,

X Marks the Spot

,
I let a week slide by without anything for the blog.  The blog is always hungry.  The blog always wants to be fed.  The blog will have to go on a diet next week.  I’ll be at Camp Idlewild.  If you’re looking for something to read, stop by the camp blog for pics and updates.  Our awesome webmaster has trained my phone to send updates to it, so I’m going to be making mini entries throughout the week. For now I have a huge challenge for you.  Read and dwell on this quote from Barbara Brown Taylor.  I started her book Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith last year at camp.  This year I’ll be reading her new one: An Altar in the World.  She was just recently a speaker at my Alma Mater’s Christian Scholars’ Conference. She’s talking about the treasure of meaning and significance in life.  And how we’re always looking for some big spiritual “A-ha” or awakening.  And how we’re always looking somewhere else for an encounter with God:
People seem to look all over the place for this treasure.  The last place most people look is right under their feet, in the everyday activities, accidents, and encounters of their lives.  What possible spiritual significance could a trip to the grocery store have?  How could something as common as a toothache be a door to greater life?...No one longs for what he or she already has, and yet the accumulated insight of those wise about the spiritual life suggests that the reason so many of us cannot see the red X that marks the spot is because we are standing on it.
Ohhh.  I want to write something like that.  Not that there aren’t mountain top experiences to be had.  I just hope we’re not looking to them to give our lives meaning.  Most importantly, I hope we’re not so obsessed with the future that we miss God’s presence in the…um, presence. How often do you think to yourself: I’ll be happy when ______.  Or I’ll be content when ______.  Or Life will be good when ______.  I seemed to recall Jesus saying that the Kingdom is here now. I hope instead of staring at the map and looking over the horizon, you’ll start digging right now.

,

John Lehnen

,
Thought I’d pass along a link to the article about John Lehnen winning the Military Father of the Year.  If you missed the article and you want to read it, click here.  I’ve also embedded the White House video that features an interview with him.  Jennifer was telling me about it this morning.  Apparently he got to ride in a motorcade.  She also has an awesome story about an unattended cell phone in the White House. Thanks to all you military fathers.  Thanks to all you fathers.  I know it can be hard to do what you do and then come home and be there for your families, but keep it up.  It’s the right thing to do.

,

VBS and a Funky Fresh Clip

,
I don't have much insight for you this morning. Can't wait to see everyone at VBS.  Preparations are going full blast.  Don't forget to register your kid if you haven't already.  See you Sunday and then Monday morning. I saw this video a while back, but it's making the rounds again.  Any volunteers to do our own rendition at church sometime?  It would probably require us designating a Deacon of Dope Dance.

,

All Things New

,
You’ve probably gotten this as a forwarded email, but it’s still pretty amazing. And I don’t know who should get credit for this. But give it a read: “The human mind is a wonderfully complex organ. Our brains can actually process a group of words, even if they are spelled totally incorrectly. For example, see if you can read the following: The hmuan mnid is a wndoreullfy cpoemlx oargn. You see? It deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod aearpr, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the human mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig isn't it?” Ha. That last paragraph just made the spell check on my computer go crazy. Red everywhere. And yet I think most of us can read it without too much trouble. I could feel my eyes slow down a little bit. It didn’t come as quickly as usual, but it was relatively smooth. Then the writer concludes by making this point: “Oftentimes our lives, and the world around us, don't seem to make sense. There are even times when everything seems to be a total mess. But when we take a step back and remember that God is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, we can rest assured that one day it will all become perfectly clear.” Neat application, huh? As long as we keep the First and the Last (God) in mind, we can make sense of our lives even if they seem chaotic. Everything doesn’t have to perfect. This is the message of the book of Revelation. That’s right. I’m breaking my general rule and I’m preaching from Revelation this morning. But I’m still ducking the crazy imagery and getting right down to the part that is relatively easy to understand. It’s this: God will fix everything. This morning as we conclude our look at passages that give us hope in troubled times, I can’t fail to include this all important one—the one that gives all of the others their meaning. In the end, our greatest security comes from the fact that God is preparing us for a place in which everything will be as it should be. No tears, no death and the relationship with God that he always wanted us to have. The beginning and the end are set; it’s just the middle that’s a little jumbled up. I hope that today will provide you with a preview of this wonderfully happy ending.

