Kontakion

God is Still Speaking

2012-02-05T15:32:00.001-05:00

Reading Amount:

John 21:1-25

Central Verse:

But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down. I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

John 21:25

Central Truth:

God is still speaking!!!!!

Food for thought: (Questions about the text)

The ending of the Gospel is a common form of ending, giving respect to all the information that doesn't make it into the written word.

The disciples were back fishing, this may have been a sign that they were giving up on their mission. But Jesus appears to call them back to it.

Jesus asks Peter to take care of his sheep three times, this may be a way of giving Peter forgiveness for denying him three times.

Connections: (Time with Our Society)

Why doesn't God speak to me? Why doesn't God speak today? These are questions that I've had to face quite often as a pastor. Usually its someone who is upset about something and there is honestly no answer to give. When I reflect on the last chapter of John the final verse really reaches out and grabs me, in part because I believe it is an answer to these types of questions.

I wish the biblical authors wrote down everything that Jesus did. It seems kind of important to me that we would know everything that Jesus said and did. Yet this give us an opportunity to realize that God continues to speak. It doesn't always get written down but it leave the opportunity for us to hear a fresh word from God. The operative of that is hear from God. We have to listen in order to hear what God would say to us. What has God said to you through the study of John?

The Holy Spirit

2012-02-05T15:29:00.001-05:00

Reading Amount:

John 20:1-31

Central Verse:

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they ware forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.

John 20:21-23

Central Truth:

The Holy Spirit has been given to all of us so that we might spread the light of Christ to all the world!

Food For Thought: (Questions about the Text)

The word for "breath" here is meant to call to mind the text in Genesis where God breathed life into Adam and Eve, it is also meant to call to mind the text in Ezekiel where the dry bones are given life.

There is nothing in the text that limits the disciples to only the twelve. It is safe to assume that there were more followers than just the twelve present. Making this text about forgiveness of sins inclusive of all the church life not just the clergy.

Connections: (Time with our Society)

The first Methodist pastor my family ever had had a habit of saying "so what?" after a Sunday school lesson or bible study. In other words we read all this, learned all these things and now we have to find something to do with it. Here we are beginning to wrap up the book of John, in fact some scholars believe that the original book didn't include chapter twenty one. Jesus has died and has risen again and we have to ask ourselves "so what?"

Before we answer this question I want us to keep a couple of things in mind. First is that when the gospel of John was written it would have been read aloud to the congregation. In other words it was meant to be heard. This means that there would have been auditory cues to help us understand the so what. Secondly, that opens up for us to remember the entire book when answering the so what question. We are not limited to only the few verses listed as the theme verses.

In our theme verses we are seeing the founding of the church, it is the giving of the Holy Spirit, not at the beginning of the book of Acts, but here in Jesus' presence that starts the mission and ministry of the church. That mission and ministry are difficult to understand just from these verses alone though. How are we to understand that we can forgive sins and people can retain their sins if they choose. In order to understand this fully we need to remember what Jesus said in chapter thirteen that "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." It is the love that we show one another that will demonstrate the forgiveness of sin and the rejection of that love that will retain sin.

Our mission given to us by God here is to spread the light of Christ to all people, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to love others and bring the Love of God to all!

The Greatest Sin

2012-02-05T15:22:00.001-05:00

Reading Amount:

John 18:1-19:42

Central Verse:

Jesus answered him, "You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." John 19:11 NRSV

Central Truth:

There is a sin that is worst than all others according to the Gospel of John. It is the rejection of God in the form of Jesus, you can be redeemed from this sin but it is the primary issue in the way of salvation for John.

Food for Thought: (Questions about the text)

There is always a question of who was responsible for the death of Jesus, it is important theologically and historically. Who do you think is responsible?

Connections: (Time with our Society)

In many of our churches there is an almost constant emphasis on sin. This also happens in how our churches interact with society there is a huge emphasis on what people do and the sin that people engage in. In the Gospel of John the greatest sin is to not acknowledge who Jesus is. Pilate is afraid in the theme verse and in an odd way Jesus comforts him at first to show that at that moment he is not the one to blame. It is those who don't acknowledge who he is. The sad part is towards the end of the reading Pilate joins the "Jews" as one of the unbelievers who encounters Jesus but doesn't acknowledge who he is.

We have to ask ourselves how things would be different if we emphasized knowing Jesus as opposed to what people are doing wrong. This is a call for us to err on the side of grace as opposed to judgment. To look at others and see the potential for faith not the primacy of sins. This is a difficult task for us to engage in. Some will see us weak for not calling people out on their sins. Others will see us as asking to much, to believe that Jesus was and is God. Yet this is our task if we are going to share the Gospel with everyone and have the maximum amount of opportunities.

All You need is Love

2012-01-22T20:26:00.001-05:00

Reading Amount:

John 13:1-17:26

Central Verse:

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35, NRSV

Central Truth:

At the heart of the Gospel is love. Love for God and equally as important is this commandment by Jesus to love one another.

Food for Thought: (Questions about the text)

Our theme verse comes to us in a section of discourse by Jesus. The statement of loving one another actually occurs at another place in this discourse as well. What do you think the over all theme of these chapters are? Is there a theme?

Connections: (Time with our Society)

On 7 July 1967 the Beatles release one of their most easily recognizable song "All You Need Is Love." A song with simple but powerful lyrics it spoke of the power that love can and should have in our lives. The song came at a time when our world was rife with war and American society was split by the Vietnamese war. The song has continued well past its initial release to speak to people and be an advocate for change in our world.

What John Lennon and Paul McCartney struck was a simple concept that Jesus spoke about thousands of years before. At the heart of the gospel and what should be at the heart of our interactions with each other is love. The issue is while this sounds simple and easy to accomplish it has very rarely been done perhaps especially in churches. The stories of Church splitting and fighting over ridiculous things abound. Churches have fought over everything from carpet color to theological issues.

I have been around the United Methodist Church for many years and have attended many annual conferences. All of them that I can remember have been characterized by some type of conflict. Whether it was over a social issue or over a budgetary issue, often it was both in the same time frame. It is easy for individuals to vilify any opposition they receive but that wouldn't be the example that Jesus gives in this Gospel and that Jesus calls us to. Even when the people didn't understand Jesus he reacted out of sadness, disappointment and ultimately love. In fact Jesus doesn't give his life up for others, he gives it away for the sake of love.

Vessels

2012-01-22T20:23:00.001-05:00

Reading Amount:

John 11:1-12:50

Central Verse:

He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. John 11:51-52 NRSV

Central Truth:

God uses imperfect, even conniving, vessels to speak of the work that Jesus would complete. Jesus work was not just for the salvation of the people of Israel but for all the children of God!

Food for Thought: (Questions about the Text)

The office of high priest was intended to be a lifelong position. John seems to remark that Caiaphas was only shortly in office this may have been noticing the reality of living under Roman rule. In fact a number of years later Caiaphas was removed from leadership.

There is a marriage of political wisdom with a strong underlying of prophecy in the wisdom of Caiaphas. The political wisdom was contained in their precarious set-up with Rome.

Connections: (Time with our Society)

Often political leaders make decisions not based on their care for the people but on the basis of what will happen to their power if a certain event were to happen. Even now we have political leaders vilifying an issue or position because it’s a good idea and the result would be a gain in popularity for the other side.

In Jesus' day the stakes were slightly different. Here the ruling class of Sadducees and Pharisees along with the High Priest risked their lively hood. Under the excuse of their lively hood was that they risked any and all power that they had achieved. In this setting Jesus is a threat to their power. Caiaphas hid all of this in a statement about the good of the many out weighing the worth of one mans life. We know because we're reading the story that what he says holds double meaning and John himself points that out. That Jesus' death is for the salvation of all.

So often people concerned with their own wealth and their own position don't realize the nature of their actions nor that what they are doing is something God wants done. This is not an excuse for us to do whatever we want but a statement of the reality of our existence. God is at work using imperfect vessels to complete his goals.

Philippians introductory material

2012-01-10T12:33:00.001-05:00

Philippians -

Who:

The letter to the Philippians was written by Paul to the church in the city of Philippi. The idea of Paul being the author is not disputed much by scholars. Historically speaking the letter to the Philippians has always been considered Paul's. One of the only major problems with the text of Philippians is that some scholars feel it may have been two or three letters compiled into one. For the sake of this study I will reference the author as Paul and treat the letter as one entity as we have inherited it.

What:

As you may have noticed in the previous paragraph I referred to the text of Philippians as a letter. This is something of the upmost importance for us to remember. Philippians is not a book but a letter to friends and should be read as such. One of the defining themes in this letter is joy and that is to be expected in a letter between friends. My opinion is that is also why this letter is varied as much as it is. With thoughts seemingly interrupted and shifted at a moments notice. When you are writing to loved ones and friends you are more likely to switch thoughts as you think of them and communicate as naturally as possible.

Where and When:

The letter to the Philippians was probably written in the earl 60's CE. This is based on the assumption that Paul is writing this letter during his Roman imprisonment toward the end of his life and ministry. The setting of Rome is based on some textual evidence as well as tradition.

We need to also understand a little bit about the context of where the letter is sent to, Philippi. Philippi was a primary city who's main export was agriculture goods. The city was populated primarily by Italians with no presence of a Jewish community. Philippi was a Roman city with all the privileges and problems of Roman citizenship.

Slices or One Loaf?

2012-01-10T12:27:00.001-05:00

Reading Amount:

John 6:1-10:42

Central Verse:

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day…I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. - John 6:39; 51

Central Truth:

Christ has come to save all, and all means all! The intent of Jesus' mission while fraught with misunderstanding is to bring life.

Food for Thought: (Questions about the text)

We are to understand what Jesus says about bread and wine, flesh and blood on two levels; literally with the bread and wine and figuratively as the symbol of communion. We must allow John to challenge our understandings of communion today. John's view of communion is not the same as the other gospels and offers challenges to our preconceived notions of communion.

Connections: (Time with our society)

It has been easy over the last few hundred years to relegate communion as the work of just pastors, or it’s something that only believers can participate in. We see here in the gospel of John that communion was giving not to a few (just the disciples like in Matthew, Mark and Luke) but to the crowed. It is not limited to a few but given to the many.

In our churches and society today we seem to have a penchant for excluding others. We create groups where we only have to socialize and understand things the same way. Here in these few chapters of John Jesus challenges our understanding of who is included by God and how that inclusion happens. One of the things that are the most clear, as seen in verse 39, is that Jesus is working to lose no one. Jesus is trying to bring all people to himself.

So the question is what does that say to our society and church with its emphasis on sectarianism and divisions? If Jesus is there and as it seems in these passages bringing people together by using such common things as bread and wine what are we doing when we divide? How should we balance that?

It seems to me in a way we must wonder how it is we understand the communion bread. Is it one loaf that we break and share together or is it slices of bread that we enjoy individually? For John it’s both. Jesus' presence is given to us in the elements as something we are to enjoy and experience together, but as we see in these verses it’s also something we experience individually as we learn and understand God's presence and work in our lives.

Getting it Right

2012-01-10T12:24:00.001-05:00

Reading Amount:

John 2:1-5:47

Central Verse:

"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." John 3:17-18 NRSV

Food For Thought: (Questions about the text)

Most of us have heard the story of Nicodemus as someone who didn't understand what Jesus was talking about. Clearly Jesus is talking about spiritual rebirth, being "born again," and Nicodemus never understands that. When a word study is done on the words Jesus uses it is clear that Jesus' intent is both physical and spiritual. We end up putting out own one sided view on it just as Nicodemus does. In John the physical, starting with Jesus' first miracle, is just as important as the spiritual.

Connections: (time with our society)

Most of us are intimately familiar with the verses preceding the theme verse here. "For God so loved the world," for many of us this is the only scripture passage we remember. If this is the only verse we remember and we don't read on we miss the whole point of Jesus in the gospel of John. The reason that Jesus is here is to save the world not condemn it.

I've been a part of many evangelistic efforts over the years, and the worst ones have something in common. They brow beat people and do every little twists and turns to convince people that they are bad and evil. Here we see John laying out how we should approach the work of Christ in our lives and in the lives of others. Jesus is here to save not condemn. That is working to build bridges, relationships that bring about salvation not divisive finger pointing.

So why does Jesus die? Because it’s easier for us, the religious people, to point fingers and condemn, just as the leaders in Jesus day, than it is to build and reconcile. Jesus will repeatedly spend time with people and build bridges. Nicodemus doesn't get it here, but something happens in his life because we find out he is the only one brave enough to ask for Jesus' body when he is crucified. The relationship that Jesus starts here doesn't end in condemnation or brokenness. It eventually leads to a redeemed life.

What in Blazes?

2012-01-02T09:37:00.001-05:00

Reading Amount:

John 1:1-51

Central Verse:

"All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." John 1:3-5 NRSV

Central Truth:

Jesus has conquered evil in the world. This is a past event that has occurred and the good news that Christ brings is still with us today.

Food For Thought (Questions about the text):
Gnosticism - a religious group in early Christianity who, among other things, placed the work of salvation in heaven not on earth. Based on your reading of the first chapter of John where do you think John is placing the work of salvation?

What is the role of John the Baptist in the beginning of this book?

Connections (Time with our society):

I'm a person who loves to camp and hike when I get the opportunity. When you camp you cannot underestimate the importance of light at night. Fire provides light, heat and security. A few years ago I went camping with a friend of mine on the Appalachian Trail (AT). We camp with very little gear, usually building a shelter if we need one, or sleeping out under the stars. We had decided to go out in the late winter for three nights of camping and hiking. The first two nights went well, however the third night it rained.

Being that it was our last night, it was freezing cold, and we didn't have any shelter so to speak we got up at roughly two in the morning and decided to hike our way out in the dark. Of course because of our minimalist camping style I didn't have a flash light and my friend only had a small key chain light really only good for checking the map.

Luckily for us it was one of those nights where even though it was raining it was oddly bright. We could clearly see the trail and the blue blazes that marked the AT. However, in this particular state park there was a trail marked with white blazes as well. No matter, we rolled up our gear and headed off down the trail. We walked. And we walked, and we walked some more constantly on the lookout for the next blue blaze which we continued to pass at regular intervals.

After roughly an hour of hiking to the car which should have only be thirty minutes we realized something was wrong. We should have been back to the car by now. So the next blaze that we saw my friend took out his small flash light, walked up to within inches of the tree. Flashed it on and saw a problem. We were on the white blaze not the blue blaze.

You cannot underestimate the importance of having light to show you the way in the forest. At the beginning of the gospel of John the author describes Jesus as a light coming and shining through the darkness, and the way that he words it is that the light is present tense. The light is still shining and the darkness is past tense. The darkness is over! The light that Christ brings into the world makes a difference in our lives and in the lives of everyone and the author of John is getting ready to show us that.

When we were lost on that trail I could have really used a light and the comfort that that light brings. I have since learned my lesson and take a flashlight with me camping, even when roughing it. Every day we carry the light of Christ with us and that light can, and does, over come all the darkness we see in the world around us.

Background on the Gospel of John

2012-01-02T09:34:00.001-05:00

Why:

The book of John has always been the first book of the bible that I recommend for new Christians to read. In fact it is probably the first book of the bible that I memorized any scripture from at a young age. Of course it was the scripture "For God so Loved the World." John is the gospel that we see plastered on poster board at sporting events. However even with is primacy in those areas it is a book easily ignored in church since in our culture we seem to favor the more 'straightforward' approach of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). So why do I (we) suggest that Gospel of John is the first place to start?

The reason is that the gospel of John is a book that doesn't let us get away from who Christ is. We are constantly brought to face the fact that Jesus is God's son and what is accomplished by his life, death and resurrection are the most important things in the world. The gospel of John keeps us grounded in our faith at the same time it allows us to soar to the heights of theology in ways that most of us can understand and keep up with.

Who:

For the sake of this bible study I will refer to the author of the book of John as John. I am making the assumption, with the early church, that this is in reference to John the Apostle. There is no conclusive evidence from the book of John to support this claim, nor do other books in the New Testament lend any real support to this claim. In fact the language in 1, 2, and 3rd John as well as Revelation, which are all traditionally understood to be written by John the Apostle, all very significantly from each other and from the Gospel of John. Aside from the linguistic differences there are huge theological differences between the works, leading many to assume that they were all written by different individuals. For me it does not matter who the writer is. This is the primary reason why I use the traditional identification of John the Apostle.

What:

The book of John is known as a Gospel. In the ancient world 'gospel' meant good news. Often this original meaning has been lost as we approach the gospels out of a sense of duty or boredom (i.e. "I've heard this story before.") We have to strive to capture that original sense of Good News.

Contrary to popular belief the gospels are not strictly speaking historical documents. While there are historical elements written within them they are primarily the work of theological reflection on the historical teachings and life of Jesus. Because of that, the gospel of John is able to make huge theological connections that wouldn't be possible or acceptable in a modern historical document. For instance you can't help but read the opening verses, "In the beginning was the Word" and not mentally, spiritually and theologically make connections to the book of Genesis "In the Beginning." This is obviously intended by the author and is meant so that we can begin to understand Jesus' place in life and in the broader theological world.

Where/When:

Traditionally the Book of John is thought to have been written in Ephesus where John lived with Mary (the mother of Jesus) after the disciples left Jerusalem. This is by no means certain the only thing we can do is make some deductions about who the audience of John is from the gospel itself and hope that leads us to where the book was written.

It appears that the Gospel of John was written to a congregation of mixed heritage. Meaning it was written to both Jewish and Greek Christians. We can also make the assumption that the audience was very familiar with the Old Testament scriptures which are always referred to in a positive light. One of the reasons for assuming that there were Greek Christians is because John repeatedly explains Jewish terms or practices. This would mean that the audience is not familiar with the practice.

