This article made me think about inclusivity. How inclusive do we really want to be? Even the most ardent supporters of Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors sometimes hesitate when faced with including those from a different theological perspective.
Category: Religion
New Computer
Turned on my computer and it couldn’t find the hard drive – turns out it was toast. So, I was off to buy a new one. Even though I’m planning to get an Apple someday, now just wasn’t the right time. I needed something to replace my old laptop quickly. So that’s the new one – an HP Pavillion with a Core 2 Duo processor. I had two really good posts written on BlogDesk about a book I’m reading, What God Wants for Your Life by Frederick Schmidt, and was going to upload them when the other computer went kaput. I assure you they will not be rewritten! 🙂
Anyway, the great news (and blessing) about all of this is a man from one of my churches just bought me a 500 gig external hard drive about two weeks ago, and told me to save everything on it. So, I only lost about two weeks worth of stuff because of his gracious advice and gift! God is good indeed.
I Am Keith McIlwain…
 |
You scored as Keith McIlwain. You are Keith McIlwain! You abhor all violence, except the savagery of the gridiron.
Which Methoblogger Are You? |
So I don’t do quizzes all that much, but this one caught my eye. Turns out I’m a tie between Keith and Abi. I’ve read Abi’s blog for some time, but haven’t read Keith’s regularly for whatever reason. However, since I am Keith, I thought I should drop by and add him to my Google Reader. Great stuff over there if I do say so myself (of course, the rest of the MethoBloggers on here fun and interesting to read as well). Maybe I should buy a tie-dyed shirt…
I Am Keith McIlwain…
|
You scored as Keith McIlwain. You are Keith McIlwain! You abhor all violence, except the savagery of the gridiron.
Which Methoblogger Are You? |
So I don’t do quizzes all that much, but this one caught my eye. Turns out I’m a tie between Keith and Abi. I’ve read Abi’s blog for some time, but haven’t read Keith’s regularly for whatever reason. However, since I am Keith, I thought I should drop by and add him to my Google Reader. Great stuff over there if I do say so myself (of course, the rest of the MethoBloggers on here fun and interesting to read as well). Maybe I should buy a tie-dyed shirt…
Portrait of a Rural Community
I have the feeling that there are some people who don’t quite know what I’m talking about when I mention rural churches. Well, hopefully these three pictures I took from a hill overlooking town can be worth 3,000 words. In this community, the only business in town is the Citgo station you see in one of the pictures. No, you can’t really see the Church from these pictures…too many tree limbs even after the ice storm.
United Methodism is a denomination of small churches, and I wonder if we can ever really transform the denomination without a deep understanding of this.
Busier than a Caveman
If you don’t read Real Live Preacher, you should. He’s a frequent contributor to The Christian Century, and he’s got an article on prehistoric humans and being busy that you should check out.
This article reminds me of how busy I am as a pastor of a two point charge, and it really makes me realize how much I’m looking forward to my vacation in about three weeks. I’m going to take several days to do absolutely nothing!
Until then…busy, busy, busy. Every time I get this way, I need to reread and remember Eugene Peterson’s words from The Contemplative Pastor, one of my favorite books of all time (h/t on the quote to the Too-Busy Pastor – I didn’t have my book handy),
“…The word busy is the symptom not of commitment but of betrayal. It is not devotion but defection. The adjective busy set as a modifier to pastor should sound to our ears like adulterous to characterize a wife or embezzling to describe banker. It is an outrageous scandel, a blasphemous affront. Hilary of Tours diagnosed our pastoral busyness as irreligiosa solicitudo pro Deo, a blasphemous anxiety to do God’s work for him.“
Little People, Big World
Over the last three days, my family and I have spent a lot of time watching television. We don’t do this very often, but it was sort of a rainy weekend and we wanted to chill out after a busy Holy Week. By far, the highlight of our television viewing extravaganza was a show called Little People, Big World. We’ve watched this several times before, but I haven’t watched it like we did this weekend. I think we saw three or four episodes.
Well, turns out I love the Roloffs. Matt & Amy Roloff, the parents, are both little people. They have three average sized kids and one who is also a little person. Matt’s dwarfism is caused by diastrophic dysplasia while Amy’s is the result of achondroplasia. They have twins, Zach (who also has achondroplasia) & Jeremy, Molly, and Jacob. This is a great family show, and we feel very comfortable letting our four year old daughter watch. In fact, I go so far as to say it’s a great show for her to watch. She gets to see a family that seems to be fairly healthy, and she’s also exposed to people who are different than us physically.