,

Get To It

,
A recent article in Time magazine recounts what is probably the most important discovery in the history of NASCAR. In 1960, Junior Johnson, already a famous moonshine runner and racer, entered his first Daytona 500. That year Johnson's car, a Chevy, was unable to keep up with the Pontiacs of his opponents, so he began looking for a way to overcome the disadvantage. That's when Johnson became what physics professor Diandra Leslie-Pelecky calls an "intuitive physicist." In practice, Johnson discovered that his slower Chevy was capable of keeping up with the Pontiacs if he kept it close to their rear bumpers. In his words, "the air was creating a situation, a slipstream type of thing." (I love it when brilliant people speak plainly.) Johnson's theory was so correct it led him to victory lane. Toward the end of the race the lead car lost its rear windshield due to the low air pressure caused by Johnson. This new discovery, called drafting, changed the racing world. What I love about this is the fact that Johnson's discovery didn't happen in a lab. This wasn't some guy in a white coat or a mathematician hunched over a calculator. It was simply necessity giving birth to invention. Johnson didn't care about the physics. He just wanted to go faster. He was simply driven (lame pun). We can learn a lesson from NASCAR. This morning we'll be looking at a couple passages that call on us to seek out more speed. Like the writer of Hebrews puts it, "let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Hebrews 12:1). The Good News for us in bad times is this: we don't have to just sit still. We are not helpless. There are things for us to be doing. And we are called on to seek out more and more ways to do the work that God is calling us to do.

,

Kris, Adam, and American Idol

,
A month or so ago, when Kris Allen, "shocked" (I use quotes here, b/c a number of people, including my wife, predicted that he would win), the world by winning American Idol, someone suggested that I do a blog entry about the cultural implications of the Kris Allen/Adam Lambert showdown. For those of you who don't know, Kris is as "aw, shucks" wholesome as they come.  Raised in Conway, Arkansas, Allen is not afraid to be vocal about his faith.  Adam, on the other hand is "fab-yoo-lous."  And you know what I mean when I say that. I thought about it, but then got distracted.  Then yesterday Mike Cope linked to a wonderful (but looong) essay on Allen and Lambert's rivalry and, more, their relationship.  When you have time, give it a read.  I was telling someone last night that good writing always makes me a little jealous, because I find myself thinking, "Why didn't I write that?"  I was really jealous of this piece. If you want to skip some of it, you might pick up with the paragraph that begins, "Countless commentators wanted the Idol competition to be about more than just singing." Let me know what you think.

,

More Good News

,
Two of the books I was reading in preparation for Sunday's message are Brennan Manning's The Ragamuffin Gospel and Henri Nouwen's Life of the Beloved.  Even though I read a lot from both of them, the only thing I ended up using from either one was that quote from Julian of Norwich.  But both books are amazing and well worth the read.  Both are liberating in their bold declaration of God's love for us.  Here are a couple of quotes for you to sit with. From Brennan Manning:
The Word we study has to be the Word we pray.  My personal experience of the relentless tenderness of God came not from exegetes, theologians, and spiritual writers, but from sitting still in the presence of the living Word and beseeching Him to help me understand with my head and heart His written Word.
And from Henri Nouwen:
Aren't you, like me, hoping that some person, thing, or event will come along to give you that final feeling of inner well-being you desire?  Don't you often hope: "May this book, idea, course, trip, job, country, or relationship fulfill my deepest desire?  But as long as you are waiting for that mysterious moment you will go on running helter-skelter, always anxious and restless, always lustful and angry, never fully satisfied... Well, you and I don't have to kill ourselves.  We are the Beloved.  We are intimately loved long before our parents, teachers, spouses, children and friends loved or wounded us.  That's the truth of our lives.  That's the truth I want you to claim for yourself.  That's the truth spoken by the voice that says, "You are my beloved."
I hope you are still coming to grips with the truth that nothing can separate you from the love of God.

,

Unbreakable

,
I have two quotes for you to dwell on this morning. The first is from Martin Luther. Following his excommunication from the Catholic Church, Luther was tried for heresy at the Diet of Worms (a rather unfortunate name, in my opinion) in 1521. The trial’s climax came when the prosecution spread Luther’s own writings out before him and asked if he would acknowledge his authorship of the documents and continue to stand behind them. This is his famous response: "Unless I am convinced by proofs from Scriptures or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen." For the record, most scholars say that the “Here I stand. I can do no other” was added later. But the sentiment remains the same. The second was written by Deitrich Bonhoeffer some 400 years later just before he was executed for his cooperation in a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler. It’s part of his Letters and Papers from Prison: “Who am I? This or the other? Am I one person today and tomorrow another? Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others, And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling? Or is something within me still like a beaten army, Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved? Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine. Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine!” Both of these men have something to teach us about belief, because, in both cases, their beliefs were about more than what was going on between their ears. Their beliefs were a matter of life or death. Their beliefs were the net that they trusted to catch them when they fell. Their beliefs were more than just ideas. This morning I’m going to ask you to believe a verse in the Bible. And when I ask you to believe it, that’s the kind of belief I’m hoping for. I’m looking for more than a nod of the head and a pleasant smile. I’m asking you to wager your future on the truth of this verse. I’m asking you to take a leap of faith and believe that the truth of this verse will keep you safe. If our faith is a matter of life or death, hope or despair, this verse can make all the difference. I hope God uses it to speak to you today.