One item of importance to talk about is how John talks about the Jewish community. It seems that the book of John was written sometime after 70 C.E. after the destruction of the Temple. The destruction of the temple caused the Jewish community to define itself more sharply and one of the results of that was the Christians were then kicked out of the Jewish communities. This is the reason that John often doesn't speak favorably about "the Jew's". He was a part of a community that had been seriously hurt because of being kicked out.

To put this into perspective, Judaism was one of the few religions that had special rights under the Roman Empire to worship as it chose. When the Christians would have been forced out of the synagogues they would have been subjugated to the rules of worshiping the emperor and other deities. This would have meant participating in acts that they would rather die than participate in.

While it is understandable that John and his community were speaking out of and dealing with pain it is unacceptable how the church through the centuries has used John and his communities’ pain as justification for persecution of Jewish people. This is unacceptable and is not to be tolerated in any way.

Our study of John will deal with the Gospel in eight different and rather large sections. This study is encouraged to be a time of personal and communal reflection on who God is and what God is doing in our world and in our lives. The sections will be , 1:1-51, 2:1-5:47, 6:1-10:42, 11:1-12:50, 13:1-17:26, 18:1-19:42, 20:1-31, 21:1-25. Each lesson will focus on a theme verse and attempt to tie the whole sections together.

Cry for Help

2012-01-02T09:31:00.001-05:00

Reading Amount:

Micah 5:1-15

Central Verse:

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,

Who are one of the little clans of

Judah,

From you shall come forth for me

One who is to rule in Israel,

Whose origin is from of old,

From ancient days.

· Micah 5:2

Central Truth:

God has, does, and will provide salvation to all people. He gave Micah a specific for his people, yet the word of God goes forth through history and shows Christ and his return.

Food for Thought: (Questions about the text)

This text is quoted by the wise men in Matthew as foretelling where the Messiah would be born.

We must remember that when a prophecy is given in scripture it is given for the author's audience. It is over time that the prophecy continues to speak. To get the most out of prophetic scriptures it is best to try and ascertain what the meaning was for the audience and then see how it has also been interpreted through time.

In this chapter the image of a shepherd is used repeatedly. This was a very common literary and assumable oratory device in the ancient near east.

Connections: (time with our society)

It often seems that when things are darkest salvation appears. Here in Micah the people have been punished but there is a promise from God that salvation will come. We have heard this scripture before, and we can't help but think of the salvation that Christ brings to us. The salvation that is brought to the people of God comes after the darkest part of their punishment. In our lives so often we cry for salvation the moment we feel any pain. Like a child who picks up a piece of food that is on the hot side of warm. There is no real pain but surprise the child immediately starts crying looking for sympathy from any adult in the room.

We do the same thing with God. We yell at the slightest pain or discomfort when the reality is we hadn't experienced anything yet. Here in this text the people have experienced the punishment for the sins of their lives and society. It was a hard lesson to learn and had to be learned in its completeness. It is only after the real pain and growth that we understand how salvation comes.

When my children (being young and little) fall down as with most children their first action is to look up and see if there is help. If they are in pain they start crying immediately, as a parent when you hear that cry you know it’s real and the first thing you do is pick the child up and comfort them. God here promises that comfort to all people in all times and in all places. We are the recipient of the comfort of the great Shepherd Jesus.

The Book of Love

2011-12-19T18:07:00.000-05:00

Reading Amount:

Micah 7:1-20

Central Verse:

Who is a God like you, pardoning

Iniquity

And passing over the transgression

Of the remnant of your

Possession?

He does not retain his anger forever,

Because he delights in showing

Clemency.

He will again have compassion

Upon us;

He will tread our iniquities under

Foot.

You will cast all our sins

Into the depths of the sea.

You will show faithfulness to Jacob

And unswerving loyalty to

Abraham,

As you have sworn to our ancestors

From the days of old.

Micah 7:18-20 NRSV

Central Truth:

After seeing God's righteous anger at the people of Israel for theirs sins against others, we see the heart of God again. It is forgiveness and reconciliation.

Food For Thought: (Questions about the text)

This final section is written in the form of a responsive liturgy to be used in worship. As you read it imagine it being read responsively, much the same as a call to worship at the beginning of many of our services.

The tone of the writing places the setting, according to scholars, for this section after the Babylonian exile. Scholars claim this is where historically this would make the most sense with the people returning from exile.

Connections: (Time with our Society)

I had a teacher in High School once pose a question. What is the opposite emotion of love? The class struggled with the question with many people yelling out anger. Of course it was a trick question and the answer was actually apathy. We have seen the intense emotion behind God's punishment of Israel and now we have come back full circle to the defining characteristic of God. God is forgiveness and love, not anger and apathy.

It is often easy for us to see God as angry but harder for us to see God as love. We wish to earn Gods love and fear retribution. Its easy to accept the belt than it is the hug. But here after everything we see what is at the heart of the Gospel. Ultimately God loves us, he loves us so much that Jesus became apart of the world and God demonstrates what is claimed at the end of this chapter God has shown "faithfulness to Jacob, and unswerving loyalty to Abraham." If God did/does that with Israel how much more patience does he have with us and our sins?

Action

2011-12-19T18:05:00.001-05:00

Reading Amount:

Micah 6:1-16

Central Verse:

He has told you, O mortal, what is

Good;

And what does the LORD require of

You

But to do justice, and to love kindness.

And to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8 NRSV

Central Truth:

Even today we try to think of ways to make God happy. What we forget is this simple yet tough choice that we are to live and walk with God. That is the primary way that we have a relationship with him not by going to church or fulfilling requirement x, y or z.

Food for Thought: (Questions about the text)

The beginning of the chapter is actually a form of lawsuit in the Ancient East. Listing all the blessings that one side has given, calling witnesses and stating consequences for wrong behavior.

There are three important Hebrew words in this text one is translated as Justice, another is love and the final is humbly. The word for Justice denotes action, this is not passive there is an active part to performing justice involving those who are poor and disenfranchised. "Love kindness" is stronger than it seems this word speaks of deep commitment much the same as we would think in marriage. The final word for humbly speaks more of caution and deliberateness that fully encompasses life.

Connections: (time with our society)

Obsessions are items that permeate all of our lives. For instance I know people who are fans of certain sports teams and it doesn't take long for you to find out who. They have shirts, hats, coats, cups, flags, Christmas ornaments, lawn ornaments and stickers of their teams everywhere (and that's just naming a few things). There are other people where certain activities permeate their whole lives. For instance I am a runner. Not just a runner but a Marathoner. This means I devote a tremendous amount of time to running, not just the act but the planning and learning different forms aspect.

In Micah we get to the heart of what God really wants from us. God wants that same type of obsession that we see others devote to things. God want us to put him and acting for him above all else in our lives. This is not a vain showy type of religious out put, in fact God speaks against that in the proceeding verses stating in essence that he doesn't want the outward stuff. God wants action in our faith. Not to take communion and talk about being good and helping others. But to go and help others reach the poor and helpless and turn their cause around. Action is what we are to have not stagnation.

Cry for Help

2011-12-19T18:01:00.001-05:00

Reading Amount:

Micah 5:1-15

Central Verse:

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,

Who are one of the little clans of

Judah,

From you shall come forth for me

One who is to rule in Israel,

Whose origin is from of old,

From ancient days.

Micah 5:2

Central Truth:

God has, does, and will provide salvation to all people. He gave Micah a specific for his people, yet the word of God goes forth through history and shows Christ and his return.

Food for Thought: (Questions about the text)

This text is quoted by the wise men in Matthew as foretelling where the Messiah would be born.

In this chapter the image of a shepherd is used repeatedly. This was a very common literary and assumable oratory device in the ancient near east.

Connections: (time with our society)

It often seems that when things are darkest salvation appears. Here in Micah the people have been punished but there is a promise from God, that salvation will come. We have heard this scripture before, and we can't help but think of the salvation that Christ brings to us. The salvation that is brought to the people of God comes after the darkest part of their punishment. In our lives so often we cry for salvation the moment we feel any pain. Like a child who picks up a piece of food that is on the hot side of warm. There is no real pain but surprise the child immediately starts crying looking for sympathy from any adult in the room.

When my children (being young and little) fall down as with most children their first action is to look up and see if there is help. If they are in pain they start crying immediately, as a parent when you hear that cry you know its real and the first thing you do is pick the child up and comfort them. God here promises that comfort to all people in all times and in all places. We are the recipient of the comfort of the great Shepherd Jesus.

Peace on Earth

2011-12-12T11:09:00.001-05:00

Reading Amount:

Micah 4:1-13

Central Verse:

He shall judge between many peoples.

And shall arbitrate between strong

nations far away;

they shall beat their swords into

plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against

nation,

neither shall they learn war any

more;

but they shall all sit under their own

vines and under their own fig

trees,

and no one shall make them afraid;

for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken. - Micah 4:3-4 NRSV

Central Truth:

We long for peace in our world yet we are surrounded by people who seem to desire war and strife. Peace seems to be a pipe dream. One that will never, ever come true. Here Micah promises peace, eventually, and that peace will be brought about by God's work and by us working (who do you think is going to change your instruments of war into ones of peace)?

Food for Thought: Questions about the Text

Jerusalem and God's temple being lifted up is supposed to be figurative. This is a changing of Israel's position from a beat down people to people who are at the center of what God is doing.

Caution and understanding must be brought to the final two verses of this chapter. These are verses that use the language of holy war. In our society today we tend to only think of Muslims struggling with this issue yet we need to be transparent with what is contained within our own religious texts and within out society.

Connections: Time with our society

So much of our world is devoted to making war. For instance over fifty percent of the US government budget is devoted to defense spending. This is a multi-billion dollar industry that controls a lot of peoples lives. Not only is industry devoted to making war we have ideologies that work toward war. Individuals and groups who believe the only way toward a resolution of conflict is to take up arms and fight. Adding to the problem are other organizations who prey on people's fears. I personally know individuals who are scared of being robbed at any moment so they have permits to carry weapons to protect themselves.

The scripture text isn't against self defense. Its not even against having a military budget but what is in the text is a total end to all things related to war. In fact scholars theorize that there was an original saying "beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears, prepare for war!" But the biblical authors stand this on its head, it would be like the cry after the U.S. entered WWII "remember Pearl Harbor," would be changed to "they would remember Pearl Harbor no more." This is a complete revision and re-understanding of what is happening in the world.

Unfortunately our world and our society doesn't seem prepared for this possibility. While this very scripture text is written on the walls of the UN building in New York we have church people who believe this is only possible when Jesus returns. The reality of peace is that it’s a lot of work on everyone's part. The text doesn't state that God will beat the swords into plowshares, the implication is that there is work that we need to do and participate in order for peace to come.

Truth, Justice and ...

2011-12-07T10:39:00.000-05:00

Central Verse:

Hear this, you rulers of the house of Israel,

Jacob

And chiefs of the house of Israel,

Who abhor justice

And pervert all equity

Who build Zion with blood

And Jerusalem with wrong!

Its rulers give judgment for a bribe,

Its priest teach for a price

Its prophets give oracles for money;

Yet they lean upon the LORD and say,

"Surely the LORD is with us!

No harm shall come upon us."

Micah 3:9-11

Central Truth:

People with responsibilities over others, politicians, religious officials and public servants have a responsibility to uphold justice. When justice is not upheld by everyone, everyone suffers!

Food For Thought: (Questions about the text)

Historically speaking Micah is speaking to three groups the first are the politicians, second are the prophets and thirdly the priest.

Verse 8 is the most information we have about Micah's calling. While this doesn't give us information on what his calling was about it does help us to understand what Micah understood his calling to be.

An important aspect to remember in regards to Micah's prophecies is that people will be punished for what they have done wrong to others. However this does not explain why bad things happen to people. What we see here in Micah is that sometimes suffering can be explained by sin, sometimes it is a consequence of victimization and, perhaps most unfortunately, by a rippling effect of sin being lived out by other members of the community. The judgment Micah calls down is directly the result of a few individuals actions but there is collateral damage to people who were good people living out their lives.

Connections: (Time with our society)

Leaders, both religious and secular, often are criticized for what they say. In our current political and social climate it is unpopular to say anything contrary to popular expressions of patriotism and living. To question anything that’s in our national interest is to risk out right ridicule not to mention the potential to loose your job.

It is difficult to speak the truth when the truth hurts. Its even more difficult to speak the truth when you risk your way of making a living. Its easier to say things that make people feel better than to challenge the status quo. The problem is when the status quo isn't challenged people get hurt. People are hurt by the evil that others perpetrate and by the extremes they live their life. The best example of this in our society today is of the debt crisis and financial collapse. It wasn't just government or businesses but individuals who lived by greed and thus in turn lived beyond their means. Sin affects everyone not just the individual who participates in the act.

Israel at this point in history had reached a tipping point with the sins of those in charge. That sin caused such problems that finally God is going to react. And the punishment that those in charge receive is that God won't be with them or answer their prayers. Something that people who believed they were the chosen ones couldn't believe was possible yet here it happened. In the end a lot of people were hurt by the leaders arrogance and inability to speak and live out the truth when it mattered most.

Teardrops

2011-12-07T10:38:00.001-05:00

The first thing that assaulted my senses as I walked through the door was the unmistakable scent of cat urine. The house was in almost total disarray with stacks of papers, photo albums and knick-knacks stacked everywhere. She invited me in and asked me to sit, pointing to a chair on the other side of a table. The table was a round picnic table that had been set on the one end of the living room. Which was crowded with broken furniture and pictures on every available wall and end table space. The smell in the house was almost unbearable.

I sat down looking patiently at her across this table, ducking my head from side to side to see around the various piles. The old woman looked at me expectantly seeming to wait for me speak something profound. As is the case most of the time when I meet someone new I wondered what was I going say? How was I going to speak to her? The conversation started slowly,

“So how long have you lived in this house?” I asked, hoping to glean some information about her so that I could make conversation.

“Only fourteen years, I’m sorry I don’t get out much. My health has been bad the last several years, I don’t get out to church. But my son comes to visit me. He lives in the house right back there.” she gently points behind her back. “My neighbors are good to they try to keep things together for me.”

“Well I’m glad to hear that.” I respond “Its hard to find community now a day’s that takes the time to care for others.”

“Well I have my three boy’s. My daughter died several years ago,” she said quietly.

“Oh, how did that happen?”

“She died of colon cancer. She was going to school, living in one of those apartment's. You know at the top of a house. Everything’s in one room.”

“You mean a loft?”
”Yeah, I think so. Well there was a crack in her ceiling and insulation was falling down. I don’t think it was asbestos's, or something else, I don’t know what it was but we think that gave her the cancer.” Tears welled up in her eyes and the pain was clear in her voice. “I lost my husband ten years ago to diabetes to.”

I wish I would have said something like “I’m sorry to hear that, but we know God still cares for you.” or “At least you have family still around you and they love and support you.” But the reality is I didn’t have anything to say. What do you say to someone with the pain that evident in her voice and written in the creases of her face? We sat there in silence for a few moments as I collected my wits and re-oriented my feelings knowing that her pain could easily overwhelm me. “You know if you would like to get to church I can come and pick you up. Any time that you need that I can do it.”

“Thank you Pastor, and tears well up in her eye’s. I may take you up on that some time.”

“I’m sorry but I need to go, can we pray together?” I get up out of my seat, walk around and kneel at her side. I take a weathered, wrinkled old hand in mine. As I started to pray I saw teardrops rolling slowly down her creased and worn cheeks. As I said the last amen and excused myself from the house, grateful to be away from the smell and clutter I wondered how people could live so separated from one another. That this woman's pain and loneliness was obvious and yet I was the only one here, the only one to sit and watch the tears fall.

Where we went wrong

2011-12-05T13:06:00.000-05:00

Central Verse:

But you rise up against my people as

An enemy;

You strip the robe from the peaceful,

From those who pass by trustingly

With no thought of war…..

I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob,

I will gather the survivors of Israel;

I will set them together

Like sheep in a fold,

Like a flock in its pasture;

It will resound with people. - 2:8 & 12, NRSV

Central Truth:

We serve a loving God yet God is also a God of Justice and the two must be held in balance. Most often this is thrown out of balance in our lives by covetousness.

Food for Thought (Questions about the text):

There is a huge tie between coveting and land in this passage as well as others in scripture. There were laws set in place in Deuteronomy that protected family lands and ensured that those lands would be passed on from generation to generation. There are stories in the Bible of people circumventing those laws (Jezzable and Ahas killing of a garden) and an assumption we must make of this passage is that people were figuring out ways to circumvent the law in Micah's day.

Connections: (Time with our society)

To say covetousness today is to pull out a word that seems to belong in the Victorian age. We rarely talk in a productive way about the application of covetousness which is greed. Greed is a staple in our society today. We see corporate greed running rampant and we see personal greed sprinting to keep pace. The underlying principle in greed is, "if I had just a little more I would be happy."

Micah is speaking to his society which is doing the same thing as our society is. The societies continue to mirror each other as we see individuals emphasis wealth and circumventing laws so that they have to pay less. Another aspect that is mirrored between the two societies is that both live as if nothing bad will happen because of these behaviors. We mortgage spiritual issues by saying in the end they don't matter compared to the comfortable life.

We have watched the displacement of the middle and lower classes in our society while the richest among us live as if there are no consequences for their actions. The biblical reality is there will be consequences, God doesn't hold back his justice forever.

God's Judgment comes to All

2011-12-01T19:09:00.001-05:00

Central Verse:

For lo, the LORD is coming out of his

Place,

And will come down and tread upon

The high places of the earth.

Then the mountains will melt under him

And the valleys will burst open,

Like wax near the fire,

Like waters poured down a steep

Place….
What is the transgression of Jacob?

Is it not Samaria?

And what is the high place of Judah?

Is it not Jerusalem?

Micah 1:3-4; 5b NRSV

Central Truth:

It is easy when we are in a place of privilege and power to believe nothing will happen to us, that we alone carry favor with God. We risk forgetting that although God loves us, and his love wins the day, God is also just and righteous demanding acts of service and justice be performed.

