Four Candles and One String of Lights

The final week of Advent is here. There's no mid-week service to be concerned about this time... Christmas Eve comes soon enough without that for Church Staff, thank you!

(Which is something that I always seem to forget as Advent is beginning each year. I'm thinking; "Four weeks of Advent, three Wednesday services? What gives?" Then I get to where I sit now and think, "Thank you, dear wise and well-appreciated churchmen before me! ")

So now that all of the Advent candles are burned past their Sunday-best, it's approaching the proverbial 'go time.'
...and all the really good gremlins begin to show up.

No, we're not talking about ironically placed show-quality cars from the 70's...
Nope, not those water-fearing Furbees either...

I'm referring to the mythical beings that have been adopted into the semi-common vernacular when referring to electronic and mechanical devices that inexplicably cease their proper functionality, and may or may not return themselves to working order when examined or exorcised. (This option was considered today... Read on.)

Well, its not a long list, really.
At church last night, we had some issues with a computer (these were somewhat self-inflicted).
Then my microphone died in the middle of the Monday night service (just the battery, but it sounded like Darth Vader was doing the words of institution before I caught it).
This morning we lost the battle against the duplicator, the folding machine, and a presentation remote.
...and all but the bottom foot of my Christmas Tree has lost its lights (whole strings are burning out, like they're getting too much juice after having served faithfully for 5 years.)

Gremlins, I tell you!

Yet, even with all of this - our toes feeling like they're edging ever closer to the line drawn in the sand that declares "Chaos!" - it's going to be an excellent Christmas!

The bulletins got printed - Thank you, School Office!
The bulletins got folded - Thank you for your temporary compliance, Folding Machine!
The presentations worked out...
The microphone served faithfully for those today who wouldn't have known that it was 'just the battery'...
I'll manage new lights for the tree next year...

...and people will still hear about Jesus being born to save us from thhe guilt of our sins in a few days.

Not so bad, really.


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The Holy Spirit's work in Facebook

A few moments ago I tried to post something as my status on facebook...

...and it stopped me.

[Something along the lines of: "Your attempted status is too long! Maximum characters exceeded..." (this isn't precisely what it said, but I took the point.)]

It stopped me, and I'm glad for it. I'd much rather write a little more thoroughly on the topic... whether its warranted or not, you be the judge.

Here's what I wanted to post...


Dear Christian Friends; I love you all dearly! And my non-Christian friends too! (who I know are also reading our posts...)
Therefore, let's be sure that all of our social-public discourse on the things of God keeps Christ at its focal point... not the fact that "we're" right and "they're" not.

Mark 2:27-28 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."


I thought about how to shorten it (I was only 8 or 9 characters over the limit), but I decided that a combination of fate and God's hand had delayed what might have been a caffeine-induced post.

I'm not considering changing my mind on this - and I haven't edited the content above - but I think it is something that I need to sit back and reflect on a little more.

The basis of what has been rolling around in my mind is this;

How should we who are pastors be utilizing social media?

-and more to the point -

Have we forgotten our public role of 'shepherd' for the sake of the simplicity of 'putting ourselves out there'?


Of course, I do find the irony in the fact that when one Internet venue puts up a slight roadblock, I re-direct myself into another medium that is equally as public and potentially hazardous toward the condition of those who read it.

Here's my concern; [in a 3-point list, since I am a pastor after all...]

• I have friends who are blatantly Christian and I have friends/acquaintances who are not.
• Many of us, in the 'real' world, gladly temper our public image so as not to cause offense or injury to others (or, more importantly, to the Gospel of Jesus)
• Yet, when it comes to our 'Friend' list or 'Followers', we are quite brazen and often unfiltered when it comes to what we consider 'Tweet-able'

There are enjoyable debates that I witnessed (and many less than enjoyable that I walked away from) while at the Seminary... and it seems that we pastor-types tend to revert to that when we get together. This I can understand and appreciate. We need the mental 'pick-me-up' and refresher, especially with how we have been wired through the institutions that helped form us. This is important indeed!