,

Up

,
up About ¾ of the way through Pixar's Up, Russell, the main child character, says something that sums up the whole movie very nicely.  I wish I could remember it verbatim, but I can't.  And I can't find it on the web, either.  So here's my best attempt.  He says:
The wilderness is a lot different than I expected.  It's a lot wilder than the books made it sound.
Up reminds us that it's not just the wilderness that ends up being different and wilder than we expected; it's all of life.  The two main characters can testify to this.  Carl has recently become a widower.  The first ten minutes of the film chronicle his relationship with his wife, Ellie.  It makes for a beautiful movie within a movie.  Russell is a boy growing up with an absent father.  (Are his parents divorced?  I can't remember.)  Both people are coming to grips with all of the ways that life has tossed them around and dashed their expectations. Be warned, if you're prone to crying at the movies, bring some tissues for this one.  There are Bambi's mother/"Baby Mine" from Dumbo kinds of sad moments.  I asked my 3 year old if he liked the movie and he said, "Yeah.  It made me sad." But please don't let me scare you away.  The other message of Up is that grace also comes in wild and unexpected ways.  One of the great joys of watching it is getting to see how these two people who are suffering their own losses find new life together.  (I can't imagine that I'm ruining the movie by telling you that it has a great, great ending.  It is, after all, Disney.)  With them, we learn that good things happen if we can let go of the plans we have made and embrace the unforeseen.  One scene illustrates this really well, but I don't want to ruin the surprise. As a Christian I can't watch it without remembering how Paul says "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2:9)."  Or how he reminds us that God is capable of making something good come out of even the worst events of our lives (Romans 8:28). Deep thoughts aside, the movie is a lot of fun.  Be prepared to laugh hard every time Dug the talking dog or any of his counterparts shows up.  And, once again, the artistry is stunning.  I could watch the balloons in all their translucent wonder all day long. Or I suppose I could blow up a real balloon and watch it.  Isn't it funny how good animation can remind us that there is beauty in the mundane?

Son Castle Faire Vacation Bible School

vbs-027Hear Ye! Hear Ye!The King hereby decrees that your are invited to Son Castle Faire Vacation Bible School! Come and relive the time of castles and kings at Son Castle Faire. You'll use your talents to serve God, the King, and you'll enjoy roally entertaining Bible stories, crafts, games and music. Be here June 22nd - 26th from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. All kids in kindergarten through 6th grade are invited to attend. Reserve your child's spot by registering online or calling the church office today.

,

Memorial Day

,
It's Memorial Day weekend.  Tomorrow, grills will be fired up.  Flags will be flown.  There will be parades in every city.    And, yes, people will also visit cemeteries. My Grandmother will no doubt pay a visit to the Maness family graveyard.  Her late husband and two of her brothers were World War II veterans.  She still calls it "Decoration Day." Memorial Day was originally designated as a day to mourn Union Soldiers killed during the Civil War.  But soon the whole country was observing the day, remembering Union and Confederates alike.  Following World War I the day was expanded to include anyone killed while in the military service.  By the way, the nation's oldest annually held parade is the one in Portsmouth, and tomorrow our own Bob Kiser will be the Grand Marshal of the 125th event. Scripture is full of opportunities to remember.  From the very beginning, it's clear that God understands our need to make sure we don't forget.  The Passover Feast is a remembrance of God's acts on behalf of the people of Israel.  It's a recollection of how God brought them out of Egypt.  Numerous times in the Old Testament, the people are commanded to remember where they have come from and Who has brought them. Of course, the New Testament picks up the same theme with the Lord's Supper.  It used to be that just about every communion table I ever saw had Jesus' words, "Do this in remembrance of me," etched into its front.  Jesus takes the memorial service of the nation of Israel and creates with it a memorial service that can be observed by all of the people of God. As most of you know by now, Rachel and I are out of town today.  Mike Dossett is very kindly stepping in.  He had some opportunities to preach while he was stationed in Germany.  I love it when our elders preach.  And not just because it means I'm getting a break.  I love it because it is an opportunity for the leaders of our church to speak to the congregation.  I don't know about you, but as one of the sheep, I need that.  I'll look forward to listening to Mike's message online. In the meantime, pray for our safe travel, and I look forward to worshiping with you next Sunday.  Today, I hope you will have your own Memorial Day service.  I hope you will look back and remember all of the sacrifices that have been made for you.  I hope you'll remember those people who sacrificed in order to serve you: parents, friends, mentors.  And I hope you'll remember the one who paid the ultimate sacrifice to make us all children of God. Just don't go looking to visit Him in a cemetery.  There is no grave to decorate.  As the angel said, "Why would you look for the living among the dead?"