Food for Thought (questions about the text):

Theophany - a theophany is the experience of seeing God. In the biblical text this almost exclusively seen as God coming to the rescue of his people except here where Micah sees God coming, not to rescue his people, but to punish them.

What appears to be the transgressions of Israel (Samaria) and Judah (Jerusalem)?

Are there any modern day Israel's and Judah's? Does this text seem to imply individual piety or national piety?

Connections: (Time with our society)

It is easy to convince people of the status and privilege of American society. Even in these hard economic times we enjoy some privileges that others can't even dream of. One of the big issues plaguing American society right now is the national debt and the lack of jobs available for the middle class and poor.

In our society in recent times we have experience two vitriolic political movements around these issues. The first being the Tea Party movement and the second being the Occupy Wall Street movement. Both of these groups are unhappy with their place in American society and with the current political and geo-political systems in place. There are pros and cons of both movements, and I have no intention of endorsing either one, but one thing is agreed upon and that is that there is something wrong in our society today.

Many of our national politicians and civic leaders sacrifice the basic needs of the poorest in our society to provide more for the wealthiest. And with that we build up places in our society where the worst elements of humanity are celebrated. Wall street as a fount of greed, Washington DC where lying is a way of life. While our nation has prospered we have often neglected the poorest of our society and of the world. This begs the question, if we were to see God coming in the clouds would he be coming to lift us up or bring us low?

Micah

2011-11-28T19:35:00.000-05:00

Central Verse:

"The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem." Micah 1:1

Central Truth:

God doesn't just chose anyone or nobody to serve him. God calls specific people for a specific time and place. God has call everyone!

Food For Thought:(Questions about the text)

Take note of who the kings are and what the prophet is seeing. For more information on these kings you can read their stories in the book of 1 & 2 Kings.

Connections: (time with our society)

Like many of you I've encountered ministers who try to be more than they are. We have a perception in our churches and unfortunately often in the ministry that pastors must be perfect or appear to be like minister x,y or z. This opening scripture is very specific about Micah's time and his ministry. This is important to understand because God calls us to specific times and places. God works through each of us as unique people to bring his message to the world.

Who, What and Why of Micah

2011-11-28T10:20:00.000-05:00

Why:

Why? Why is a question that must be answered of a lot of biblical books. This question is especially important for us when we encounter prophetic books, like Micah, that are rarely used in worship, much less quoted from on a fairly regular basis. It is my position that through the power of the Holy Spirit we have been given scripture. The book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church states "the Holy Bible, Old and New Testaments, reveals the Word of God so far as it is necessary for our salvation. It is to be received through the Holy Spirit as the true rule and guide for faith and practice." (Discipline 2008, 2008). We believe that all scripture contains direction from God and to ignore one part of scripture because it makes us uncomfortable or, because we can't bother to learn more about its context and meaning, is not an acceptable way to live out our salvation in Christ.

If we are to learn about how God would have us act with one another and how to live like Christ we cannot afford to ignore any part of scripture including a prophetic book that is too seldom read.

Who:

Micah is describe as the author in the first verse of the book. There is no historical evidence that makes any scholar say without doubt that Micah was a historical person. That makes no difference to me. As part of the accepted canon of scripture I believe that traditionally speaking the author is best called by the name Micah. There is debate among scholars if the entire book can be subscribed to just one individual. More than likely there are parts that have been written by other individuals. For example verse one which contains historical information probably wasn't written by Micah but by an editor who wanted future generations to have the historical information. For the purposes of this study and for the life of the church we will study under the assumption that Micah was written by one person. Where appropriate (i.e. chapter 1:1) it will be noted about authorial difficulties with explanations to follow.

What:

What is prophetic literature in the bible? This question is perhaps best answered by understanding what prophetic literature is not. It is not, strictly speaking, just about future events. The prophets in the Old testament were individuals called by God who could often understand and perceive the directions their culture and society were taking that were contrary to the will of God. One of the beauties of prophecy is that it has multiple meanings, it has a depth to it that becomes apparent over time. Books like Micah have not lost that depth and continue well past their initial audience to speak about the sins of our society and the need for repentance.

Where:

Micah was written somewhere in Judah possibly Jerusalem. We know from the superscription that the prophet Micah was from the town of Moresheth which appears to be a defensive town that was around the city of Jerusalem. The only evidence we have for this comes from the book itself and from some potential references in the book of Jeremiah.

When:

This book was probably written in 750-687 BCE during the reigns of the three kings mentioned in the first chapter. Of note is the fact that the prophet was working during the time of the Assyrian threat. The Assyrian empire was located in what would become modern day Iraq and was particularly cruel in their treatment of conquered territories and in their demands for payment from those territories.

Theological themes of Note:

Gods anger. What do we do with it, how do we understand it.
What does God expect from us
Forces us to examine the idea of suffering as punishment for sin
What is the balance between speaking words of judgment and words of hope.

Philadelphia Half-Marathon Reflection

2011-11-26T11:58:00.002-05:00

“Gonna leave the city put my troubles behind
People in the city goin' out of their minds
Goin' to the country just to feel like gold
People in the country really let themselves go”
- Steve Miller Band
Training:
Training for the Philadelphia half marathon was far less stressful than when I was training for my first marathon. This was largely because I knew I could complete the distance. Let’s face it I ran a full marathon the spring before. Even with that there were some marked differences in the way I trained and of course my expectations were different.
For this race I used the Nike Intermediate level one training program for the half-marathon. Over all I’d say I was quite pleased with the program. The addition of speed work for me greatly helped and I have already decided that I’ll use the same program for my next half. All though from a training stand point I didn’t complete the highest mileage that it had me shoot for. I changed things as I felt my body needed and when it came to the 13 and 14 mile days I was just too exhausted from previous runs and over work to complete them.
I of course used music in my training and there are a few songs that stand out as my sound track for this race. First is “I’ll Never Be” by Reel Big Fish, I had their album on my ipod one day during a hard training session that song pulled me through and thus became a staple to almost every other run. One of the most surprising albums to become a part of my soundtrack was “The Green Album.” Muppet songs that were redone by various artists most of whom I had never heard of. The best song on that album by far is “I wish I was.” Notable songs to mention are “Born to Run” Bruce Springsteen (nothing like singing about getting out of New Jersey to motivate you), and “Since You Been Gone” by Rainbow, which was the song I woke up singing in my head as I went to the race. The song that I really stands out to me from the race itself was “People in the Country” by Steve Miller.
When I ran my marathon last spring I noticed I crossed the 13.1 mark at roughly 2hrs 18min. I remember thinking as I was racing that this was too fast. Of course it shot my hopes up to finish with a sub 5hr marathon, which did not happen. So I struggled at first with what my time for this race would be. Another aspect to this was that I had two friends running the race with me and I was concerned about us starting together so when we registered it was agreed that we would put our projected time for completion at 2hrs 30min. For me I knew this was slow and as I started training I hoped to at least match my 2:18 personal record (pr). As training progressed and I felt healthier I began to secretly hope to run the half at a 10 min pace which would me 2:10 as a finishing time. As race day approached I felt very confident that I could make 2:10 my only fear was of my friends either not keeping up or of me not keeping up with them.
Another item of note in my training is that I began to include barefoot training. On my lowest mileage day I would run at least one mile unshod. I am planning and looking forward to increasing my barefoot mileage with the goal of running a 5k in the fall unshod. We’ll see if that works because I am already planning on another half marathon in the spring.
Race Day:
Running at a major race like Philadelphia is an experience. It was packed and crazy at the starting line. The tension was high in the air. In the morning when we got up we parked at the 30th street station in Philly. For one because it wasn’t recommended in official papers so there was no danger in not finding a parking spot. Secondly because it was a mile away from the start line and that gave us the walk to warm up.
When everything was said and done our corral didn’t get to the starting line till almost 25 minutes after the start of the race. When we got up to the line we were off. There was a lot of dodging and weaving for the first six miles and I knew from my watch that our pace was fast even though I tried to be very deliberate in ignoring my watch. Our pace was fast enough that I was worried that I would have trouble later. Right at the beginning of the race, because we were 25 minutes late, I had to go to the bathroom. Every time we came to port a potties there were lines and I wasn’t about to lose that much time to go to the bathroom. At about mile six I had had enough and went into some bushes and took care of business. It was at that time my one friend continued on the race and I didn’t see him again till the end.
I got back on course and after a mile and a half, realizing I wouldn’t catch my friend again; I pulled out my ipod and started listening to music. This I think may have been a mistake. I probably should have gone without any music, but I’m not sure. It was in the last half that hills began to make their presence known. I did just fine except on the hill up to mile ten. I actually had to walk a tiny bit on this hill which led to that mile being my slowest at 10:03.
When I reached the end I had an astounding revelation. My time was better than I hoped. I had just accomplished a half marathon at 2:08:32. Definitely a PR.
Reflection:
Having accomplished my PR at 2:08:32, an improvement of roughly 10 minutes, I now have hope of going sub 2 in my next race. My average pace was 9:32. In order to go sub 2 I need to average 9, preferably lower. My only regret is that my friend did in fact beat me significantly with a time of 1:58. Honestly I am happy that he accomplished that and my feeling is it gives me something to shoot for, that my next race I’m going to beat his time.
So far this race is certainly my favorite. Unfortunately because of being on a Sunday, like most major races, I won’t be able to compete in it every year. Unlike my Marathon, there were no significant gains in weight loss. But in overall health, I feel wonderful! I am proud of both of my friends and of all of our times, 1:58(male); 2:08(male); 2:40(female) for two individuals who never raced before it was a great experience for them. For someone who has done a lot of races I’m grateful for the opportunity to complete another one and experience the thrill of the crowds and the pride of achieving a PR.

My Marathon Experience

2011-11-17T20:33:00.003-05:00

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7 NRSV
This is the first opportunity I’ve taken to write a reflection on my first Marathon experience. The process for reflections has begun at various times and it has peaked through several sermons and bible study lessons but I wanted to take the time to write of my experience and my thoughts on the race as I’m beginning to prepare for my second big race the Philadelphia half-marathon.
The Beginning:
The Gardenspot Marathon was quite literally the culmination of a long journey which began in the winter and spring of 2010. In the winter of 2010 Katie and I realized that we needed to lose weight and we set out to do just that. The previous year we had joined Retro Fitness gym which was a good gym but after two months our schedules exploded to a point where we couldn’t make time for the gym as easily so we stopped going. For Christmas in 2009 we bought a Wii and I purchased the Wii fit game particularly for Katie. Both of us started using it regularly in January of 2010 and that is when my weight loss started.
I know that the Wii Fit program isn’t the best for weight loss but I have to credit it with starting us down the path. I don’t know what I weighed at the beginning because we already started some weight loss by cutting down on sweets, portion size and sugar in our beverages. I believe it was somewhere in March 2010 that I started to pay attention to my weight loss. At that time I was weighing somewhere around 230 lbs. knowing that I had come down from at least 237 (that was the farthest back data I could get but I know I weight significantly more than that at some point, I’m guessing around 250 at maximum weight.) It was at the end of March that I started running on a regular basis believing that the Wii Fit program had taken me as far as it could.
One of the first things I had to realize about running again was that I was not going to be able to run as fast or as long as I did in high school. I had run Track and Cross Country (that being my favorite of the two) in high school with a fastest mile time of 5:18 (track) and 18:12 5K (XC). I believe that mentally I could remember what it was like to have that pace and I think that my muscles could remember the pace as well. However my lungs and heart could not handle the pace nor could my joints handle the extra weight, remember at this time I was weighing in at 230 lbs and to put it in perspective I am only 5’ 7” on a good day for height.
So the first thing I had to do was I had to set up a few rules for running. The first and primary was that if I needed to stop and walk I would stop and walk. I still maintain this rule today. The second rule is just as important as the first it is that I refuse to feel guilty about having to stop and walk. I knew if I was going to lose weight and feel better about myself I needed to know that some days were going to be better than others and I needed to let myself off the hook.
On that note I have to include that I have never been on a diet during this time as well. I eat what I want when I want. I try to keep my portion size down but again I refused to feel guilty if I feel like I want to and do eat a large bowl of ice cream, or even better, have a slice of pie for breakfast.
The Marathon training:
Since high school I have had a dream of completing a marathon before I turned 30. After high school and all the weight I gained I didn’t believe it would be possible to complete this dream. In June of 2010 I started to realize that it may be possible for me to train and run in a marathon before my birthday the following year. I kept this thought in the back of my head but didn’t voice it. I think I didn’t voice it because of the fear that if I did and didn’t complete it I would have only myself to blame.
During this time I was slowly increasing my time for running. I was running strictly based on time as I did in high school and my goal was to run 30 minutes, without stopping, almost every day. It was at the end of June that I bought the Runkeeper app for my iphone and began to run with that strapped to my arm every day. This app kept track of all my time and distance (via GPS) and kept track of my calories burned which I began to pay more attention to for weight loss.
I kept running in Allentown all through the summer and fall slowly watching the pounds drop on my weight. In October I told Katie I wanted to run in a marathon before my birthday and to my relief she was supportive. So I started the task of finding one before my birthday and of finding a training program.
I settled on a program quickly, one of the free ones you can find on line, and started right away even though I hadn’t picked a race yet. One of the major adjustments I had was that I was no longer running by time but by distance. I set out with a mile goal everyday and did that amount no matter how long it took me. By the end of November I had already been running the program for one month and had decided because of that to run the Gardenspot marathon in New Holland Pa because it was the right amount of time away and was a close distance. So in the winter in north central Pa I started training for my first marathon.
I worked very hard that winter. I even have a photo I took of myself with my goatee white with ice. I only got sick one week in January and I missed very rarely. One run I even did in three inches of snow it was actually very peaceful. My phone was my best piece of equipment through all of this. It came with me on every run with the Runkeeper app keeping track of the data and music playing on the head phones. The sound track was varied with The Who being my primary band particularly the song Baba O’riely.
During all of this I continued to lose weight and would weigh in at just over 200 lbs for the race in May.
The Race:
I won’t deny it when I lined up on race day I thought I was crazy. I had never run 26.2 mile before. The highest amount of mileage I did in training was 20 miles and on that run I had to walk the last five miles. The evening before I didn’t sleep well, we stayed at Bob and Erin’s who lived only 10 minutes away from the race, the comfort they gave us wasn’t the issue it was my mind going to fast not to mention the continual thoughts that I was crazy.
When the gun sounded for the race I was somewhere near the middle of the pack not know where I should line up. I remember doing the first half of the marathon faster than I thought I would have been able to at about 2:18. When I saw that my heart soared I had been planning on running the race in 5:30 but at that pace it would be 4:40ish. However shortly after I hit the inch worm hills that define Lancaster County farmland and it hurt. Shortly after mile 16 I started walking and walked almost entirely the rest of the race. I still finished better than I thought at 5:18 but not as well as I hoped. One of the best compliments I got from a runner when I was walking was “you’re a fast walker, I’ve been trying to catch you for the last 2 miles.”
The last two hundred meters were the most special for me. Honestly even at that point I wasn’t sure I would finish but I came around the corner and there waiting for me were Katie, Olivia and Sophia. Olivia came running out to me and completed the end of the race with me. Besides almost crying it was one of the most precious experiences I’ve ever had with my daughter to date.
When I finished the race I walked around, or I should say waddled around because my inner thighs looked like two raw steaks and felt worst. One runner asked me how I did as I was making my way to the showers. I said fine, and that it was my first race. His response “congrats on finishing.” That was all that mattered I completed the course. Afterward we went to Shady Maple and I pigged out in royal fashion.
Reflection on the Experience:
I believe I am stronger for this experience. It was hard and painful. I sacrificed time and my family sacrificed time but I feel I understand myself better from the experience, knowing I can finish an experience like this even though it was difficult.
Now I have lost almost 50 lbs and feel much healthier than I used to. My weight is still an issue to me and the weight loss has significantly slowed down. It has taken me almost three months to lose ten pounds. To date my fastest mile has be 7:10 and at the moment I’m hoping for a final half marathon time at about 2:10 but won’t be surprised if I only have a 2:30

Eccl. Final Reflection

2011-11-16T10:13:00.001-05:00

Closing Reflection:
My first United Methodist pastor would end every bible study, Sunday school even confirmation class with, “So what?” This is our “so what” time. How do we reconcile the themes that Qoheleth writes about with our Christian faith? And what difference does taking these themes into account make in our lives? I believe the primary binding theme in the book of Ecclesiastes is that we can discern little about our world and our lives, therefore we are to enjoy life because life is a gift from God.
“Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die,” could be the claim that Ecclesiastes is boiled down to. That idea alone is clearly rejected by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians. The church has always rejected the idea that we are created to satisfy only our physical needs and desires. As Christians we do believe that this life isn’t all there is; we believe that when we die we are with Christ for all eternity. This belief is beyond Qoheleth, and not referred to within the book of Ecclesiastes. I believe Qoheleth would reject blatant hedonism based upon his claims to being satisfied with what you have.
As Christians we believe in eternal life in heaven; we also believe in the resurrection. The resurrection is a resounding statement by God that the world, that physical reality is good. In the story of creation we repeatedly read that God created something and “it was good.” The story of the incarnation which we celebrate each Advent and Christmas season is a celebration that God reached into the world to encounter humanity, with an actual physical presence.
At the beginning of the gospel of John we see Jesus at the wedding in Canaan. This is an instance in which Jesus blesses a wedding with his presence. Moreover this is an instance where Jesus is blessing a party. Later in John 10:10 Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” This passage has most often been interpreted in a purely spiritual way, yet when we take Qoheleth seriously and integrate his perspective into our Christian walk we can see that this is also a call to enjoy the physical life that God has given us.
Qoheleth must be balanced in the Christian life. We cannot stray into a hedonistic tendency yet we cannot stray to the other side and abandon an enjoyment of the life that Christ has given us. We must hold the balance between enjoyment of the physical life, and living of the spiritual life. We have both concepts present in scripture; this makes me believe that the two must be held in tension, not one over the other.
Closing Lesson:
Review all the theme verses
What spoke to you the most from Ecclesiastes?
How will you apply the lessons from Ecclesiastes to your life? To your journey with Christ?
What is the biggest lesson that you take away from Ecclesiastes?
Close in Prayer