But, its easy to forget: that's NOT how the 'normal' people of the world think, act, or are prepared for!

Instead, what image of pastors do we portray for people who don't have the same background and context as we do? It looks pretty nitpick-y. It looks mean-spirited. It looks haughty.

...and in short,

(thought I KNOW for certain to the bottom of my heart that these are Christian people who love God and appreciate the grace and love that has been delivered through faith in Christ alone...)

We look like the Pharisees.

....


(There, I said it. And no, it didn't feel good.)

...

I don't want to stop the debates over the sensitive issues of our churches.
I don't think that everything should be left as the 'status quo'.
I really don't want our people to stop hearing about the importance of those things that God holds so dearly and gifts to us...

But what I'm trying to lovingly suggest is as follows;

When we 'post' or 'tweet' or 'reply'; imagine yourself standing outside your church, fully vested with the processional cross in one hand and a nicely-lit billboard sitting next to you proclaiming the very thing you just handed out to the Internet world. All your members see you and read what you've written, and all their friends who drive past look over their shoulders and associate you with your membership (their Christian friends)... and more lastingly, to their image of Christ.

Are we holding up the cross for the sake of the cross, or in order to make ourselves heard?


Conversely, (and in a much more positive form of statement) imagine all the ways that the unlimited power and influence of the Holy Spirit can be delivered through these media.

I ask that we simply consider this...

...

Please receive this in my own best efforts at Christian love, as I know that I too am guilty of that which I comment upon.

In our Christ,

- Matt

Apology & Forgiveness

Yesterday I messed up...

Nothing huge, I suppose, but I made a mistake that caused me to miss something on my schedule that a lot of people look forward to and depend on.

I missed my scheduled "Pastor Time" with the Pre-Kindergarten class.

(And it makes it a little worse that that is my son's class here at school... so not only did I disappoint kiddos, but one of them was my kiddo!)

However, it gave me good opportunity to re-schedule for today - and it gave me a great topic for today's rescheduled edition of "Pastor Time":

Confession and Absolution

No, I didn't force the 5 year-olds to grab their hymnals and recite with me from the liturgy - they're still working on the whole literacy thing - but we did talk a lot about what it means when we say "I'm sorry." and "I forgive you."

Kids get the concept of repentance pretty well...

...at least until the next time they want to do something wrong.

But are we any different?

Its really easy to say you're sorry - especially to God, since he's not literally staring you in the eye with an angry expression on His face - but there's more to confessing our sins than just trying to get out of trouble. Just like our parents' told us when we hit our little sisters, we have to say we're sorry, "like you mean it!"

Which is all well and good, to sound like you mean that you're sorry, but to actually mean it (and agree with everything implied with an apology) is quite harder for us.

Jesus said to the woman after the crowd had dispersed and dropped the stones they'd intended to throw at her,

"Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

(John 8)

Getting free grace that we don't deserve - sounds great!

Leaving our life of sin - that's hard.

So what are we to do?

Know two things:

1. Your sins are forgiven. Said and done!

There's no getting around grace, whether good or bad. If we know that Jesus has done it and trust in Him to save - you're 'good'! Especially when we feel we don't deserve it.

2. We keep trying, not because He's going to love us less - but because we continue to love Him more!

Being perfect in our actions isn't a requirement of our Heavenly Father to be saved (see above), but since that's how He initially made humanity, and that's how He is, we strive toward pleasing the one who's made us pleasing.

The kids were eager to forgive me, by the way.

Which is good, because otherwise I'd have to have talked to them about the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant... and they're not ready for that just yet.

The Church Blog

This will be a quiet "roll-out" if you will...

Introducing:



We're going to try doing some general updates and info-sharing, along with the idea of sharing the weekly readings, sermon themes, etc. with the entire world through the magic of the inter-webs.

For example, if you happen to go there today, you'll find a very brief devtional thought on how Christ Didn't Come to Judge.

...and who knows what you'll find in the future?