,

Leap of Faith

,
The following quotes are taken from a series of journal entries written by a man who has recently lost his wife (H.) to bone cancer.  They are just a few of the raw, honest reflections on pain and suffering that are to be found in the memoir.  Read the quotes and see what kind of impression of the author forms in your mind.  Would this be someone you'd like to know?  How strong would you say his faith is?  Check out these quotes:
  • Talk to me about the truth of religion and I'll listen gladly.  Talk to me about the duty of religion and I'll listen submissively.  But don't come talking about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don't understand.
  • They tell me H. is happy now, they tell me she is at peace.  What makes them so sure of this?  ..."Because she is in God's hands."  But if so, she was in God's hands all the time, and I have seen what they did to her here.
  • Sooner or later I must face the question in plain language.  What reason have we, except our own desperate wishes, to believe that God is, by any standard we can conceive "good"?  Doesn't all the...evidence suggest exactly the obvious?
  • What chokes every prayer and every hope is the memory of all the prayers H. and I offered and all the false hopes we had...hopes encouraged...by strange remissions, by one temporary recovery that might have ranked as a miracle...Time after time, when He seemed most gracious He was really preparing the next torture.
The author?  C.S. Lewis-the prolific Christian author known for his incisive defenses and explanations of the Christian faith and for his fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia.  They are part of a personal diary called A Grief Observed.  Would you have imagined these thoughts to be the work of a Christian artist?  For the record, we get to see some healing take place.  In the end, his faith is changed but not obliterated. Also for the record, reading these quotes only makes me want to know Lewis more.  His bravery and honesty are to be admired.  He does not flinch in examining the problem of pain. Neither does the writer Paul.  It is hard to read Romans 7 and 8 while wearing rose-colored glasses.  Today we're going to read a reflection that Paul has on suffering.  But it also leads us to another one of the passages that I'm referring to as "security blankets," because they give us hope even in the most difficult of situations.  These passages remind us of our theme.  They encourage us with the knowledge that "His divine power has given us everything we need" (2 Peter 1:3).

,

A Brief Follow-up and a Briefer Taunt

,
First for the follow up: More than one person has said that Sunday's message got them to thinking.  It also got them talking with each other.  That's about the best thing I could hope for in a sermon.  The egotistical side of me also hopes that you think I'm brilliant, but I'm learning to let that go. What I hope for is a message that stays with you and makes you want to talk about it with others.  I'd love for you to talk about it with me if you want.  I've said this before: My big problem with the idea of preaching is that it's such a one-way enterprise.  It's necessary and important and there are people who are really good at that kind of communication.  But I still prefer teaching, because dialogue is possible. My other problem with preaching is that it pushes me to be simple rather than complex.  There's something to be said for simplicity and clarity.  But it's harder for me.  I prefer being able to talk to both sides of the issue. All that to say, I realize that the way God is working in our world can't be reduced to one analogy (card game, GPS, or anything else).  God works in a bunch of different ways.  I further realize that "why" isn't always a bad question to ask.  I just think it's important to ask the "what" question alongside it. Now for the taunt: You probably won't hear much from me between now and the end of the month.  Most of you know that we're leaving tomorrow on a Caribbean cruise.  I'll be much too busy snorkeling, swimming, eating, drinking, playing, sightseeing, reading, shuffleboarding, etc.  All of that leisure is not to be taken lightly and will thus demand my utmost attention. I will miss being with you this Sunday, but not enough to cancel the cruise.  See you on the 31st.