The Closing Remarks of Qoheleth; 11:7-12:14

2011-11-16T10:12:00.001-05:00

Central Verse:
“Banish anxiety from your mind, and put away pain from your body; for youth and the dawn of life are vain. Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them.” Eccl. 11:10-12:1
Central Truth:
As Qoheleth brings the book to a close in 12:8, he does some summation of his entire work. Qoheleth brings us to a conclusion that is no surprise considering the general tenor of the book. He recommends banishing anxiety from our bodies by enjoying the life that we have. Yet he quickly tempers this idea, reminding us to remember our creator. How do we balance these two items. As with most things in this book, they seem contradictory; to engage in both would seem self-defeating.
However, using Qoheleth as our guide, we can see that we need to enjoy life, because it is God who gives us the ability to enjoy it. God created the world as good, yet it is humanity that insists that it is not good, that it is broken and cannot work. We learn later in scripture and in the epilogue of the book, that following God and obeying God’s will in our life brings us the capacity to enjoy that life.
There is something to note about the text and the translation of the text. In chapter 12 there are poetic references to a house and different individuals that would be involved in the running and managing of a house. Scholars cannot seem to agree whether Qoheleth is talking about the body aging, or an apocalyptic vision of the end of time. While there is no clear direction one way or another, it is my opinion that this text is about a body aging. Qoheleth doesn’t seem to have an apocalyptic vision for the end of the world at any other point in the text, and it seems silly to me for us to assume that this is what he is doing here. Taking the translation that Qoheleth is talking about a body aging, we are able to engage the text poetically and interpret the different verses differently (e.g. ‘women who grind grain’ could be a reference to teeth, or it could be a reference to the digestive track).
Food for Thought: (questions about the text)
What do you think Qoheleth is trying to express in the theme verse today?
What are your impressions of Eccl. 12?
The epilogue is obviously written by someone other than Qoheleth. Do you think the epilogue helps or hurts Qoheleth’s message?
Connections: (time with our society)
Our society avoids the issues of aging and death as much as possible. From exercise to beauty products, they are all directed at slowing or stopping aging. We even go so far as relegating those who are aging and having health issues related to aging kept in nursing homes where few people visit.
While Qoheleth on one level agrees with our society, to enjoy all of life while you have it, his admonition to remember our creator and then his litany to the young about what is going to happen to you (you will age and die), serves as a counterpoint. Our society shields itself so much that people live and act like they will never die. While we as Christians understand that our life continues with Christ after we die we, also need to realize that this life is not just a waiting station. We should embrace the lesson that Qoheleth is giving us. We should enjoy every aspect of our lives.
Application:
Questions:
Discussion:
Group Activity: Rewrite Qoheleth’s admonition in the central verse and his description of aging in chapter 12. What words would you use to express his idea to our society?
Close in Prayer

The Point of it All; 9:1-11:6

2011-11-16T10:11:00.001-05:00

Central Verse:
“Go, eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has long ago approved what you do. Let your garments always be white; do not let oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that are given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do with your might; for there is not work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.” Eccl. 9:7-10
Central Truth:
Repeatedly in the book of Ecclesiastes Qoheleth reminds us to eat, drink, and enjoy life. Qoheleth is fairly clear that the enjoyment of life as such is a gift of God, for example in 6:2b, “Yet God does not enable them to enjoy these things, but a stranger enjoys them.”
A new and final component to this book is, “For God has long ago approved what you do.” This is not a divine stamp of approval on every aspect of human life. In fact, Qoheleth is very clear that there are some definite evils and wrongs in the world, such as a wise person who is ignored because they are poor, so God could not approve of this. What Qoheleth seems to be implying is that each one of us will receive these items for enjoyment, so we should receive them for the gifts that they are.
This idea of enjoying simple pleasures has suffered much abuse in our society. Most of us have heard the saying, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” In fact, the Apostle Paul rails against this idea. We must balance a view of enjoying the simple pleasures in life with the demands of the Christian life. We are not called to squander, but there is something to be said about finding pleasure in the work we do. Or we can take Jesus’ example, who made his presence known not only through suffering on the cross, but also at the wedding feast at Canan.
Food for Thought: (questions about the text)
What is the point of finding enjoyment in life?
What does it means for wisdom and folly to be in competition?
Eccl. 11:1-2 has been very difficult for interpreters. What do you think Qoheleth is saying here?
What might the relationship of Eccl. 11:1-2 be with the theme verse for this lesson?
Connections: (time with our society)
Our world today is populated by some very famous and popular atheists: John Lennon, Stephen Hawkings, and Richard Dawkins to name a few. Their belief is that this life is all there is, and that there is nothing after death. Qoheleth would agree with them. There is no concept of the afterlife presented by Qoheleth. For the Teacher, the only thing we have is to enjoy the simple pleasures and the work which we engage in. The hope that atheists have is that someone will remember them; however that doesn’t work with Qoheleth. He knows that people forget faster than they remember.
As Christians, we must do something with this concept that Qoheleth seems to agree with atheists. I’m of the opinion that a Christian is called to balance the enjoyment of life with the acknowledgment that God is ultimately the one who provides that enjoyment, and that at some point in history, creation will be remade by God.
We need to accept the frank view of Qoheleth, acknowledging that as Christians, our belief in the resurrection is faith, not scientific fact. And as a matter of faith, we can join with Qoheleth in living out the joys that God gives us. This is not a call to partying to forget the trials of life, as our society does. People today live for the partying weekend to escape the daily grind and the crushing reality that while they hope to be someone important, they are actually just another life that in 100 years no-one will remember. Qoheleth essentially says, who cares, enjoy what you have! Jesus even demonstrates this idea to us by enjoying the wedding at Canaan. It is not a sober picture, it is a joyous one, it is a laughing Jesus.
Application:
Questions:
Discussion:
Group Activity: Break into pairs and discuss the theme verse:
What does it mean in context?
What does it mean in your life?
What does it mean in relation to your faith in Christ?
Close in Prayer

The Middle Road; 7:1-8:17

2011-11-16T10:07:00.002-05:00

Central Verse:
“There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people who are treated according to the conduct of the wicked, and there are wicked people who are treated according to the conduct of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. So I commend enjoyment, for there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat, and drink, and enjoy themselves, for this will go with them in their toil through the days of life that God has given them under the sun.” Eccl 8:14-15
Central Truth:
Our lives are plagued by the question, “Why do the evil prosper?” In these two chapters, Qoheleth does his typical dance through such a weighty theme. He questions where true wisdom originates, whether it is in the house of laughter or the house of mourning. Then in verse 14 of chapter 7, he seems to allude to the idea that God is the author of all the bad things that happen in our lives.
Qoheleth moves onto the topic of the righteous versus the wicked and reaches a rather stunning conclusion worthy of Buddha. Buddha “described this life as the Middle Path. These three ways of life may be compared to the strings of different tensions on a lute. The loose string, which is like a life of indulgence, produces a poor sound when struck. The overly tight string, which is like a life of extreme asceticism, similarly produces a poor sound when struck and is moreover, likely to break at any moment. Only the middle string which is neither too loose nor too tight, and is like the Middle Path, produces a pleasant and harmonious sound when stuck. So these who follow the Middle Path which avoid the extreme of indulging one's desires and [the] opposite extreme of torturing one's mind and body unreasonably, will find happiness, peace of mind and Enlightenment. This is the Fourth Noble Truth of the path leading to the end of suffering." Qoheleth would put it this way: Don’t be too righteous, and don’t be too evil, because both end up causing problems.
Being too righteous leads to a person being self-righteous, and being too wicked results in death. In the end, while all people were made “straightforward,” Qoheleth learned that “they have devised many schemes.” The teacher then concludes these thoughts with the central verse, that in the end it is simply wrong that good people suffer while wicked people prosper. So, what are we to do? Qoheleth replies, enjoy ourselves.
Food for Thought: (Questions about the text)
Chapter 7 verses 1-14 deal with the issue of where we find the wisdom to deal with life and Qoheleth uses the image of a house of feasting and a house of mourning. What do these images bring to your mind?
In light of what we know about God through Christ, how would you respond to what Qoheleth writes in 7:29?
We don’t live in a monarchical society, so how do you see 8:1-9 applying to your life? Do these verses it have any application?
How would you respond to Qoheleth’s accusation that the wicked prosper and the righteous are punished?
Connections: (time with our society)
There was a popular Billy Joel song in the 80’s written on the very theme that Qoheleth talks about here, entitled “Only the Good Die Young.” This is a theme that has been understood to be a part of our society for a long time. We sense the injustice when a young child dies yet a warlord or mass murderer continues to live.
In 2010 our society was permeated with financial crises. The housing market is collapsing, and we continually hear about CEO’s of major banks taking large bonuses, while their banks are foreclosing on thousands of homes. This hardly seems fair. The CEO’s, many of whom engaged in questionable loan purchases and loan management, receive bonuses, while the working class continues to suffer. It seems that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and there is no relief.
The reality that is presented by Qoheleth clearly portrays the fact that wealth does not make one happy and that true happiness only comes from acknowledging that everything is topsy-turvy in the world. We are to eat, drink and enjoy what we know we have.
While we know that the good dying young, and the wicked prospering, is not the way life should be, it is the reality that we must live and struggle with everyday.
Application:
Questions:
Discussion:
Group Activity: Read Jonah 2:1-10. Review what you know about the story.
Assyrians: The Assyrians were bloody and brutal rulers. They were known to kill all the inhabitants of a village and pile the decapitated heads of the conquered in the center of the town as a warning. It must be noted that there are records of all ancient groups, including the ancient Israelites, brutalizing their conquered territories.
Discuss whether it is fair that God allowed the wicked in that city to live while they had killed innocent children in other towns. How does this relate to what Qoheleth is talking about in these two chapters.
Closing Prayer

Friendship, Reverence and Money: Eccl. 4:9-6:12

2011-05-05T08:36:00.002-04:00

Friendship, Reverence, and Money; 4:9-6:12
Central Verse:
“For it they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help…A threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:10-12
Central Truth:
Within the section of verses we hear one of the most popular expressions in weddings, “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.” The concept that Qoheleth is bringing forward is not a defense of marriage; even though it is applicable, it is based on the reality of life in ancient times. For instance, the wilderness is a dangerous place; in fact, it still is today and going out in numbers is still the best safety net for camping and any wilderness adventure.
It is actually basic science that a threefold cord is stronger. When I go camping, one of the items that I never go without is rope. If I have my choice of any rope I can take, I take para-cord. Para-cord contains 4-7 separate very strong strands, and is good for almost everything in camping and wilderness survival. It is so versatile that the cord can be taken apart and the strands used for other purposes such as stitching, fishing, or tying items.
Every pericope from this reading points to a central theme in scripture: community. Community is at stake in Qoheleth’s statement about a “threefold cord,” as well as in the thoughts that follow on taking religion seriously (5:2-9), and with the problems of wealth (5:10-6:12).
In scripture, community is built into who we are. In the book of Genesis, God saw that Adam was alone and created Eve so that Adam would have someone to share with. Then we have the story of the patriarchs and their foundation in community which eventually evolved into the nation of Israel. We see Jesus founding a community of believers and the development of that community with the writings of Paul. The founder of the United Methodist Church, John Wesley, said “The Bible knows nothing of solitary religion.” Community is essential to the nature of the church.
Food for Thought (Questions about the text)
What is the value of seeing community in the light of biblical history?
Why would Qoheleth, who seems to have no concern for traditional religion, voice the importance of taking religion seriously? (5:2-9)
What are the problems with wealth contained in 5:10-6:12?
How do Capitalism and Socialism stand up to the concerns about wealth raised by Qoheleth?
Connections: (Time with our society)
Community is desired in our society today. “Why can’t I meet anyone?” is a question that is periodically put to me by non-Christian friends when they are looking to have meaningful relationships with other people. Our society today is built in such a way that we interact electronically, and what we are learning is that email, text messaging, and facebooking are not replacements for actual community.
As people seek community, it is important for Christians to remember the biblical story around community, and the inclusiveness that is central to that. The church is the community of God here on earth, to bring people closer to God. Too often churches forget the purpose of community, and melt down in internal conflicts and disputes, instead of being the community of God.
If we lose the point of community, we lose the strength that Qoheleth speaks about, and we lose the ability to support one another. People in society and in the church are seeking friendships. One of the popular shows of the last thirty years was “Cheers,” whose theme song goes:
“Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.

Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.

You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name.

(Other lyrics that never actually aired)

Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you've got;
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?

All those night when you've got no lights,
The check is in the mail;
And your little angel
Hung the cat up by it's tail;
And your third fiance didn't show;

Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
You want to be where you can see,
Our troubles are all the same;
You want to be where everybody knows your name.

Roll out of bed, Mr. Coffee's dead;
The morning's looking bright;
And your shrink ran off to Europe,
And didn't even write;
And your husband wants to be a girl;

Be glad there's one place in the world
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
You want to go where people know,
People are all the same;
You want to go where everybody knows your name.

Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came...”
The question becomes, how do we reach out and give people the community that they need?
Application:
John Wesley states “The Bible knows nothing of solitary religion.” In pairs discuss what this means to you.
“When I have money, I get rid of it quickly, lest it find a way into my heart.” - John Wesley How does this statement compare to what is voiced in our society, and what is voiced by Qoheleth in this text?
Close in Prayer

Animals, Justice and Work Eccl. 3:16-4:8

2011-05-05T08:31:00.003-04:00

Animals, Justice, and Work: 3:16-4:8
Theme Verse:
“I said in my heart with regard to human beings that God is testing them to show that they are but animals. For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity.” Eccl 3:18-19
Central Truth:
Qoheleth launches into various streams of thought, literary sound bites, in the next several chapters. Each sound bite has its own story to tell, and in some way its own independent theme. In verses 16-22, Qoheleth decides to talk about the animals. Until the last hundred years humanity has been confident in showing how we as humans are different from the animals. In the past century there has been a lot of discussion on the subject of man and animals, particularly around Darwinian evolution and the idea that humanity descended from apes.
Having been a part of many of those discussions my self, I have often heard cited that humanity differs from the animals because we create, we have art. I have always found that argument rather convincing, but here Qoheleth lays all arguments of the differences of humanity and animals aside with one word, death. The reality is we all die. We die just as the animals die, and in Qoheleth’s world view, that makes us no better than the animals.
After dispelling the notion that we as humans are better than the animals, Qoheleth tackles a popular theme in the prophetic writings, the theme of justice. Here we might think Qoheleth is going to defend God and that God always brings about justice. The reality is that Qoheleth in this passage may fit in better with liberation theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez and the stark examination of justice in our societies. However, while Gutierrez reaches the conclusion of God’s justice coming through the kingdom of God, Qoheleth never makes that jump. Qoheleth reaches the conclusion that we cannot understand the mind and nature of God. God is the divine Other!
Qoheleth then concludes this section with a diatribe against work. Qoheleth, who earlier writes, “it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil,” now speaks out against toil. Yet his gaze on work is narrow and focused; Qoheleth is speaking here about toiling for gain. The issue that he is pointing to is the desire for wealth, not toil for substance, just as the New Testament states the “love of wealth is the root of all kinds of evil.” Another facet of toil that Qoheleth is speaking out against is the jealousy that accumulates along with wealth.
Food for Thought: Questions
What do you think of Qoheleth’s assement of humanity versus animals?
What might Qoheleth’s comments on working for gain mean for your life and our society?
What do you think of justice in our society?
Connections:
Our society has numerous issues; one is that we like to see ourselves as above nature, particularly with our consumption of our world’s resources. In the United States we consume more energy than the rest of the planet. We live as if the earth is a never-ending resource, when the reality is that our resources are dwindling remarkably fast. We are relying on our ingenuity to get us out of this problem, and we are not new in comparing ourselves to nature and perceiving ourselves to be better than it. We think we can beat nature, we can outsmart nature, and we are different from nature. Qoheleth is ahead of his time; while looking at the purpose of life he realizes that we aren’t any different than the animals around us. Qoheleth acknowledges that we are unable to know what happens after death, and as such there is no reason to assume that we are any better off than the animals around us.
Qoheleth’s realization is not an indictment upon consumption, but an indictment against having hope in something you don’t know or don’t see. Qohelet is not living with the hope we have in Christ. He is living and trying to make sense of the world within his own parameters, by not relying on orthodoxy, and relying only on what he can see. But this isn’t the only problem he brings to us in this passage.
We like to see ourselves as better than our fellow human being. We have created prisons to hide people, and we disenfranchise them with no hope of recovery. In essence, as Qoheleth points out, where there should be justice there is evil. In the United States today, many of our prisons are for-profit corporate entities. These institutions are not interested in justice, they are interested in money. For instance, in 2010 there were the troubles in Arizona and the “Papers Please,” law where people must provide proof of citizenship if they are stopped and asked for it. One of the numerous problems with the legislation is that two of the advisers to the governor have direct ties to the prison industry. One in particular would benefit from people who are arrested for having no proof of citizenship. The issue here, as Qoheleth pointed out thousands of years ago is, that where there should be justice, there is not justice.
We also like to see ourselves as free from financial consequences. Just recently our country experienced an economic collapse as a result of this mindset about financial consequences. Qoheleth speaks out in this passage about excessive gain, which is what our economy seems to be built on. Qoheleth talks about quiet gain in one hand, rather than excessive toil in two. Gain isn’t the issue here, hence one-hand gathering; but excessive gain causes all sorts of problems. You work and work and in the end you still die. Having excess won’t ease the passing. In this case, the old saying, “You can’t take it with you,” rings all the more clear.
Application:
Questions:
Discussion:
How do the sentiments that Qoheleth expresses apply to your life today?
What might our society look like if we sought to live with a “handful with quiet than two with toil?”