(Hopefully something useful and relatively up-to-date. Pray for us, please.)

Sure and Certain

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

I'd like to introduce you to two real characters, "Sure" and "Certain"...

...but I can't seem to find them anywhere. Just their hats:

These brothers, 'Sure Lee' and 'Certain Lee', look an awful lot like the pastoral staff here at St. Paul. And the only difference appears to be the nature of their confusion regarding patterns of speech that relate to their names. (though some might argue that the confusion is actually a similarity to us pastors)

We performed a skit that I wrote for the opening chapel this year with Sure and Certain as the primary characters, along with a dear woman (one of our teachers) by the name of 'Faith Full'. Hebrews 11:1 is the theme verse for our school this year you see, so I thought we'd have a little recurring fun with it. And now I'm sitting at my office computer, trying to find an angle for the second installment of this Abbott and Costello-esque routine. (Think "Who's on First?", but with salvation instead of baseball.)

...though I don't get quite as mad, so as to not upset the children.

As to the plan:

I'm thinking that this time I'll go a few verses into chapter eleven of Hebrews and talk about the men of faith that the letter praises for their lives of faithfulness. Making a point of the fact that, no, they weren't perfect but they were saved by faith.

This is God's grace to us as well - and that's the whole point of it all!
That whether we hear of it through simple explanation, or have it embedded within us by a semi-humorous skit performed by a couple of pastor-types, the goodness of God's work on our hearts will prayerfully affect those who hear it so they can understand just what it is that God has done for us.

Sure and Certain!

A New Look...

I do realize that there's little value in updating the appearance of such a thing as a website or blog if you don't intend to do anything about it... so let it be known that I do intend to do something about it.

Again, that being said, the imfamous quote about a certain road being "paved with good intentions" comes to mind and because of that alone I do somewhat even hesitate to post this brief set of remarks.

But here they are.

_______


There's been an aweful lot going on this summertime, and since today is the last full day of summer you might think that I'd be inclined to write about it ALL.
Well, I'm not.

But piece by piece some of it might come forward, who knows?

Lets start by talking about today.
What a dissappointment of a day...

I had one thing on my planner - ONE THING - and I missed it!
I was scheduled to do chapel across town at our East-Side Lutheran High School, and I'm very sorry to admit that because of traffic and my lack of research into said traffic, I only arrived as the bell was ringing to welcome the students back into their next class AFTER the appointed time for chapel service.

I had a good one for them too.

So, on the very distant chance that anyone from Cleveland Lutheran East High School classes of 2011-2014 is reading this:
"I'm very sorry, and I hope to make it up to you soon."

I suppose its something to learn from, and to avoid duplication of. All that 'education' and 'self-improvement' sort of stuff...

But once I got back, I just felt nearly enraged with frustration.

I knew there wasn't anything to be done. As I said to the office staff here, I was really quite 'Zen' about the whole thing while on the drive, etc.
But coming back, my combination of disappointment/anger/self-punishment/and some pent-up general sadness literally made my head spin. (well, it FELT like it was spinning - a literal head-spin wouldn't be very good for the spine)

...and in my reaction is my lesson for the day.

...and in that lesson, I've somehow wound up back here.


May God bless HIS work in us all!

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Blessing of the Scooters - with Pics

So the weekends around here have been pretty rainy and miserable lately.

And that includes the wind-fest/rain-a-thon that was last weekend...

...when the Blessing of the Scooters was supposed to take place.

Well, it seemed clear at 8 o'clock, so I gave the green light for the event. But then the winds started picking up... But you know, we got the job done acceptably well.

It was a joy to see all the members of St. Paul lending a hand. Only three of those scooterists are non-members (I know that there's only 7 bikes total, but remember; 35-45 mph gusts and rain in the forecast... we were satisfied.) and the others are all there to support the cause. Thanks everyone!

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Green Pastures

Tonight, as we continue our look at Psalm 23, I've been given the responsibility and privilege of considering verse 2 of the famous Psalm...