,

God Work

,
I'm reading a book by Randy Harris called God Work.  Now a professor at ACU, he was at Lipscomb when I was there.  In fact, Rachel and I met in one of his classes.  The book reads like a "Greatest Hits."  Some of the things in the book I remember him saying in class.  The rest I can hear him saying.  I would imagine anyone who's had him can hear that Harris style coming through. We might be reading this book together on Wednesday nights some time soon.  But don't wait for that.  Go ahead and order it. I will probably be sharing quotes from this book on and off.  Let me start with this one:
Hans Georg-Gadamer somewhere said "Conversation is not me trying to convince you to my point of view or you trying to convince me to yours.  It's both of us trying to be convinced by a third thing, which is, the truth."  I'm not tying to win you over, and you're not trying to win me over.  We're both trying to be won over by the truth which can happen when we take a humble position before God and the truth and which tends to make our conversations go so much better.
What do you think?  Leave a comment.  I've got something to say about it, but I want to hear from you first.  Have a good weekend.  Looking forward to seeing everyone on Sunday.  We'll be talking about Romans 8:28.

,

Do Re Mi

,
This one's for those of you who have ever watched a musical and wondered what it would look like if people were to spontaneously burst into song and dance, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" style, in real life.  There are some theological musings below the video, but don't feel like it's necessary to read them.  Maybe you just need to watch and enjoy.  Am I the only one who finds it impossible to watch this video without grinning, even after viewing several times? In fact, I would be ashamed to admit it if it weren't for so many other people saying the same thing in the comment section on youtube, but I even get a little teary eyed. So this whole thing got me to thinking about Genesis, more specifically the creation account in Genesis 1-3.  We're told that, "in the beginning" the earth is "formless and empty".  The picture we're supposed to get is of absolute chaos.  The world is not a safe place for anyone. And then God speaks into the chaos and the result is order.  God separates things (water from land, darkness from light, etc.) in order to create a safe place for his creation to exist.  And he does all of this so that He can exist in relationship to his creation. As I've said before, the point of the creation story is that creation is good.  It is not an accident.  God takes meaninglessness and provides meaning.  He takes lifelessness and creates life.  Before creation we would be as safe in this world as we would be on the surface of Mars.  After creation, we have a home. The same thing happens in this train station in Belgium.  One way to look at it is to say that, in the beginning, the station is formless.  People going from here to there, lost in their own little lives, unaware of the others who are around them.  From above, the station seems chaotic. And then, seemingly from out of nowhere, there is a voice.  And suddenly two people respond to the voice.   And they're no longer moving on their own.  Which is to say that they are moving with each other and they are moving under the direction of something that is bigger than they are. And from there, more people are drawn into this act of creation.  The chaos disappears; the dance envelopes everyone.  People cannot remain isolated.  Some try to join the dance; others do a dance of their own.  But no one in the train station remains isolated.  Order comes from chaos. Finally, a connection can be made between chaos and the effects of sin.  We tend to think about sin in terms of guilt.  We stand condemned to die because we have run afoul of the judge.  Grace comes along and pronounces us innocent. That's true, but it's only part of the picture.  The other part is that sin creates chaos.  It wrecks our lives, it wrecks the lives of those around us.  It isolates us from one another.  But grace has the opposite effect.  It brings order.  It brings us from isolation into community.  Think about it.  When you experience God's grace do you not feel like things are suddenly clearer, less chaotic?  With God's grace life is a safer place to be.  Not only because it brings us forgiveness, also because it transforms us.  I think this isn't far from the meaning for the Hebrew word Shalom. Psalm 40 1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

,

Word to our Mothers

,
There will be no Mother's Day sermon on Sunday.  Even though, Sunday is Mother's Day.  (Cough, ahem, cough!  Don't forget the moms in your life!  Especially you husbands and sons out there.)  We'll be serving up a big thank you to all the moms, but I won't be preaching a Mother's Day sermon.  And that's because, well, I'm a dude. So what do I know about being a mom?  I can speak a little bit about what it means to be a dad.  And I can talk generically about being "a parent."  But I have no clue what it means to be a good mom.  It's the same reason I don't preach on how to be a good fighter pilot.  The only thing I know about flying a fighter jet is that, if a MiG's on your tail, you can hit the brakes and he'll fly right by.  And, if you're too close for missiles, you'll have to switch to guns. (Thank you, Maverick.)  Along the same lines, I know that being a mother is like taking your bottom lip and pulling it over your head.  (Thank you, Mr. Cosby.  Nice sweater.) Soooo.  Like I said, no Mother's Day sermon.  Just a big thank you to all you moms out there.  Our kids would be in peril without you.  Technically, our kids wouldn't be anything without you. I thought about asking a mom to preach the sermon on Sunday, but something tells me that might create a few problems.  So, how 'bout you moms out there let us hear from you now?  The floor is yours.  Leave a comment.  Tell us what you've learned about being a good mom.  What did your mom teach you?  Wanna give a shout out to one of our moms at church?  Someone you think is doing a great job?  Don't be shy!  Let's hear it!  Gentlemen, you can leave a comment, too, as long you're lavishing praise and not preachifyin'. Let me just take this chance to thank the mother of my children.  I love you, baby.  I know it's a cliché to have a dad who always says, "Go ask your mother."  But in our case it's just the right thing.  You're so much smarter.  All that, and you'll be able to handle our kids' medical emergencies while I'm curled up in a fetal position in the corner.  What a woman!