Seasons of Change: 3:1-15

2010-11-03T09:22:00.001-04:00

Central Verse:
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:” Eccl 3:1
Central Truth:
This section of the book of Ecclesiastes contains one of the most well known verses in scripture in part due to the song “Turn, Turn, Turn” by the Byrds. There is a way of seasonal living that is contained within rural living. Unfortunately not many people live in the countryside now, the majority of our populations live in the cities, in some ways this makes it difficult for us to identify with a seasonal attitude which is partly expressed here in this passage.
In my childhood when I was growing up in the country I was very aware of the change of the seasons. My family was only one generation off the farm, my grandfather’s farm was less than a quarter mile away and my brothers and I often went and helped on the farm. During the fall we were harvesting corn for feed, in the winter taking care of the cows, spring was planting and preparing the field, and summer was baling hay. Everything in our lives has a rhythm. People with children understand this well, the rhythm between school and summer.
Qohelet understood this well and used some Hebrew writing tactics to bring the point home. The author paired items that would naturally fit together, that doesn’t stop some discussion on what a few of these items might be. For instance where the text states “to gather stones” is thought in Jewish tradition to be a sexual reference. The use of pointing to opposite pairs gives us a sense of the totality of our existence. By using these writing tactics Qohelet is referring to life “under the sun,” this is not an attempt to make claims about the universe, just what is knowable under the sun or better said on our planet.
Qohelet then breaks into a rare incident in the book of Ecclesiastes he offers an explanation for what God is doing in this monotony of the seasons. The old joke goes there are only two things certain in this life, “death and taxes.” While this is true Qohelet adds another dimension here. He points out that there is something else that we can be certain of, that is if God gives us a gift and that is we the gift of enjoying our food, drink and our work. Qohelet will return to this idea in many places in the book but this idea is one of the answers that Qohelet will continue to draw our attention too and build upon.
Connections: (time with our society)
Our society today is disconnected from seasonal activities. For instance we can buy summer fruits in January because we ship them from South America and other countries where these items are in season. There has been a great restlessness in our society around seasonal, in fact there is a seasonal foods movement in the restaurant industry, basically its people trying to cook and eat fruit and vegetable that are in seasons utilizing local farmers.
Our society has also not come to grips with the gift of God that Qohelet expresses in verse 13 “it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.” The simple necessities of eating and drink are not taken care of in our society today. Homelessness and hunger are rampant in our world today and we as Christians have been either unable or more often unwilling to bring people out of these places. Yet even with these two necessities not being taken care of every level of our society is affected by not taking pleasure in our toil. A common conversation even in church on Sunday is the problems of our jobs. We don’t or haven’t been relying upon God to provide us with joy in our toil.

Introduction to Ecclesiastes

2010-10-11T21:21:00.002-04:00

Why Study Ecclesiastes:
I’ve often been asked “why do you like Ecclesiastes?” Ecclesiastes has been known as a pessimistic and depressing book in fact most Christians I’ve met avoid this book like the plague. In our society, and unfortunately in the church, people tend to avoid anything that makes them uncomfortable particularly if what is being expressed could be seen as depressing. However we live in an age that is flooded with depression and people struggling with their place in the world today. People are disconnected from each other and disconnected with God in a way that would have been unbelievable to the author of Ecclesiastes.
The first time I remember reading the book of Ecclesiastes was when I was in college. I had gotten back to my room from a long day at classes and was just starting to think about sitting down and studying when I got a phone call. My dad called me and informed me that aunt Roma had died that day.
Aunt Roma wasn’t actually my aunt. I grew up in a small town and lived on a small country road that actually was named after my family. Aunt Roma lived across the street. When I was in middle school and High School I would go and shovel her drive way in the winter for some extra money or do some yard work that she needed done in the summertime. When I was in elementary school I would go sit and talk with her for hours I had an ulterior motive because she had candy I could eat, but she always took the time to talk and listen to me. My dad still tells stories about how when he worked swing shift and would come home at 12:30 am he would park his motorcycle and look up and see her light go off, because she always stayed up to make sure he got home safe. Roma was always there, she was always a stable presence in my life.
When I got the phone call I sat down and didn’t know what to do, so I picked up my bible opened it up and started reading. And it so happened that I opened my bible to the book of Ecclesiastes. I believe that God directed me there for the wisdom and the comfort that I received from that book.
In our society today we need to understand and realize that we live with neighbors that very rarely understand Christianity. Ecclesiastes gives a perspective outside of the typical flow of the biblical narrative, you don’t have to know salvation history or the salvation story to connect with what Ecclesiastes has to say. At the time I read Ecclesiastes for the first time I didn’t need, or desired to hear the salvation story, I needed to hear another side a different perspective. From that “outside voice” perspective, Ecclesiastes is rich and has much to offer each of us.
Author:
I’ve often encountered questions about why is it important to know who wrote the different books in the bible. This is important for several different reasons. A scholarly reason is that to know who wrote a text gives us clues as to the cultural context in which the book is situated. Historically who wrote the text is important due to the question of what books would be considered scripture and what wouldn’t.
Many people still feel that the issue of who authored the biblical books is extremely important. Some feel that if tradition states who wrote a particular book this must be the case or if scripture makes a claim to who wrote a book this must be true lest scripture be deemed false. The problem with this view is it imposes a view of writing, literature, and tradition that are uniquely modern and often particularly American. In ancient times it was common to write a book in the name of a monarch or famous individual if you were either making a claim to authority, actually writing for them, or writing in the tradition of that individual. This was acceptable practice for most of the ancient world and we shouldn’t deem the text any less sacred by who wrote it.
The position I take on this issue in Ecclesiastes is that the question of who authored the book is interesting but of little importance to the message of the text. By tradition we have been handed the entire cannon in its present form and it is my belief that we are to take all of these books and interpret them as faithfully as possible. Having stated my opinion I do feel we need to take a look at what is being said about who authored the book of Ecclesiastes for greater learning and understanding on our part.
The question of who is the author of the book of Ecclesiastes is one that has scholars completely baffled. If we go by ancient tradition then who the author is explained in the first verse, “The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.” This tradition has been upheld by many scholars through the age’s right up through today. The textual evidence is the strongest support for Solomon authorship. A big area in scholarly discussion is also linguistics; the thought is that the usage or presence of certain words in the book reflects influence of the cultures in the area. For example if we see a word that we know is Greek then the book had to be written after a time of Greek interaction. Linguistically there is support for Solomon authorship primarily based on the fact that the book is written in Hebrew.
There are scholars who also believe that someone else wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. Their evidence lies in various linguistic portions where there appears to be Aramaic and Persian crossover words. Their argument is that these words could not be present in a book written before the Assyrian empire which occurred after the reign of Solomon.
It is my belief that the author is Solomon. I believe Solomon is the author primarily due to tradition, and the fact that chapter 2:1-11 strongly remind me of Solomon. There is one other issue that I want to address when concerned with who authored Ecclesiastes. It varies greatly in many commentaries how the writer of Ecclesiastes is addressed. Some refer to him as Qohelet, others as Kohelet, the Preacher, and still others refer to him as the Teacher. For the remainder of my comments I will refer to the author as Qohelet, even though I believe in Solomnic authorship I like the ambiguity that the name Qohelet provides. Qohelet is the Hebrew word for teacher, and preacher all rolled into one and as with most titles in Hebrew could be male or female. Since we are so removed from the time of Qohelet I think it is fair to remain gender neutral as much as possible to encourage various streams of thought.
What type of Book is Ecclesiastes?
Every book store I’ve ever gone into clearly breaks its books into sections for easy reference and most importantly easy shopping. I have expectations of the books I find in certain sections. When I get a book on biology I expect that book to contain facts about whatever animals or plants it is written about. If I picked up a book on the Arctic Grey Wolf and that author told me that the Arctic Grey Wolf is commonly found in the Amazon jungle I would put the book back and probably write a letter of complaint to the publishing company. The same holds true to the type of literature, if a story is prose I expect neatly organized paragraphs of varying length on particular topics to progress the story or point of the chapter. If the literary type is poetry I expect the poem to invoke feelings, images, and word plays that transport me to another level of feeling.
The same is true of biblical writings, certain stories are written in poetry or prose and in certain traditions such as historical, prophetic, or wisdom as examples. There are some major problems with determining what type of literature the book of Ecclesiastes is. Generally speaking Ecclesiastes is understood as wisdom literature and is usually put with the books of Proverbs and Song of Songs. The wisdom literature in scripture tends to diverge rather sharply with the rest of scripture and Ecclesiastes is the most notable of the three in this regard.
Wisdom literature is knowledge that is gathered and is often contradictory in nature. All of us are familiar with proverbial sayings of our own day, “birds of a feather flock together,” “out of the frying pan and into the fire,” and “a rolling stone gathers no moss.” The major themes of scripture, creation, salvation and deliverance are by and large missing from the wisdom literature corpus. The nature of a book like Ecclesiastes is complex, particularly as it tries to struggle with the reality of our existence and usually argues this with very little mention of God, however when God is mentioned the usage of God and what God expects is very potent.
Ecclesiastes adds to the confusion by not being clear as to what type of literature it should be, that is whether its prose or poetry. In fact various translations of scripture have it as different percentages of prose and poetry. The NIV says that the text is 60% poetry, NRSV 75% prose, the Good News Bible see only chapter 3:2-8 as poetry and the rest of the book is prose. For the purpose of this study I will be relying on the NRSV in my opinion being the most accurate.
So what do we do with this, if we were in the book store looking to buy Ecclesiastes where would we go? In my opinion we would go to the philosophy section. Ecclesiastes has many twists and turns and it reads more like a philosophers note book with random thoughts here and there than a book with a central plot. Qohelet is calling our attention to the reality of our lives and it is our job to follow him where he goes. Due to the sporadic nature of Ecclesiastes the study will be done in generally broad sections and we will work in each section to see what Qohelet has to say.
Qohelet is often offensive in what he says, particularly to religious sensibilities as Qohelet pushes us with the idea that the only thing we can be certain of in this life is this life. There are no claims to life after death, and there seems to be a taste of disillusionment throughout the whole book. This makes the book of Ecclesiastes unique in its ability to answer questions for the time in which we live. Our postmodern society is very disjointed much the same as this book and our society is also very disillusioned with the promises that modernity has made and failed to deliver on. In the commentary that goes with the bible study we will attempt to see Qohelet on his own terms and as Christians, try to apply Christ at appropriate locations.
When and Where was Ecclesiastes written:
In biblical study it is considered very important to know when a biblical book was written and where it was written. The reason for the importance is that it is believed for us to understand the book better we need to know who it was written to and what was going on around the time the author was writing. The problem with Ecclesiastes in particular is that there is no scholarly certainty or agreement on when and where the book was written. If we take that Solomon is the author of Ecclesiastes then the book was written between 971-931 BCE, if Solomon didn’t write the book then a date of 450-250 BCE is probable.
My opinion is that it doesn’t really matter when seeking application of the lessons in Ecclesiastes we are listening to what God has to say, where appropriate we will look at historical items that may help us in our understanding of the lessons of Ecclesiastes.
Conclusion:
For our study we will refer to the author of Ecclesiastes as Qohelet and assume a time of writing and date for the book to be around Solomon’s reign of 971-931 BCE. Whenever possible we will look at Ecclesiastes as a story and book on its own, with its own twists and turns. And we will seek to apply the Christian life to each section.
The commentary will follow on sections chapters 1-2; 3:1-15; 3:16-4:8; 4:9-6:12; 7:1-8:17; 9-11:6; 11:7-12 and finally a closing lesson where we will engage in thoughtful reflection on what we have learned.

Vincent Van Gogh

2010-06-29T19:42:00.000-04:00

Vincent Van Gogh was born in 1853 in the Netherlands. He was born into a middle class family, with parents and relatives in the ministry. Vincent himself was leaning toward going into the ministry. Between 1860-1880 Van Gogh decided to become an artist. His artistic career is defined by two broad categories which I will simplify by calling pre-Paris, and post-Paris. His pre-Paris stage artistically was defined by a decidedly Dutch style of painting, much in the same vein as Rembrandt. Post-Paris, Van Gogh was influenced and defined by impressionists painters. Subsequent from Paris, Van Gogh experienced deteriorating mental health which resulted in his suicide at the age of 37.
All the works I could find, and had time to read on Van Gogh, reflected on the artistic influence of various artist on Van Gogh’s work, as well as his love life or lack thereof. There was also a minimal reflection on his familial relationship and its influence on his art. In all the works I referenced there appears to me to be one very important topic that is left virtually un-discussed and that is the influence of Calvinist theology upon Van Gogh’s art work. A couple of reasons that my interest was piqued in Van Gogh is that I am a minister, and the child of two ministers, I am also close to the same age as Van Gogh when he started seriously painting. It has been my experience that an individual does not study to be in the ministry and abandon the call without theological repercussions. Those repercussion Van Gogh would have had to reflect on and deal with. He would also have had to deal with potential negative influence that his theology might have had in his life. I believe that struggles Van Gogh might have engaged in with his theological world view may have subsequently promoted his deteriorating mental health.
In one of the only books to reference Van Gogh’s families religious persuasions, Anthony Mario Ludovici talks about Van Gogh’s family being staunch Calvinist. Calvinism was established by the French born Swiss theologian John Calvin in the 1500’s. There are several core values to Calvinism that are easily remembered by the acronym TULIP. T stands for total depravity, meaning that sin is deeply ingrained in every human being and that humanity ultimately cannot save itself. U stands for unconditional election, meaning that God chooses people on the basis of his will not on anything they can or cannot do. L is for limited atonement, that Christ’s death on the cross is a sacrifice for just those that are elect by God. I stands for irresistible grace, this means that if God wants to save someone he will and there’s nothing the person can do about it. And finally, P is for the perseverance of the saints, that means once someone experiences salvation through Christ they cannot lose that salvation.
One of the things that peaked my curiosity here is that there is another theory of atonement that was developed by a Dutch theologian, Joseph Arminius, called Arminianism. It holds that people can resist God’s grace, and reject God’s salvation, there is an amount of human choice and freedom within this understanding.
TULIP has a tendency to foster a very rigors form of religion, in fact the early American settlers the Puritans, were staunch Calvinist. The rigors of predestination, contained within U and I, could leave a feeling of despair of not knowing whether one is saved or not, causing psychological distress. Another aspect of Calvinism is that it has the potential to be very stringent and has historically been known for its adherence of rules. Many great thinkers have come from Calvinism, and in fact modern science owes a lot to Calvinism because it is through that belief system we get the idea that all of creation is orderly and with purpose, therefore it can be studied.
Something that struck me about Van Gogh’s painting is the very “chaotic” nature of the painting’s, which I feel maybe a rebellion by Van Gogh against his Calvinist roots. Some might argue that he abandoned his religious roots, therefore they don’t matter. The problem with that view is that we don’t leave behind our religious views easily. Many people don’t even shed their views in a life time. In my opinion Van Gogh’s paintings show a measure of fighting with the stoic and planned nature of reality that Calvinism inspired in his religious upbringing. In my own experience I know how difficult it is to leave some of the religious ideas that I grew up with behind. In Europe when conversion is a far less acceptable behavior, to abandon the religion of his youth would be next to impossible, thus Van Gogh would have struggled with this issues after he left the possibility of the Ministry.

The Moth Orchid

2010-03-31T10:09:00.001-04:00

Max* had been a church member for a long time as a member of the "greatest generation," he had fought in World War II in the air force. Max had shared with me many stories about his experience in B-29 Bombers, Bombers with the name and reputation of being a "Superfortress," though there was nothing fortress like about them. Max had lived a full eighty years, a full and plentiful eighty years. He had a loving wife, dutiful daughters, and wonderful grandchildren. He was a person in the church who, unlike the B-29 Bombers he talked about, was a fortress that enabled young and old to take comfort in the refuge of his faith and strength of his character. He was father, friend, and grandfather to more people than just his genetic family.

Four weeks ago, I went to visit Max at home. Max had been experiencing declining health in the last six months. Due to the health issues, he hadn't been able to attend church to receive communion with the community for far too long. I took communion along, and after about an hour of talking with Max and his wife, we shared communion together.

Max was sitting in a recliner the whole visit. The recliner was well worn, small frays were seen on some of the stitches, and he was propped up on various pillows and blankets. There were all sorts of sacred items spread on the end tables and walls around him. Photos of family and friends, a new LCD picture frame that constantly cycled through pictures, there were Phillies and Eagles memorabilia all around, as well as scale models of every major Star Trek ship in all the various series. Amidst all this seeming clutter lay a few plants. Max called out to me, "Pastor, did you see my flower?" Honestly there was hardly any way for me to see the flowers, since they were tucked away behind photos, soaking up as much light from the large windows in the house.

"No, I hadn't seen it," I replied as I got up from the couch and stepped over to his small end table for a closer look.

"I've had this orchid for five or six years now, and it's starting to bloom." Max noted very proudly.

I was quite impressed. Orchids are not known for being easy to grow or care for. Their demands are very specific temperature, water, sun light, and as Max demonstrated years of patience and love to get to the blossoms. The plant itself wasn't beautiful. There were thick waxy leaves jutting up from the potting soil, they didn't bring to mind luscious rain forest, or fields of thick grass. Rather it called to mind as sickly plant, one that a child may have picked too many leaves off of, leaving just two or three leaves left as the child's attention wandered off to other things. Standing slender from amidst these few leaves was a long thin tendril. It looked as if someone had taken a dark green, felt, sharpie pen and started a beautiful upward curve of hand written cursive. And perched on the edge of this seemingly ill conceived and fragile stem were two exquisite white blossoms, the only splash of color among the white was to be found in the very center as there was a pink then yellow drawing your eye to the stamen.