Ps. 23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

Wonderful words from the Psalmist, beautiful imagery and poignant comparison to God's love and care for His people...

And all I can think of this morning is this:

For those of you who were not blessed, such as I, to have experienced a LOT of Nick-at-Night as you grew up (and don't misunderstand; it was usually my choice and my parents the ones who endured it) - we're talking about one of the more hilarious examples of absurdity that CBS ever produced. (that is, until the onset of the Survivor Series)

GREEN ACRES

What a joyous show!

What a silly cast!

"What!?! You're considering comparing 'Green Acres' to Psalm 23 IN CHURCH?"

Well, sort of, yes.

More of a Compare/Contrast type of situation, really. And perhaps, if you'll indulge me I can get it all out of my system and nobody else will ever have to hear about it. - Then again, if this 'works' the world will soon hear of it.

My premise is this:

Of course you can understand how the name 'Green Acres' might remind someone of the green pastures of Psalm 23. That makes reasonable sense.

But there's a bit more...

The premise of the TV show was that a successful New York City lawyer, decides to give up the stress and strain of 'city life' in favor of some 'fresh air'. So he buys a farm. Accompanied by his socialite wife who has an already humor-inducing Hungarian accent, he finds himself in the most backwards of rural towns... and is (relatively) happy to have found "it".

As we hear of the green pastures, we find ourselves thinking, "Hey, that sounds nice." As well we should. The idea is that God leads His flock into places that are hospitable, pleasant, and something of a respite for us from the daily existence. And even more than that, we dwell there safely under His protective gaze so long as is appropriate to the season.

Its kinda as if God has fulfilled a lifelong dream, without our asking or putting forth effort, and has provided us with the life that we've needed all along.

He's given "it" to us... that thing that we so deperately need as humans.

Peace.

Not to say that the oddities of life will subside - the strange neighbors literally became the backbone of the Green Acres plotline - and we'll certainly not be without such a thing as trouble.

But we can be sure that what we need will be provided.

And we've got a Good Shepherd to watch over the farm.

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Videos for Church

I've been doing some work for our upcoming Jr. High Gathering, and as a result I'm trying to remember how to be "cool" as well as "interesting"...

hmmm... yeah.

So to help, I've been looking around on our favorite church-video site, BluefishTV.

(This is sounding way more like a commercial than I intended!)

Anyhow, here's a fun one that I might end up using in the not to distant future...

Definitely something that I'm trying to remind myself and our congregation of. The concept of not having to be the "expert"... and letting God work through what He's made.

This is wholeheartedly a concept that goes with this WhitePigeonHope idea: The Holy Spirit of God will use you quite effectively when and where and how He chooses... just be there for it, and let His hand do the work!


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My YouTube Award *

Its official! *

I've just signed up for YouTube as of yesterday, and they've already given me a major award!

Behold, you are now reading the words of the holder of the prestigious:

YouTube's "Most Boring 16 minutes" Award - January 2010

"...and I'd like to thank the Academy, and all the 'little people' who made this possible. And... and... HEY! Stop playing that annoying music, I'm trying to talk here!"

* Its not really 'official' - I'm making this up. And I'm including this footnote so as to not lead any of my friends or family astray. There is no such award. YouTube hasn't yet given me the time of day... seriously, not even a "Thanks for registering with us" e-mail. And that's ok. I'm not cool enough for them anyhow.

In all actuality, I did sign up for a YouTube account. And I did post about 16 minutes of video yesterday. And I wouldn't be surprised if I received such an award as the "most boring."

But I do think that I might be onto something.

I'm certain that I'm not the first, but what I've done (and no, I'm not attaching the links... sorry) is put an informational meeting on-line for our Confirmation Families. Not rocket science, not even difficult... but something that I hope to save some time and effort as well as the confusion of getting everyone's schedules arranged to meet in person.

...its really not a big deal, I know.

But if it works as I hope it will, its going to be nice.



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Merry Christmas!

January 7th is, as I'm absolutely confident that you know, Christmas Day
(for the Eastern Churches of Christianity.)