,

Peanuts and Cracker Jacks...

,
...gimme Some! James and Judy P. are putting together a Tides Game for Tuesday, 6/23.  It's "Roll Back the Clock Night"--$.25 hot dogs, popcorn & cokes.  Interested?  You can sign up on the sheet outside the office or leave a comment below with your last name and how many will be coming.  Or you can send me an email.  The cost is $8.50 per ticket. This is a popular night and will probably fill up fast, so we need your $ by 5/20.

,

Above My Pay Grade

,
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 6:6) Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance ... it is laying hold of his highest willingness. --Richard Trench Rachel was about 2 months pregnant with our oldest child on September 11, 2001.  This means that I haven't yet had to explain that awful day to any of my children.  So far they are blissfully unaware of evil and tragedy of that scope.  I remember that there was a lot on the news shows about how to talk to kids about it.  But it still seems like it would be a difficult task. Author and preacher Erwin McManus talks about having to explain 9/11 to his children, then 13 and 9: "...I remember sitting down with our kids. Now, I knew what I wanted to tell them. I wanted to tell them that old cliché-the safest place to be is in the center of the will of God. Haven't you heard that? The safest place to be is in the center of the will of God. It's so beautiful. It's just so unbiblical. I wanted to tell them, "Look, we're Christians. We're followers of Jesus Christ, so this would never happen to us. We're on the other side of the country. It's really, really far away. If you'll just walk with Christ, you don't have anything to worry about." In fact, what I wanted to do was give them a good, old, Christian lie. But I knew that I had to tell them the truth. And so I told my children that morning that what we learned is that we have no control over when we die, or even how we die, but what we have control over is how we live." Is it really any different with anyone?  When faced with tragedy, don't we want to tell each other that "everything will be OK," or "God wouldn't let that happen to us?"  Never mind that Jesus assured his followers that they would face troubles in this world (John 16:33).  It's still tempting to seek consolation in false notions of safety. But Paul suggests another route to courage--one that doesn't seek to avoid pain or troubles.  As we'll see this morning, Paul points to the power of prayer in living a courageous life. That's a dangerous phrase: "the power of prayer."  It's open to significant misunderstanding.  So today we'll look more closely at the power of prayer.  We'll seek to understand how such prayer can bring with it a "peace that passes all understanding."  I hope you'll get a glimpse of that peace this morning.

,

Susan Boyle

,
In Sunday's message I referenced the Susan Boyle video (now viewed nearly 40 million times on YouTube).  Some of you said that you still have not seen it.  You can watch it by clicking here.  I can't embed it.  You can also click here to read an interesting commentary by a Catholic priest named James Martin on the world's fascination with her.  There's also this take on it from our local paper. The two views aren't mutually exclusive.  It's probably a little bit of both.  It got me to wondering why I enjoyed seeing Mrs. Boyle do so well.  Part of it is the relief I feel at seeing disaster averted.  My son occasionally hides his eyes when he sees a character on TV about to get in trouble or be embarrassed.  That's how we feel when someone like Susan Boyle comes on stage.  It's like there's a voice that says, "Stop her before she makes a fool of herself!" Imagine our surprise, our relief, our elation, when she's not pathetic but glorious.  It's the surprise that gets our attention. I agree with Fr. Martin.  Perhaps we are drawn to this performance because it is a reminder of God's power to do the same.  To see the glorious in the mundane.  It's the great reversal that Jesus delights in pointing out, where the least of society (lepers, "sinners," tax collectors, Samaritans) end up being the heroes. Do we not have the same hope for ourselves?  What do you think?

Connect with us