I left shortly after viewing the flowers, and didn't think much on them again. The next week, Max fell starting a downward spiral that would end in just two weeks with his death.

I met with the family to plan the funeral late on a Tuesday night. After talking for about an hour Max's wife said, "Pastor did you see Max's flower?" I turned to look and there were no longer two blossoms on the Orchid, but nine. I stood there in awe praising the beauty of these flowers when I realized, "I should take a picture." So I pulled out my phone and got a few quick snapshots. I took these photos home where the next day I proceeded to paint those flowers.

It took me four or five hours to paint these flowers and the whole time I thought of Max and what he had meant to my ministry and the people around him. Then I was hit, it was like the first day you step out of your house and smell spring in the air, an undeniable hint, an undeniable feeling that something is different, that you see the world differently than you did before. At that moment God spoke to me. This was not an audible voice, but something deeper, I realized right then that we are all like that orchid. A lot of love and care are put into us by God, and by all those we love around us, and in this life we only see one or two blossoms if we're lucky. After death, things change, after death the blossoms are more plentiful and available for all to see.

I realized that it was okay to offer just what we have, and to rely on the grace of God to carry each of us through. I'm not saying that the orchid didn't have to work to grow, but that's another lesson. What I learned then and there was that there were other things investing in my life, other people, my family, friends, parishioners, and superiors. Maybe if everyone realized how precious we are, just like Max realized about that orchid, maybe we would take more care with what we do and how we treat others in this world.

*Name has been changed for confidentiality

What Happened

2010-03-25T09:48:00.001-04:00

It's taken me some time to finally decide to share what went on in my Board of Ordained Ministries (BOM) interview back in February. I want to make something very clear first, there were valid concerns that BOM raised, and I have no doubt that many of the individuals in that committee do care about me and my ministry, yet in my opinion there are some other forces that were at work in the interview as well. There were a number of questions in the interview that, looking back, I deem to be unfair either in the way they were spoken or in the subsequent clarification for the question. One particular question that bothered me was intended to be theological in nature, but was asked as a ministry related question. For instance (this is not the question) if someone comes to you and confesses they are cheating on their wife, what do you do? In my answer would be, while I disagree with what the individual is doing, I would try to affirm that everyone makes mistakes and even when we make mistakes we are still loved by God. I would then proceed onto, "what are we going to do about this?" The problem is this is not considered a ministry question, it's a theology question and what I should have said, an made explicit, is the sinful nature of what is happening and then try and find the three forms of Wesleyan grace working somehow in this individuals life. To me that is a reflection after the ministry has occurred, but I was wrong.

Another part of the interview that I felt was un-fair was when I was asked about my call to ministry. One of the central events to my spiritual development is the death of Leddia Caleb, any high school friends on facebook could affirm this. Immediately after I was asked about my call to ministry it was stated, "Don't tell us about the death of your friend, we know all about that." When one of the central stories to your call and faith development is automatically disqualified from being talked about, why I still don't have an idea, it makes it difficult to recover your bearings, let alone share your call. I have been very upset and frustrated with everything that went on in the interview, but have resigned myself to working as hard as I can for next year. To my friends who are ministers or who have the possibility of serving on BOM in the future, remember something for me. If someone is told to come back next year and interview again, don't tell them that when BOM deliberated over you that there was a "lot of love" in the room. I understand the intent of the words, and as I stated at the beginning of this post, I do believe there were those present who cared about me, but don't hand me something that stinks and tell me its roses. It's not, stop pretending, let me be pissed and the let me move on (which I have done).

Some of you may be wondering, "If he's moved on why is he posting about it?" It's because I keep getting questions, so I wanted to give my version and what is happening so I don't have to relive every detail of the story. I appreciate the prayers and the condolences but there is (at least for me) something to be said for honestly and keeping everything in the open.

There is one final item I want to talk about. So far I have talked about things that actually happened, but in my opinion another key part of the problem is age discrimination. I am twenty eight, and was the youngest person up for ordination this year, the average age of the other provisioners being in the late forties. No one can tell me that my essays will be on par with those of a fifty year old, and you can't tell me that the members of BOM don't compare them (even though everyone will try to tell you). The primary problem is that I don't have the experiences of a fifty year old and therefore my writing reflects that. My opinion is also that as I sat around the table the average age of the ministers and lay people interviewing me was in the mid to high fifties, they have a closer identity to the second career, forty plus year olds who are in the process, not to me. I've grown up with technology; all of them haven't (which is a problem in the church). I didn't live during the civil rights movement (like some of them had), I have had to garner my own experiences from the here and now. There is nothing that anyone can do about this, but it is a shame that our church claims diversity, except when that diversity doesn't already look like the diversity they have. Young, handicapped need not apply. I will keep moving forward, but in my heart there is a ticking clock on this issue, I won't keep waiting until I'm an "acceptable" age. I'll do the best I can, and see what happens from there.

Nook

2010-01-14T11:07:00.002-05:00

Well here is my update on the Barnes and Noble Nook. I will not be getting rid of it. I really do like it.
The Pros -
1. The buttons are well place and not overly sensitive. I haven't had to many problems with random page flipping.
2. Its fairly easy to use and figure out. The buttons on the touch screen are fairly intuitive for what you want to do, you don't have to second guess.
3. It is very easy to get books, maybe even to easy :)
Cons -
1. Google books - I thought this would be a really big plus, but while some of them are great its often hard to distinguish if the book is in English or not. I've gotten some french books that way.
2. You can't delete a book you can only archive it. The problem with this is I've gotten a couple of samples (which is another great feature) but I can't get rid of the sample, I've got to archive it to get it to disappear.
Suggestions/helpful comments -
1. The touch screen takes some getting used to, its not as responsive as my ipod touch. That being said I understand why it can't be to sensitive. In the two full sized books I've read so far there have been times where I've been engaged by the book that my hand hits the touch screen and it turns on. Typically this doesn't happen.
2. There are very few instructions that come with the Nook. It took some time for me to figure out how to put my own pictures on it for the screen saver. Also it only reads MP3's which is annoying because I don't have the ability to create MP3's. (But I didn't buy it for the music)
3. Weight, its not a bad size but your hands will get tired, particularly because unlike a paper back your not changing where your hands are that much to turn pages.
4. If you buy a Nook make sure you check the free book selection at Barns and Noble .com often. I've found several good reads that way, the free books can be a little deceptive because some are very short (50-100 pages). So far I've loaded enough free books to keep me busy for a while.

Overall I think the Nook was a smart purchase for me. I've played with the Sony ereader, the books were to expensive to make the purchase worthwhile. Also the buttons and interface weren't that clever or in my opinion helpful. I looked at the Amazon Kindle, but if you can't play with it before buying I have no interest especially when it concerns technology. I never thought I would like an ereader but this is certainly worth it if you are an avid reader. I'll post more about the ereader in the future if I run into any problems, but don't expect me to get ride of mine.

2009 Reading in Review

2010-01-04T08:27:00.002-05:00

One of the only traditions I've managed to keep on this blog is my yearly post of my reading amounts. This year I read, 11,779 pages, certainly not the most since I started keeping track in 2004 but overall not to bad of a year. That number averages out to 981.58 pgs per month, 245.39 per week, and 35.05 per day. One thing I noticed in this years list is that I can see the flow of where I've been reading this year much more noticeably. For instance at the beginning of the year I have several books marked as excellent such as "Not Your Parents Offering Plate" by J. Clif Christopher, and "Sticky Church" by Larry Osborne. Both are excellent books in their own right, but when I reflect on the year these two books were excellent particularly because they were dealing with issues I was and continue to work on in my church. I also noticed that my reading list is far less eclectic than all of the other years. This is something that has greatly concerned me, I do so much reading for work that reading has become less of a relaxer for me than it used to. I hope to resolve this issue in a couple of different ways. For one I have decided to join the digital reading world with the purchase of a Barnes and Noble Nook. I've compared all of the ereaders out there and it was the only one I took a liking to. I'm hoping this will help me do more recreational reading for several reasons. For one the books are cheaper. Also being a Methodist minister I can look forward to moving several times in my ministerial career and if you haven't moved 15-20 boxes of books (which is what I currently do) you can't believe the stress relief that carrying an ebook with most of your library on it could do.
Hopefully this year will be better on the reading score, I do plan on posting here soon about what I am currently engaged in as my R&R from work, and the plans I have for my "new" hobby.

Ecclesiastes 11:5

2009-12-16T10:09:00.001-05:00

Ecclesiastes 11:5 5 As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.
I love technology. I love getting the newest forms of technology (when I have the money), I even Love playing with new technology in stores if I can’t afford it. The thing about technology is it is almost always about controlling something. For example, a smart phone (which no, I don’t have one) is equipped with software to sync your colander, contacts, music, and email. A smart phone’s purpose is to help you control your calendar, as well as your various entertainments. Control is something we tend to try and exert over most areas in our lives, this verse from Ecclesiastes reminds us that ultimately we aren’t in control. I am not going to make the argument about how much God controls or even how much we as humans can know, but there is something to the idea of realizing that we can’t know, we can’t control all of it. I think the danger in many people’s Christianity is the attempt either to know it all or to know with certainty (or control). We forget, especially concerning our faith that we can’t know everything or how everything works. For example, I am a Trinitarian, but the reality of that doctrine is that I can’t fully comprehend it, and because I know that I know that when I try to understand it I’m probably getting some things wrong and the reality is, that’s okay. The understanding that we need to leave the control to God, to allow some mystery is a great lesson to remember.

Ecclesiastes 10:10

2009-12-07T08:52:00.001-05:00

Ecclesiastes 10:10 10 If the ax is dull, And one does not sharpen the edge, Then he must use more strength; But wisdom brings success.”
Wisdom sharpens you. That’s the basic message of this verse. I’ve often thought about this, especially in the last several weeks. My personality is one that I am quick to respond and I feel often because of that I don’t feel as sharp as I should be. I have been praying and seeking to be more “quiet” in response to people and situations, I’ve been seeking to keep my ax sharp so that when I reply it is with thought and decision. Another aspect of this verse for me is how wisdom is acquired. A few weeks ago I expressed to a friend my frustration with church recently. I have never been one to read just church books, by this I mean church leadership, worship, or history. I’ve always been very eclectic in my reading selection mixing in a fair amount of classic literature, fiction, science fiction, and fantasy. Lately I have struggled to do that. I have increasingly struggled to read anything except church writings. I think this is one of the reasons I haven’t been posting as much, everything is church and it is difficult to write when you know church is reading (sorry if I just offended anyone). Keeping the ax sharp is something I’m striving to do, something I desire to do. The only way to accomplish it is to concentrate on it.

Ecclesiastes 9:7-10

2009-11-11T10:02:00.001-05:00

Ecclesiastes 9:7-10
"7 Go, eat your bread with joy, And drink your wine with a merry heart; For God has already accepted your works. 8 Let your garments always be white, And let your head lack no oil. 9 Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going."
This section of verses in my opinion is the consummate summation of the entire book of Ecclesiastes. There are a lot of lessons just in this small section of verses that I feel that I and we as a nation need and should learn. Now anyone who reads what I occasionally write on this blog will realize that I am not a fan of saying things that apply to our nation, I have a tendency to focus on the individual and the work that we are to do in our own lives. However lately due to being engaged with a book entitled “I Was in Prison,” a book on a United Methodist perspective of Prison Ministry. While I am still reading, thinking and praying on how I should be involved on prison ministry, I have found the call to be more mindful of the call to action on social issues to be a timely reminder for me.
In verse seven I have to address something that is a potential stress point for many Christians. “For God has already accepted your works.” KJV 9:1b. I know some people would take this to mean that God doesn’t care what you do, do whatever you want its all okay. That is not the purpose of this particular verse. The purpose in my opinion is to affirm Gods general approval of life, not an affirmation of certain behaviors good or bad. This harkens back to the beginning of the Genesis stories, where after God creates he gives the affirmation…it is good. This is an affirmation that life and being alive is something that God approves of.
Verse 8-10 can be summed up in two admonitions. The first one is enjoy your spouse, and the second one is enjoy the work that you do. Admittedly the first point says wife but especially today we need to remember that gender differentiation isn’t as important as the spirit of the message. Now this admonition is not an excuse to stay in an abusive relationship, it is a call for us to enjoy the time we have. Divorce rate is sky rocketing, and I have counseled several people who have gone through divorce and then attempt to work out their issues. I feel there is something to be said for an investment of time and enjoyment of what the couple has. Katie and I have now been together for ten years (that’s including dating) and there are still things that she does that drives me up the wall and I know (because I sometimes provoke her) that I do something’s that annoy her. The fact of the matter is we recognize that there are things we do together and we really enjoy it, everything from sharing a meal to intimacy.
Katie and I have both realized that when there is something wrong we have remembered what is good. In a culture in which divorce is cheap and it seems that some people give up on their relationships right when things get tough we need the reminder to enjoy the company of each other and not just trade out spouses.
The second admonition is that we are to enjoy the work we do. I take what I feel is kind of a primal enjoyment out of doing work, both physical and mental. This primal experience for me is independent from what work I am doing. What I mean by this is that even if it’s a job that I don’t like there is an enjoyment and satisfaction that come from completing that job. I feel this is an important concept to remember in our society when we deal with job losses and getting a new job. Something that each of us need to remember is that no matter what we do as a job we need to do it as well as we can and enjoy what we can.
I am a fan of the TV show “Dirty Jobs” and one thing that I notice consistently is that the people doing the “Dirty Jobs” they love what they do. They take an enjoyment from their job and the completion of that job. Too many of us forget that. For instance I’ve met a number of ministers that hate what they do and forget the beautiful things that happen. I’ll admit sometimes that happens to me. But these verses, remind us of the beauty of work. The approval of God, the beauty of relationships, and the beauty of work are what we are to remember in our lives today and all the more important in our society.

Work

2009-09-27T14:12:00.001-04:00

I work all the time, and there is something that I have noticed lately about working while being a pastor, and that is that I don’t feel like I’m working. Just a few months ago, for the provisioner process in the Eastern Pa conference I mapped out all my hours. What I found was that I am averaging 60 hours a week, and right now I know if I took the time to map out my hours again I would find the same average being maintained. There are a couple of reasons I find this fascinating, one is that I have had some really rough weeks, tough conversations, and even tougher situations and more often than not I still want to go to work the next day. Another item that I find fascinating is that I while I may be running around doing things, I find that I still like my job. There has been trying experiences in the past two years, there have been situations I wish I would never have been put in, but I still enjoy doing what I do. I love being able to study scripture, foster community, and engage in worship with others.
The desire I have in my life right now is to continue to have that joy. I want to continue seeking God’s input and direction as I work on and with his church.

Bible Study

2009-09-17T22:56:00.002-04:00

What a rough night. Bible study is normally good, and I guess it was still good tonight. But when I had to say that a child's behavior in the sanctuary was off limits for discussion it became maybe we need a pastor who is more "seasoned." I'm tiered of being told that I'm not old enough, that a congregation is molding me to be what they want. I've resisted molding by two very different schools of thought at VFCC and LTS, and while I am learning from this church, I refuse to be molded into any one set type of pastor other than what God would have me be. And I don't think they liked it...I don't know...

Ecclesiastes 7:13-14

2009-09-14T08:21:00.002-04:00

Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 NIV
"13 Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? 14 When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future. "

I take these verses to be a reminder to all of us about the reality of life. From what I've seen its always easy for people to praise God when things are going well, the problem is when things are difficult. The bad times are the moments when we refuse to acknowledge both our part and Gods part of the bad times. In the words of the teacher here God does have a part in the bad times. Something I'm going to have to think about is the part of God in the good and bad within Ecclesiastes. At the moment I think with this passage maybe the most important part of it is the first part of the verse, "who can straighten what he has made crooked?" Sometimes we need to leave things, leave situations as God intends. That's the difficult part of life.

Ecclesiastes 6:11

2009-08-04T09:48:00.000-04:00

Ecclesiastes 6:11 NRSV
“The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone?”

First off I apologized to anyone who was reading my devotional posts on Ecclesiastes, I admit for the last couple of months I got out of the habit so I hope I’m back on the ball now. Except of course I’m going on vacation next week.

This verse really jumped out at me when I read chapter six. All the commentaries I’ve read so far haven’t given much attention to this particular verse. It’s been all about how the Teacher still sees life as pointless and the wise no better off then the foolish. While this is true, this particular verse spoke to me as a Pastor. The danger in being a pastor is we like to talk, we pile our words upon each other. Generally we do it to convince people of something or to paint a verbal picture, but I doubt many of us have tried the less is better option. I hope and pray that I will know when to say little and when to say much.

Post I've been dreading

2009-05-21T22:46:00.002-04:00

This is a difficult post for me. This past week Olivia had a dr's appointment to test her hearing. Hearing loss is hereditary in my family, my mom has it, my older brother and myself both had hearing loss. When my brothers kids were born, and as they have grown up they have been repeatedly tested for hearing problems and all of the tests have been good, none of them have hearing loss. This week at Olivia's Drs appointment we found out that she has moderate hearing loss. To give you an idea I have severe hearing loss. Profound hearing loss is completely no hearing. Olivia will have to wear hearing aids her entire life.
Now I want to make it clear, I love my daughter tremendously, and that love has not diminished. And hearing loss is not the end of the world. I've had hearing loss my whole life and I think I turned out pretty good. But there will be struggles she will have, things she will have to over come. She will learn that people are not as accepting as they pretend. And unfortunately she will learn that there are no groups she will fit in with when you talk about discrimination (I've posted before on this issue). But now our world is changing here at home, we are trying to figure out if there is any way to afford hearing aids, and what that will look like. We are praying that all of this will be solved. My prayer is that she never has people stand in her way. The thing is I'll be man enough to say what I feel right now, I'm hopeful because of the way my life turned out, but I'm also scared because of the way people can treat people who are different. Nothing to do now but to love and pray.