So, "Merry Christmas!"
(since life around here was apparently too busy to think about my blog on or around December 25th)

With the Wise Men now around the Nativity Scene, and the snow piled high upon the donkey, sheep and even baby Jesus himself...
(With more snow on the way tonight, as I understand. By the way, no credit can be given to the pastors on this one, my colleague actually described "Shadowy Figures" putting them into place yesterday, on Epiphany)

May the love of God be yours, as He blesses and redeems His creation!

Veteran's Day Observance at Church

Today, being the Sunday after Veterans' Day, we had a bit of a special recognition before services for those who have served. We had very simple American Flag lapel pins to give as a token of appreciation as well.
What sort of surprised me (to my shame) was that we nearly ran out of pins!

It shouldn't have been such an eye-opening moment, but it turned out to be... I only hope that the congregation saw what I was priveleged to observe from a really good vantage point in front of church.

I asked that, despite their usual humility about public recognition, all those who have served or do currently serve in any branch of the armed forces please rise. Naturally, a few stood right away. And a few more then rose in a careful reluctance. Then some more. Then the really shy. And then a couple of gentlemen who leaned very heavily on the pew in front of them in order to stand under their own power...

Suddenly I was standing before our own division of soldiers, sailors, marines and guards. None of them in uniform of any kind, but the pride and determination of honorable service shining brightly once more in their eyes, if only for those moments.

I shouldn't have been surprised by the numbers. In many cases I'd known of (or at least suspected) their service. But seeing these men stand before me, someone who certainly did not qualify to be giving them orders... well, I think it made me feel just like you're supposed to feel on Veterans' Day.

What a joy it was to then announce to them that the Elders and Church Council had decided to set aside a wall in the cafeteria and devote it to those serving and our veterans. And even though the wall only had six pictures on it as of this Sunday, I hope to see it fill up very soon.

...there's certainly enough honorable faces to place on it.

Boring excuse post...

Sorry, this is exactly as the title implies and not much more.

I'm a little busy this week, as the Lord has a few demands on my time. (Though that sounds a lot more presumptuous than intended...)

• 2 funerals
• New Member Class (as usual not yet completed - but that's my fault)
• 1 wedding
• church services Sunday (with double baptism)
• Senior Pastor's installation Sunday afternoon

Sure things are hectic, but look back at that list and see all the opportunities that I've been given to talk about and really have people hear the good news of what God has done and continues to do for His world.

Thanks for the work, Lord!
(...and I'll try to remove any sarcasm from that statement as best I can, because it's your work, after all!)


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Pentecost

50 days after Passover...

50 days since Jesus payment as the sacrificial lamb...

He ascended about a week ago...

Now we celebrate again in Jerusalem - and throughout the world!

Pentecost is an easily forgotten church holiday. Its not the one where we get candy, its not the one where we get presents, it isn't even the one when Mom makes us all wake up early and go to church because Dad bought her flowers! (OK, so Mother's Day technically isn't a church holiday... but if you asked around, that's probably the 3rd "Big Church Day" for many families in our country. Right?)

Pentecost is the day when we celebrate the Holy Spirit coming in an amazing way and kicking off the real work of the Church on Earth.

And yet since its so easily forgotten, it sort-of makes it all the more appropriate... given the situation for the Holy Spirit.

This is all just going back the the main point of this blog, I suppose.
The idea that God continuously works in sometimes quiet and sometimes not so quiet ways through the efforts of the Holy Spirit in our world.

Pentecost is a day to blow the trumpet for the 3rd Person of the Holy Trinity, to be sure. But the really great part about the Holy Spirit is that, regardless of whether we recognize His work in our lives or the lives of those around us, He still does His thing!

Praise the Lord that the Spirit continues to work in our world through the Word of God and His people!




...

Like a teleprompter in my head...

