stay Tuned for Part II
..........I guess we still live in a time of kings and warriors, only they dress differently and use different weapons, but the results and the victims are still the same. Poverty is still on the rise and mothers are seeking survival at the expense of their young & defenseless......
The army of this fierce ruler had set up camp not far from the city. Their camp is filled with food, wealth, and comfort. Outside the city were 4 outcasts who were not allowed inside the city due to their contagious disease. Who knew that these insignificant gentleman would do something of significant proportions. Recognizing that they had nothing to lose they decided to walk towards the enemies camp where more than what they needed could be found. There was one slight problem, there is no guarantee that their enemies will not kill them. These 4 outcasts did the figuring in their heads, they were going to die eventually by sickness so they reckoned their wasn't any need to fear the enemies spear or sword!
.........A brother of mine, a fellow comrade or I guess you could say a fellow warrior, only we dress diffrently from the warriors back then and our weapons are very different, decided to walk the streets of our city. We decided or perhaps maybe we were influenced to do something called the prayer of presence. We were going to walk the streets in our Cassocks (long black robes that priest wear)along with our crosses. Our desire was to pray silently while we walked, and to be a sign to those around us just to cause their minds to think of God, a least for a few seconds anyway. We were hoping that somehow God would use our walking for His Kingdom.
......Stay Tuned for Part II
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