New Music

2009-05-12T09:09:00.003-04:00

Well yesterday I bought three new Cd's in preparation for our Disney trip at the end of the month. I got the Hair Spray soundtrack for Olivia, who absolutely loves the movie. I also got Boston's greatest hits which I'm still listening to and I have to say I'm really enjoying. I remember my dad being into Boston and I never had any interest in them until lately. Like all bands I get really into I've bought a greatest hits album first and then may buy more as the fancy strikes me. The final CD I bought was No Line on the Horizon, the new U2 album. I was patient in purchasing it, we didn't have the money until recently. Actually like most U2 albums I've found the major song that's being pushed "Get your Boots" is actually not the best song on the album. I'm still listening to it and I'll write a post soon enough on what I think is the best song, suffice it to say that I am enjoying myself quite a bit now listening to all the new music :)

Off the wall Reflections

2009-05-09T10:10:00.002-04:00

Last week I went to Washington to meet with the General Board of Church and Society (GBCS). Which was very fund in and of itself, however I also had a free afternoon on my own in Washington, so I ran (almost literally) over to the Smithsonian Museums. I didn't take a lot of time in the museums because they were so packed with kids. There was one thing that stuck out majorly when I was noticing all the kids around, the majority of them were on cell phones about 90% of the time. They were either talking or texting the entire time. I started to remember when I used to go on field trips and from what I remember(as if it was that long ago) was how much it was about hanging out with my friends. I actually became a little sad at this. I guess I fear that a lot of kids are trading real interaction for plastic ones. Not only that but we trade real experiences for fake one. Maybe I'm just getting old :)

Ecclesiastes 4:4-6

2009-03-31T08:34:00.000-04:00

Ecclesiastes 4:4-6 4 And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 5 The fool folds his hands and ruins himself. 6 Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.

Its taken me now almost three weeks to write anything on this chapter in Ecclesiastes. I’ve been busy. With Lent going on and Easter now just over the horizon I have found less and less time to do things like visitation, and meditation. When I sat down this morning to look at one of the verses in chapter four that I had underlined I hit upon these verses. This is a great reminder in times of running around that sometimes we are better off stopping and making ourselves relax. It is difficult to do, and in fact sometimes it seems down right contradictory to getting more done. But it is a necessary part of our life. I think the Teacher in Ecclesiastes knew this well and maybe that was part of his intent? I don’t know, I’ll need more time to reflect on that.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

2009-03-11T09:25:00.001-04:00

Ecclesiastes 3:11 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

This verse contains an important lesson for someone like me. I’m one of those individuals who need to plan things out. Even if I know the event won’t happen like that or that the plans will change I still need to plan things out. I long to have the answer of what will happen before me, I long for stability, I long for that sense of eternity. I’m not saying I long for death I don’t think that is what the Teacher had in mind here in this verse; I think its Gods plan. But there is reality, I don’t know, I can’t know what is going on, it’s just not possible. Even if I take the book of Revelation literally this verse makes it clear that there is no way for us to understand what is going to happen neither in our life time nor in the life span of the world. I believe that this lesson is part of good Christian living. This is a lesson that all of us need to learn. In some way shape or form all of us strive to control our environment, or life situations, heck even our church, but ultimately God is the one who knows the plan and we have to be ready to let go of our plans and all him to lead us.

Double post

2009-03-11T09:09:00.004-04:00

I decided today I will do a double post. A lot of things have been happening here in Allentown, both in the church and in my personal life. One thing from my personal life I can't post yet but I'll do that soon enough. One of the top items is that one of my hearing aids was destroyed. The dog got a hold of it. I can laugh about it now but when it happened the dog was luck I didn't get rid of it. So for the last week I have struggled to find out how to get hearing aids. They are not covered under the conference health insurance, renters insurance didn't cover it either. For those of you that don't know (which is most people) the average set of hearing aids is 3,000 dollars, that means the dog had a 1,500 dollar snack. Also the majority of insurances don't cover hearing aids so that means your on your own. The only way Katie and I figured I could get a new set was to get a second job, which of course is against the discipline but I had to try. When I talked to the DS I got the answer I expected, I couldn't get a second job, however she offered to talk to a few people and see what she could find to help. Long story short she talked to the chair of BOM and they have decided to purchase me new hearing aids. I cannot thank them or God enough for this. If this wouldn't have happened I would be without hearing aids for some time which I can't do (I only have 30% total of my hearing so if I'm missing one...you do the math).

The other thing that has happened is there was a real heart to heart last night at my Ad Council meeting. One individual brought up that we have been struggling with attendance and we can't be doing that. I basically countered with "should we close the church." Everyone said no, thankfully because I don't want to, but I needed them to face these questions and realize that I can't do everything. This is a is a sign of the much larger work that God will be doing with Emmanuel, my hope and prayer is that the people will start to take a more direct interest in their church and in the future of their church.

One last note, I started another blog www.devotionsforstudy.blogspot.com this is for my churches bible study and Sunday school. All of the post are my own little devotional writings on what we are studying so feel free to check it out.

Ecclesiastes 2:24-25

2009-02-24T09:34:00.001-05:00

Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?

This is one of the passages in Ecclesiastes that is quoted by a lot of different biblical figures, including Jesus. Everyone who quotes it has a dislike of the statement. The Teacher in Ecclesiastes is the only one who offers an alternative. Enjoy life! This is a message not expressed enough in the church or by well meaning Christians. The facts are we don’t know anything about what happens when a person dies. We have faith that there is a bodily resurrection and that we spend eternity in Christ’s presence. That being said we need a healthy dose of what the Teacher has to say. Eat and drink, enjoy life because in the end this maybe all we have. The Teacher sees this as a gift of God, when you realize that you need to actually enjoy life, I would add while holding on to your other faith elements. The end of verse twenty four and verse twenty five lend themselves to the idea that not everyone gets this. In fact the Teacher is claiming that this is a gift by God. I’ve heard people understand this as predestination, so that would again mean there is no point to this activity. I don’t think that is what the Teacher is expressing here. The fact of the matter is the people who figure out how to hold onto their beliefs and enjoy life come from all areas of life, rich, poor, wise or fool. Being one or the other doesn’t guarantee that you will ever figure this out or actually put it into practice. We need to remember that God has given us this life, and while we may not understand why things happen or why the evil succeed and the good are oppressed. Sometimes we need to remember that we need to take a step back and remember this life. Eat, drink, and enjoy.

Ecclesiastes Reflection One

2009-02-11T09:36:00.002-05:00

"There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow." Ecclesiastes 1:11

I've been one of those people who always struggled to do devotions. I've always tried to read through the bible (which I have done several times) during devotions, but for devotional purposes I am rarely successful. So I've decided to take to heart a lesson taught to me by my college theology professor. That is instead of spreading yourself thin in devotions concentrate on one book of the bible so that you can make research, and devotional advancement for other people. Basically so you can make your mark on biblical scholarship. Now that is not the reason I decided to do this. I decided to do intentional in depth study of one book for my personal development, hence I choose Ecclesiastes my favorite book of the Bible. For my first reflection on Ecc. I was struck by this verse in chapter one for several reasons. For one its a direct contradiction to the reason my theology professor suggested in depth biblical studies. But also because I am a fan of John Lennon. Most atheist I have heard or read of believe that the best we can hope for after we die is that people will remember us, remember our works. The eleventh verse of chapter one in Ecc. points out the futility in relying on people to remember your works. We as humanity have a tremendous ability to forget where we've been and who or what exactly got us where. Most of the historical figures in the deep past are lucky they are remembered, and yes it is in fact luck that their works weren't burned up, or their memory erase (not for lack of trying) by the next group of winners. Remembrance is not all its cut out to be, looking forward in salvation history it is only by the love of Christ that we are able to have comfort for our future. When all of humanity forgets us, God still remembers.

Death

2009-02-11T09:26:00.002-05:00

So far in my ministry career I have done seven funerals but this week I had a first. I was with a family in hospice care when the individual died. Now everyone knew this was happening, including myself, and I stayed with the family the whole time because I knew they needed the support. When the individual died it didn't effect me that much. It wasn't until later in the afternoon when I had time to think about it that I could really reflect on how disturbing death really is. One moment your there, and the next your not. That's it. Nothing left to write. After reflecting on it a while I thank God for the faith I have because that is all your left with at the end of your life. I know I will carry this experience with me for my life. Its a difficult one to learn, but important and I know that.

25 Random Things

2009-01-30T23:33:00.002-05:00

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

Well I was hit by it, and this was my first opportunity to do it so here we go.
1. I love long hikes in the fall.
2. I am a Steelers Fan
3. I do the majority of the cooking at home.
4. I married my high school sweetheart (long story)
5. I hate, hate spiders.
6. I collect Tom Clark Gnomes
7. My favorite book of the bible is Ecclesiasties
8. I believe that things of fantasy (ie. gnomes, faries, pixies) are more real than we might suspect.
9. I love reading anything history related.
10. I am an avid rock fan
11. I have a very eclectic theology
12. I still play percussion when I get the opportunity.
13. I love hot tea, any kind
14. I write poetry in my spare time.
15. For the last 4 months I have consistently done personal devotions, this is a first for me.
16. I have only been over seas once.
17. Mel Brooks is the best comedy director of all time
18. I have almost all Spongebob Squarpants shows memorized (what can I say I have a three year old)
19. My home is connected (literally) to my job (and no its not as nice as you might think)
20. The farthest west I've been is Indiana
21. When I do have alcohol give me a good Irish Whiskey.
22. I resist and resent being made to define myself as liberal or conservative.
23. I rarely go to bed before 12am
24. My favorite novel is Les Miserables (non-abridged)
25. I don't really care about being up to date on all things culture related (this was a growing process for me)

Well this took far longer than it should have, but hey I rarely have to do this :)

Update

2009-01-17T10:39:00.000-05:00

Sorry I don't have the energy for an "original" title to my blog post. This week has been a chore. Going to the gym is going well, I've been everyday but two, unfortunately Katie has been to the gym less so that's something I'm going to try and be very conscious of this coming week. I've also been doing a better job at personal devotions, I've never been very disciplined in this respect but I'm working on it. This week was tough because of some church related issues. Miss-communication at church and then on top of it some of the people that I got advice from I think mis-understood me as well. If there is one thing I hate its being misunderstood, I always strive to explain myself but in this case I either did it insufficiently or more likely the individual twisted the words anyway. Its been a struggle, and I hope and pray that I will be able to proceed with integrity and grace.

General Life Update

2009-01-04T21:35:00.002-05:00

I just felt like posting this time what all is happening here at home. Katie and I have finally joined a gym, which we will start working out together tommorrow at. We have also decided our next shopping trip to go on an augmented South Beach Diet. Katie and I were doing that diet when I was in seminary for a couple of months the first semester but then we got pregnant and that went out the window. We decided to augment it to include some things we will go easy on but won't give up. For example, I drink hot tea, and yes I will use sugar. But other than that we are going to follow basically everything else, we will also be including some breads but of course making sure we are just using whole grains, the fact of the matter is we have a three year old so some food items just can't be wiped out (like the bread, and pasta, mac and cheese is one of the two basic food groups for a three year old, the other is chicken nuggets).
Katie and I are both very excited about this, and I think because of that excitement we will be more likely to hold ourselves to it. Also the fact that we are talking about it together and committing to exercising together I think will go a long way. What is my reward at the end of all this? Well besides feeling good, and living longer, if I have a reasonable weight loss and health regained by my birthday in June. I will finally get a tattoo, yup you heard right, a tattoo.

Book Post

2009-01-02T10:08:00.002-05:00

Its now time for my annual book post. Every year that I've had a blog I've done this, post my total number of pages for the year, the averages, and my pics for best books. I don't think I've ever really explained this, but I started this in 2004 after remembering what my high school English teacher said, that we should keep track and notes of the books we read for easy reference. So I put the month read, author, title, pages I read in the book, and a quick word reference as well as occasional notes when I deem necessary. So here goes,
2007 numbers -
11,788 pages for the year
982.33 pages per month
245.58 pages per week
10.23 pages per day
2008 numbers -
12,954 pages for the year
1,079.50 pages per month
268.88 pages per week
38.55 pages per day
This is actually the highest amount I've had since 2004, 2004 was the year I graduated from college and started seminary and the page amount that year was 20,626 we'll see if I ever get that high again.
I figure this year I will give categories first up:
Fantasy - This year my recommendation is the Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien. I tried to read this book in high school an failed miserably, this is a fantastic read for any LOTR's fan.
History - My recommendation in this category is A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage, this book was excellent, granted it doesn't go into increadable depth but did provide a wealth of knowledge and plenty of thought provoking ideas.
Church - Sabbath in the City, see the prior post on this farther down.
Commentary - Revelation by John R. Yeatts, this is from the Believers Church Bible Commentary series, which is an Anabaptist publication, this commentary has been excellent and for a person like me who has pretty much abandoned the conservative vrs. liberal discussion this commentary strikes quite a nice balance.
So there are my picks, yes there are many more worth mentioning but these are what I'm going to stand by or this post would be far to long.

The Circle of Seasons

2008-12-15T21:24:00.002-05:00

At the end of last week I was able to finish a few more of my church books. One of them being "The Circle of Seasons" by Kimberlee Conway Ireton. This book I felt was an excellent read. In it Kimberlee really stresses what you as an individual can do to commemorate the seasons of the church in your home life. I liked it and actually plan on using some of the ideas for church worship services. Please understand though this book was written more as a personal or family tool not a church worship tool per say. Over all an excellent and easy read.

Sabbath in the City

2008-12-09T15:37:00.003-05:00

I just recently finished the book "Sabbath in the City" by Dryan P. Stone and Claire E. Wolfteich and what a refreshing read. It was refreshing because the areas that this book recommends for Pastors in urban areas to work on have been areas that I have already identified in my own life that I need to work on. It was amazing (even though it shouldn't have been) how much I have in common with many of the other pastors that serve in urban parishes. I have been coming to grips with being an urban pastor. That is being a pastor in the third largest city in Pa. I've never shunned urban ministry, but I have never had to identify myself as an urban pastor, its a perspective change.

Personally I think this is a must read book. So much so that I believe I will be re-reading it in the near future so that I can be reminded to take a sabbath, and put sabbath practices front and center in my life and ministry. As you can tell I highly recommend this book to anyone, including those not in an urban parish setting, there are principles contained in this book that cut across divides. Another important note is that I appreciated this books willingness to criticize seminary education as one that doesn't encourage sabbath practices. Its a very insightful critique that if seminaries actually listen to it might actually change the pastor burn out rate.

Ev'rybody Wants to be A Cat

2008-12-08T21:02:00.003-05:00

Well I never do these memes, but I saw this on over at "Art's Strange World" and thought what the heck, I'll give it a shot. Like him I won't tag anyone just let you know how to do it if you feel like it. The idea is that you take your MP3 player and put it on shuffle and use the songs that come up as the answers to the questions, of course this needs to be done no matter how silly it ends up being. I figured it would be something fun and interesting to do especially since I haven't posted about music for quite a while. So here it goes.

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
Guaranteed (Eddie Vedder)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Rest Stop (Matchbox Twenty)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Lost in Hollywood (System of a Down)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Underwater Sun (Spongebob, this isn't the artist but I figured you would want to know where it comes from)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Jeremy (Pearl Jam)
This is actually kind of disturbing

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Dig a Pony (The Beatles)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
The Ocean (U2)

WHAT IS 2+2?
Ripped Pants (Spongebob)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
In The Secret (Veggie Tales)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Maggie Mae (The Beatles)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Born to be Wild (Steppenwolf) I kid you not, that is what came up :)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Winne-the-Pooh (Disney Studio) I'm starting to re-think letting my daughter have her music on here, although Winne isn't a bad person to be

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Be Our Guest (Disney Songs)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Up on The Roof (James Taylor)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Sonata for Recorder and Harpescord (Johann Sebastian Back)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
My Soul is at Rest (Taize Community) now thats a little freaky

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho (Veggie Tales)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Don't Stop Me Now (Queen)

WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Hey Mean Mr. Bossman (Spongebob)

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Once (Pearl Jam)

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Hungry Heart (Bruce Springsteen)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Lo Siento (P.O.D.)

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Revenga (System of a Down)

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
The Second Star to the Right (Disney Songs)

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Moonlight Serenade (Klaus Badelt, Pirate of the Caribbean)

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Stand By Me (Oasis)

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Another Tribe (Robert Plant)

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Ev'rybody Wants to be A Cat (Disney Songs)

Some of these were really funny, others were obviously nonsense but this was fun. I'm going to have to listen to all the songs again and re-read this post.

Workin it Out

2008-11-30T14:36:00.002-05:00

As I posted yesterday I am sick, I should say I'm still sick. This is the first Sunday I have had to miss because I was sick so I pray that everything went well this morning. So I spent time watching Wall-e with Olvia and working on the service for next week, which is somthing I normally do on Sunday afternoons. Olivia is still very sick, if I had to say for myself I'm on the up swing already. I think I caught it soon enough with medicine, my biggest problem right now is I'm very sore as my body continues to fight this sickness.

I spent time this morning and early afternoon reading some of the recent books I got with my business expense account. One is "Sabbath in the City" by Bryan P. Stone and Claire E. Wolfteich. I'll post more on this when I'm done reading it but right now I can say that I am strongly identifying with what is being written about urban ministries.

A few posts ago I wrote that I was going on a retreat for the Provisioners, and only now am I getting some time to update on that retreat. It was awsome. I told Katie that this maybe the only time I was thankful that someone required a retreat. The time was productive, I felt intouch with God, and reminded by God to direct time for my own development. One of the things that came of the retreat is that I am unhappy doing office hours. The only reason I was doing them was to make myself availble to people but of course in the last 4 months no one has come by. So I've dropped them, I am making full use of my secretary to screen the phone calls and set up meetings for me. This week, as long as everyone starts to feel better I'm going to try and start putting time out in the community, even if that means reading in Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts. I'm also hoping and praying that I will be able to blog more as I make more time for myself and my family.