Tonight was our first Membership Class as part of a new concept that I'm trying out here at church. I invited the Long-Standing (carefully avoiding the term 'Old') Members to join us for review as one of our Elders and I taught a New Member Class on the topics of:

1) Martin Luther's Reformation
2) Classic Bible Narratives
3) The Chief Parts of the Catechism

It turns out that Luther's life works really well to go along with sharing the doctrines of the faith... and there are always good Bible stories to go with the teachings of the church.

...that's kinda how we got those teachings.

(That's a bit of sarcasm, for those who might not be aware. Our church only gets its doctrine from the Bible.)

But anyhow, to get to tonight's point:
As I spoke stood in front of the class tonight, I was blessed to have the 'right' words more often than not. At least I believe that they were the right words - because its pretty hard for me to take credit for them.
Its not like I can claim to be in any sort of trance, or that I was speaking in tongues (in the sense that most people think of strange language babble), but sometimes when you get talking about God's Word and explaining the Gospel it seems like the words just come!

I could compare it to having a teleprompter somewhere in my head.

Certainly the concepts and the language are not all that strange.
The actual words have likely passed through my lips before as well.
At the very least, I can give credit to other people much wiser and more learned than myself as having spoken those words in my presence.

But the ability to smoothly string all those concepts together; that's something else entirely.

And don't go believing that I was prepared enough to have things go so smoothly!

...that certainly isn't the case.

Instead, I'm giving credit to the Holy Spirit for doing some good work even though He's working through a relative simpleton such as me.

This is just another example of that whole "White Pigeon" concept...

Just God taking the opportunity (at least I pray) to quietly and unmiraculously do some melding and shaping of His people for the sake of His Kingdom and sharing the Good News that Jesus is the Christ!

Its a lot of fun to be along for the ride.


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St. Paul gets "Street-Viewed"

Well, I did in fact ride the scoot to church on Easter morning... and it was just as I hoped.

Ahhh...

And its been raining again, so no more riding since Sunday.


But that's neither here nor there... today I wanted to proudly announce (that I finally noticed) that we've been 'Street-View'-ed!
Google has continued its worldwide endeavor to know everything about everything, and has thereby seen fit to commence its StreetView operations on most of the suburban streets here on the near-ish West Side of Cleveland. So here we are:


View Larger Map

(If you can't see the image, just click on the 'View Larger Map' link... something isn't working quite as it should.)

I just think that its great that they happened to drive by on the day when some of our guys were constructing our 'New Sign'... (The poor Trustees of our congregation have gone through H___ and High Water, well maybe everything BUT those two things, to try and get this thing done right. I've been here almost two years, and it had been in the works for the better part of a year before that... its still not done.)
It certainly adds a 'realistic' character to the images.

Come to think of it, maybe we should park a shiny pick-up truck on the front lawn all the time... I mean, car dealerships do that constantly! They're all about "bringing people in" we're all about "bringing people in"... aren't we?

...aren't we?

There's been a little discussion about this topic running around church as of late. And questioning our "Street View" might be a good way to go about it...

How best to encourage an outward focused and evangelism-friendly church seems to be something that everyone wrestles with everywhere, regardless of denomination. But its really been something that we've been thinking about lately ('we' meaning the general leadership of our congregation).

Maybe I'll just Google it...


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Easter Sunrise

The forecast as of last night on weather.com said to expect a chilly start...

Well, see for yourself: (as of 9 p.m.)

Our 'sunrise service' is held at 7 a.m. - you'll note that its actually 8 minutes late, but that's ok as far as I'm concerned. So I'm thinking that its going to be a chilly scooter-ride tomorrow morning when I head over around 5:30.

(What!?! You're going to take the scooter? Silly Preacher!)

Well, I think I just might. There's nothing quite like riding the scoot on open roads on a morning that's meant for rejoicing. (Even if I wimp out tomorrow and take the car, the sentiment still applies.)

John 20:1-4

The Empty Tomb
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" 3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

See? If Peter only had a scooter, he'd have made it to see the empty tomb first.


(...more on the resurrection of the Lord later.)
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The 1st Day

April 1st was more than foolish around here.
...It was a very good version of "busy".