As it turns out, the Roloffs are Christians as well. No, you don’t hear holy music as they switch to soft lighting and head off to Church, you simply get the sense that their faith is deeply important to them. For instance, in a recent show the youngest son is hit by a contraption called a trebuchet on their family farm. One of the first things the family does when they find out Jacob is going to be OK is to offer a very heartfelt prayer of thanks to Jesus!
I know there are some serious issues with reality TV in general, but we love having a nice family show that we can watch without having to worry about what they’ll see.
The Prayer of Nicodemus
….whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:6
This morning, I was re-reading Brain McClaren’s The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything. In chapter 5, as McClaren underscores the hiddenness inherent in Jesus’ ministry, he writes about Nicodemus.
As I was reading this, another connection came to mind. The way that Nicodemus approaches Jesus is almost a picture of the kind of prayer written about in Matthew 6:6. Nicodemus approaches Jesus under the cover of darkness, a prayer in secret (John 3:2). He then praises Jesus and acknowledges his intimate connection with God, something I find highly unusual given the portrait of Pharisees in the Gospels.
Nicodemus then proceeds to wrestle with Jesus in the conversation. Acknowledgment and struggle provides a great picture of prayer. We go to Jesus because, like Peter, we have nowhere else to turn. “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God (John 6:68-69).” Yet, in spite of this realization, prayer is often a struggle. Jesus offers Nicodemus difficult images and challenges, to which Nicodemus responds with stubborn literalism.
Nicodemus provides a rich image for me. I can picture myself sitting on a rock wall having the same conversation with Jesus – awed by his presence, yet struggling to wrap myself around his words. Perhaps it should encourage us that it is only after the struggle that Jesus leads him into the deep mystery of faith.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” John 3:16-21
Nicodemus really doesn’t do a lot of talking in this prayerful conversation. Instead he receives a strong challenge to move from seeking Jesus in the darkness to move into the light, love, and forgiveness of God given and revealed in the Son. Perhaps this is our challenge as well: to prayerfully approach the Triune God in secret and then to move out of that dark place of challenge and praise to share the light that we’ve received, namely the challenge of God’s strong Christocentric love.
Wendell Berry Interview
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m sort of a Wendell Berry fan. Here is a link to Sojourner Magazine interview from 2004 that I found very interesting. There are some good comments about living “locally,” rural poverty, and economics. I especially think Berry’s comments about language and its particularity are worth reading. Enjoy.
The Coaching Carousel and Pastoral Itinerancy
Like many folks, I love to watch the coaching carousel go ’round and ’round waiting to see who gets a dream job and who gets booted for yet another losing season. Billy Gillispie is going from Texas A&M to the University of Kentucky. Bob Huggins has fled Kansas State for his home state in West Virginia. Surprise of surprises, Billy Donovan has chosen to stay put down in Gainesville, saying that happiness is more important than money. Sports radio is consumed by all the changes taking place this time of year, and I follow right along.
Even though it doesn’t make ESPN, the evening news, or talk radio, similar talk happens among United Methodist clergy. We want to know who’s going where, who “took a cut,” and who has gotten their “dream church.” It’s enough to make me wonder if the same things fuel both conversations.
Presumably, we’re fascinated with coaches because we’re fascinated with success. The Billys of the world, Gillispie and Donovan, are to be rewarded for doing a great job at what they do. Both Billys won at traditional football powers and were offered jobs at one of the powerhouses of college basketball, Kentucky. We see this as an affirmation of their skills. They are getting the chance they earned, their achievements measured in the win-loss column.
Perhaps we think the same thing with pastors. Rev. Smith-Jones down the road really turned that congregation around. Isn’t it about time she get a raise and transfer? When will “First Church” come calling? Of course with pastors we talk more about gifts and graces than win-loss records, don’t we? Maybe.
I don’t really have much more to offer on this, because I want to know who’s going where too. Are these two conversations fueled by the same desires and motives? Should they be? Is it just innocent curiosity? What do you think?
mattjudkins.com 