The Senior Pastor here at St. Paul retired, effective March 31 - which means that we've got one pastor for the time-being... me.

Yikes!

Here's what the 1st held for me...

• Yesterday began with faculty devotions (my 1st time leading).
• We continued with all-school chapel (which I led and I've done before, no problem).
• Check-a 'da e-mail...
• Prepare and send the monthly newsletter via PDF e-mail link.
• Meet with someone about some brochures (more on that later)
• Prepare (for printing) our Confirmation Class' Seder Meal programs
• Go home (late) for lunch... whoops.
• Prepare (for printing) Maundy Thursday's service
• Edit Good Friday Services (finished today)
• Write the sermon for last night's service
• Eat soup
• Arrange some brochure distribution
• Lead a church service
• Play with the kids while Meghan has choir practice
• Get home and get Ben to bed in time for CSI

Actually, I'm not overly scared or worried (yet.) There have been countless offers to assist, we've got the Sunday preaching substitutes lined up through May if we need it, I've got most of Holy Week taken care of already bulliten-wise, and the wheels haven't fallen off... (yet.)

Even though I'm not going to be the Senior Pastor here, and I'm looking for that - believe me, it was a little bit daunting last night as I robed up for our last mid-week service prior to Palm Sunday bringing on the busiest week of the church-year. I looked into the vestry mirror as I put the stole over my shoulders and the full weight of the yoke... it kinda 'got' me.

I realize also that this isn't going to last forever. We've got a call extended and pending acceptance to aother great pastor who, I know, is prayerfully and carefully considering things. But even more than that, I was moved again as I turned around and greeted the people at the beginning of last night's service - all their faces showing trust and appreciation that the work of the Lord would continue here, and so many of those faces ready and willing to help out along the way.

Our little evangelism group was able to put its first little notch in its belt last night too!
We've organized to have plastic bags with a couple pieces of information and invitation hung on the doors of houses in our surrounding neighborhood. We needed to assemble the bags last night at the soup supper before church and then ask that people take the bags out to hang them before Saturday. I was gladdened and amazed at the willingness of some of the people - who'd really just shown up for soup - to help both in stuffing the bags as well as signing up for distribution. Its a nice first step to get a little word out to almost 500 households within a half-mile (or so) of our church... God be praised!

Yesterday was 'good'; and there was evening and there was morning - the first day.

...today marks the second day, and after this I think I'll stop counting.


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Transition Time

Has anyone else out there noticed that regardless of how much you anticipate a transition time, and how much you try to have everything done ahead of time... there's ALWAYS a hectic world awaiting you when the time actually comes?

This is true.

...and though its not always decidedly 'good' or 'bad', and in this case is going reasonably peacefully I suppose, there isn't really a 'calm' that can be attained.

This is where I am.

No, the transition isn't to do with me...
Well, in a passive sense I suppose.

The Senior Pastor at my church retires this weekend - great guy who's done a LOT for the congregation and the church as a whole, and good to work with, etc.... can't say enough - and as of next Wednesday; it's me.

...at least for now.

So there is transition and swirling noises... and less blogging.

My apologies for my lack of consistency in this arena.


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Ash Wednesday '09

Ring around the rosy,

Pocket full of posies,

Ashes,

Ashes,

We all fall down!

It seems like such a morbid little nursery rhyme when you consider that the above dearly loved verse was originally a portion of a longer poem that was sung by little children whose siblings were dying at alarming rates as a result of the Beubonic Plague. ...at least, that's what one theory says.

And yet, the truth is that because of sin in our world - ever since the fall of man - death has been a reality and part of life. Its painful and sad because its so unnatural and not what God intended for us - but God helps with that as well.

Thus we have the Ashes on the foreheads of Christians throughout the world today... in the form of a cross.

This is the hidden joy of Lent put into a very visible and tangible thing. Ashes, a symbol of repentance and mourning taking on the shape of that which has redeemed the dearly loved 'dust' of the world.

So having a dirty thumb today is a great joy in this otherwise messy world!

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