Sick

2008-11-29T19:09:00.002-05:00

Well I hope all has gone well for most people on thanksgiving. Me I watched Olivia get sick on Wed, watched Katie succumb to it on Friday before I became its victim today. So all three of us are home sick, I have just enough energy to put a post up that's it. Of course I had to make some phone calls and will not be preaching or leading worship tomorrow, which I am very disappointed about since its the first Sunday in Advent. However I'm hoping that one Sunday down will be enough to bounce me back so I can it the ground running on Monday.

Charge Conference

2008-11-19T11:03:00.002-05:00

Well last night was my first Charge conference on my own. Next year I'm definitely calling it a Church conference in hopes of more participation, but over all it went well. We got the business done and were able to see the positive possibilities here at Emmanuel. Now I'm getting prepared to go on an overnight provisioners retreat for the conference. Its been a busy week with no signs of slowing down, but now that I've got Charge Conference done I feel a lot more relaxed and ready to roll. Its not that I was worried about what was going to be said, it was more that I had so much work to do preparing for the conference. Thank God next week should slow down a little bit.

Up Late

2008-11-15T00:45:00.002-05:00

Well this seems kind of epic, this is the first time in probably a year and a half that I am posting twice in one week. Well I'm just up late and trying to figure out a bunch of different things, the problem is this week has been so busy and hectic that I don't feel like I can just stop quite yet. The good news is I've started a walking regime with the dog every day. We walk up to the near by park and I let her off the leash for a bit and just walk. I'm still working with her on staying near by which is a little frustrating, but she is a puppy still as well as a scent dog. So far in walking with her I have found that if I am away from houses and more in the "woods" (about as much in the "woods" as you can be in Allentown) she is less likely to get to far ahead of me. One of my hopes is that I'll be able to take her camping with me as her and I develop an outdoor relationship. One of the best things about it has been the fact that we go out for about 45 minutes each time. I've been getting a little frustrated here at the church because I rarely leave, maybe once a week for visitation. The house is connected to the church so there is no just leaving work behind, even right now at almost one in the morning I have to fight a little to keep myself from thinking about work especially since my computer is in the office.
I'm hoping tomorrow to take a camera with me and start getting some pics while I'm out walking. We'll see, if I do I'll try posting some on Monday.

Fire

2008-11-13T18:42:00.002-05:00

The last several months have been extremely hectic around here. I've been devoting time to reworking my committees, working on a stewardship campaign, and general church revitalization as well as learning about this congregation in general. This past week there was a fire that destroyed 4 homes and damaged 2 others. The Red Cross brought the people here to the church where we were able to work with the Red Cross and provide food, clothing, and comfort to those in need. This was a very positive experience for me, and I pray something I can build on with the church. We were interviewed by the local news station and I actually ended up on the 5 o'clock news, so I've had my 30 seconds of fame.
Needless to say this event threw my entire week into confusion but I am thankful for the opportunity we had to minister to these people in need. Apparently we did such a good job that the Red Cross said they would make sure to use us again.

Nostalgic

2008-10-20T10:51:00.003-04:00

There are a few times every year when I get a bit nostalgic. One of the primary times is when I make potato soup every year. Now I posted on this I think two years ago, but some things bear further reflection. Potato soup is one of the few meals that have been with Katie and I since we first got married. It is a family recipe, which of course gets adjusted and changed a little every time we make it. I was really thinking about the potato soup when I was making it because it is the type of food that fits in well with an economic regression.

The whole premise of the dish is that it is hearty and fills you up. Everything that goes into it is cheap with the most expensive item being the bacon. However when you have the most expensive item you use every portion of it. Now this is not a low cal or low fat food, you cook the bacon, and then use the bacon grease to cook the onions and potatoes. Nothing goes to wast and that is important, you don't peel the potatoes you just dice them skin and all into the pan. Two hard boiled eggs, some chicken broth (if you can afford it, water will do just fine as well) milk, salt and pepper to taste, and you've poor man work'in food. I fell into wanting all the latest culinary foods to try but what I keep coming back to is these simple Pa dutch recipes that feed you completely.

Long silence

2008-10-09T09:13:00.002-04:00

Sorry its been so long. I've been dealing with some immediate church issues that I didn't want to post about, and since they were pretty consuming as far as my time that didn't allow for thought on that much else. Things are going pretty good now I think. I believe that God has given me a clear vision for this church and the direction we need to go. We have also launched into a Revelation bible study, always fantastic for a new pastor to be working through. Of course in Sunday School I am also teaching Genesis, so a wonderful symmetry there.

I've been struggling with keeping on top of things, meaning the studies and sermon but also keeping on top of the news. I hate watching the news but am actively trying to make sure I don't miss anything important. Hopefully (I know I've said this before) but hopefully I will be able to start regularly posting next week.

A Day Off

2008-09-01T10:19:00.002-04:00

I decided last week I would take Labor Day off, I haven't had one off in a long time and it was my first opportunity to have one off. Any way, I took some time today to change my blog layout, thanks to Beth Quick for the link, I really like the design of the blog. In other news I am going to be preparing a Revelation Bible Study. So tomorrow I am going to be reading several commentaries to get started. Besides all of this I'm still learning the rythm and roll of weekly preaching and all of that. I find that most of my time is taken up by sermon prep, and then the rest is by visitation and such. I'm still working on it and I plan on giving an up date in the future. Well that's all for now, I'm going to enjoy the rest of my day off :)

Tough Week

2008-08-15T10:33:00.002-04:00

Unfortunatly I wasn't able to post earlier in the week because of some church circumstances that would have made blogging a partiuarly dangerous occupation (rants are sometimes bad when everyone can read them). But things have started to look up, right now I'm enjoying my day off with a Harry Potter movie marathon with my daughter. We then have plans to go to the Green Dragon. The biggest flea market in the area, with my in-laws.

I feel I have been adjusting well to living in Allentown, though I feel that I've had more difficulty fitting in with the congregation. This may just be an EUB thing or just this church, but it feels like its taking me longer to fit in here than it has for some time at a church.

The dog's doing okay, housebreaking is still a bit of an issue but it generally is with dogs who are breed for hunting. They are generally smarter and because of this have a bit more will in what "they" want. Tracker is picking up some commands. So far we have all but mastered "come," "sit," and "drop." This is a dog who loves to play fetch, she just doesn't always love to bring the ball back to you. As we get these commands finalized we're going to move onto "talk," "shake," and "stay." (which we've already started working on.) My hope is to train her for hunting, this is to keep her healthy with a good activity and also to get me outside more. I actually think its going to be more for the tracking than the hunting because I don't think I can get Katie to eat rabbit.

Well hopefully I'll be able to start some serious blogging next week.

Hobby

2008-08-04T09:30:00.002-04:00

Well I've been struggling a little bit here lately with something I new I would be. I have been searching for ways to relax and escape church stuff. My biggest hobby in the past has been reading and it still is the biggest. The problem with reading is that all books are potential sermon illustrations, or book studies. So it is relaxing but I find mentally I'm not really getting away from work. My other big hobby is cooking, which is still up there except you need a lot of money to keep cooking as a hobby. So I kept thinking and looking, I've come up with a few more hobby options, one is woodworking. I always liked woodworking but could never afford the tools (still can't) nor did I have the time. I am hopefully going to be able to buy some tools in the next few months and get started, so obviously this is a slow and gradual hobby.
The other hobby I've really started to get into is genealogical research. I have never been able to piece together all of my families history, so I called my grandfather and started to talk. What I've been able to find out so far is that my grandfather can trace back five generation. Our family was from Virginia, and the three original farms in Virginia are still in the family. The first Hall's (the ones that I'm a descendant from) came from England (mans side) and the Netherlands (woman's side). I haven't learned their names yet, so there's a lot of connecting the dots to do on that side. Of course I then need to do my grand mothers a little bit. I then want to trace my mothers side of the family which will be the hardest.
So anyone have another suggestion for hobbies? Or how do you try to relax and get away from work?

New Family Member

2008-07-28T09:06:00.003-04:00

I meant to post last week but it got insanely busy with the addition of our newest family member. Don't worry Katie's not pregnant. We bit the bullet and bought Olivia a puppy for her birthday, say hello to Tracker (Olivia's choice of name.)

She is a Basset Hound. The tallest she can be is 14 inches, weight 60 pounds. So they're short and solid dogs. We have launched into potty training, and I have been working on training her to come to me without a leash outside. Bassets are direct descendants of Blood Hounds and just like Blood Hounds often have difficulty coming back if they are on an interesting scent. I'm hoping since she is 13 weeks old, I can start training her on coming when called without a leash early. She has also been fitting in very well with Katie and Olivia as you can tell by this picture.

Tracker and Olivia have been learning how to play together and sometimes both of them get carried away but their learning, that's the important thing. Olivia has also learned that Tracker will follow her around the house. So if she is scared to go somewhere she can take the dog and feel safe. Of course the dog is on a leash in the house until she's potty trained but one step at a time. I have always wanted a basset hound, but to make it clear, we took Olivia to a pet store, and out of all the puppies there the Basset Hound is the one she picked. So this new addition has had impact on our schedule.
Another reason I didn't post last week is because we also took Olivia to her first baseball game. We went to see the Phillies play the Atlanta Braves. It was our first time in the new stadium which was fantastic. Olivia fell in love with the Philly Phanatic, whatever can be said about Philly teams they have the best mascot in the world.

Olivia had a blast and I can't wait to take her to another game some time.

Passing Death

2008-07-08T13:12:00.002-04:00

When I walk through the hospital and see the people in their beds I wonder how many of them see me as death walking through the hallways. There I am in my shirt and collar, trying to minister to people, and yet I wonder how many of them see me as death coming to collect my own, I am collecting the person for their funeral. It doesn't feel very healthy and caring, I know its part of Gods call upon me to care for those who are both spiritually and physically hurt. May God help me to do what I need to do.

Anniversary

2008-07-07T09:33:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was my anniversary, Katie and I celebrated 6 years of marriage by staying home with Olivia and ordered pizza. Today I'm making steak for dinner, as we slowly continue our celebration. I have been married to a beautiful and wonderful woman for 6 years now, we've had our fights, we still have our fights but I love her regardless of anything else. She stood by me through all the seminary crap I went through and continues to stand by me today. I thank God for this woman in my life.

First Sunday

2008-07-02T11:14:00.003-04:00

Just to give an update, I meant to post yesterday but things got away from me. My first Sunday here at Emmanuel went very well, at least I thought so. I did change some things in the service but I think everyone reacted very well to that. Things have been going okay, I've been trying to work at a basic level change in this church. They are in survival mode, everything unfortunately is going back to money at the moment. I have been taking the time to redirect people to the mission and ministry of the church. This change will take time, but my prayer is that God will bring about a heart change within this congregation. Besides that (of course its the most essential thing) I have been playing with several new toys. The church has a laptop for the pastors use only, so that's what I'm blogging with right now. Also when we moved we decided to get a new TV, so I have a 40" Sony Bravia with surround sound now. This has been a lot of fun :)I'm also slowly working on getting to a set schedule (or at least some semblance of a set schedule) so that I can set up my regular posting and so on.

New Home

2008-06-23T13:14:00.005-04:00

Well we're here, we are finally moved in, at least mostly into our new home. I did take three pictures of the sanctuary to post. More pics will follow as we get each room in order. I am also starting my first week of full time church work today, I started on my sermon and some reading I want to accomplish that is church related. I'll bet a better idea of what the church expects from me tomorrow night when I have my first SPRC meeting. I also plan on getting back into the grove of posting at least once a week here on this blog about the various things I'm reading as well as picking up on my doctrinal blogging again (at least I hope).

This first picture is of the front of the sanctuary, you can tell that the church was built in the 50's by the A-frame style building. Also the stained glass shows a stylistic influence of the 50's. That being said I don't think it dates the building to much, things still look very contemporary which can be interpreted as a positive statment.

This photo is of the altar which is placed all the way up right in front of the window. Its a very interesting theological statment to me which I hope to reflect on more in another blog post.

This is a view that I will see a little more often, this is from the front to the back of the sanctuary. Notice the window located in the back, its looking out from the nursery so that people can watch from back there. The drums on the right side of the pic are not the churches, they belong to La Trinidad, the Hispanic Methodist church that meets in our building right after the service is over. I'll give more updates later, suffice it to say that we are very excited right now :)

The Messiah Formerly Known as Jesus

2008-06-07T23:28:00.002-04:00

This book written by Tom Breen the "Internet Theologian" was one of the books I picked up at annual conference. This book was actually very enjoyable, he had be chuckling on numerous occasions, and usually if a book can get me to laugh out loud thats a really good sign. On top of that his off handed humorous critique of Christianity in America is very much needed for todays overly serious worshipers. Over all I highly recommend this book as a humorous and thought provoking (probably to the disappointment of the author) read.

I feel I need to give another update, that is that this week my family and I are moving out of our home into the parsonage at my new appointment Immanuel UMC in Allentown (no they don't have a web site yet...I know, its on the top of my list). So while post have been becoming a bit more regular over the last couple of months unfortunately I will be thrown out of wack here for a couple of weeks.

Theology vs. Scripture

2008-05-22T19:40:00.002-04:00

I've been doing some thinking. I've been apart of and have been watching the discussion taking place on Locust and Honey on the General conference. I did post some statements but recently a relatively short discussion on homosexuality has surfaced. Now this is a hot button issue for pretty much everyone but there were a few issues I had with the various points that were given, as well as some thoughts on what is happening in the church right now around this issue.

First off, I was struck by the insistence that the church needs to be open and affirming. I am not making any claims on whether this is right or wrong but the church has never in its history been an "open and affirming" organization. This is just a statement of fact, and I find it quite interesting that most people claim that the Methodist church needs to be open and affirming when I believe that John Wesley would not have been. Lest we forget John was known for kicking people out of his societies if he found that they were not manifesting work toward Christian Perfection.

I also find it interesting that we talk about homosexuality as if by choosing to be open and affirming would mean that the church would grow. I know many people would not claim this but it is an issue inherently at stake here. If the UMC become open and affirming the fact is its membership will go down and it will be just as impotent as the UCC or the MCC. Yes I said that, I am not defending it just making a statement of the reality of the problem.

Personally I think what is truly at stake in this issue is what comes first, theology or scripture. Now why is this so some might ask? I honestly believe that scripture is quite clear on what a biblical view of homosexuality is. This is seperate and distinct from whether or not it is genetic or inherited. But we have the other side of the coin. Theologically many of us believe God to be a loving accepting God. This is true in the simple yet profound idea that God accepts everyone, and everyone is a sinner. Because of this we want to place theology in front of scripture, honestly I do view that as putting the cart before the horse.

When we apply theology to this issue there is another problem that arises. This stems from our Wesleyan heritage, the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. For whatever could be said it is obvious that John Wesley had a hierarchy when viewing these items. Scripture was ranked near the top, with tradition closely behind. Experience and reason are both on the bottom. (The order being Scripture, Tradition, Reason and Experience, at least as well as I can remember.) Experience, where most of this discussion is based on one end of this argument is not something that out weighs scripture and tradition. Also we need to, IMHO, have a proper view of tradition, tradition is the voice of the past, this I believe does influence our ability to tamper with doctrine and theology in general.

I have in no way stated my opinion on the issue in this post, just raised some things that are floating around in my head. I don't have an answer for this discussion either, but I can honestly say the more I listen to the arguers on both sides the less I want to associate with either (this is not pointed at those in the discussion over at Locust and Honey just speaking broadly.)

The Celts a History

2008-05-12T15:25:00.003-04:00

Wow, I'm getting two posts in today, I must really be sick. I finished reading "The Celts a History" today. My reading has been slow for the last several months because of working two jobs and a lack of drive to read when I have time off. This past weekend I was able to purchase three books, this being one of them.

I wouldn't say this is a particularly thrilling read. I picked it up because near as I can figure Irish factors heavily in my family tree. Celts are of course one of the main players in Irish history. This read was a little disappointing in the fact that while it did fair justice in trying to paint an accurate picture of various point of Celtic life it also got bogged down in the linguistics. For someone who doesn't know ancient Celtic nor many of the words that developed from them it was a little frustrating.

Over all it wasn't a bad read I rate it as a fair if you like to read history.

Home, sick

2008-05-12T08:58:00.003-04:00

Well since I'm home sick today I have enough time to write a little for once. The updates aren't major, we are still waiting to move only the count down is closer (I think I counted 4 weeks left of work at TSSing). It appears right now that Katie is going to get a job at the preschool of the church as the director/teacher which is exciting. We're a little nervous in that respect because it means all of our work is occurring in the church for both of us but in the end we think job wise its the best option. Olivia's very excited about having a new home, she can't wait to paint her room purple or green, the color changes everyday.

I do have an odd rant today. I hate, I HATE Oreo Cakesters. Why, you ask. Because they are a ripoff of a Pa Dutch classic treat called a woppie pie. Of course a Woppie pie is only a billion times better than a cakester but the majority of people will never know that will they, because if they travel now in Pa Dutch country they will think the confectioners in this area would have copied oreo, pisses me off.

Any way, I'm just spending the day doing some reading and trying to feel better with some hot tea. Hopefully soon I'll be able to post regularly again.

Mysticism

2008-04-15T10:34:00.002-04:00

I have been watching a discussion over on Locust and Honey on communion. I haven't posted a comment or reply there because I don't agree with the majority of the comments that are being posted. I decided however to write on some of my thoughts and concerns about the discussion. If I am understanding right the discussion is really about what happens with the elements at the time of blessing, this has then led to discussion on who can serve communion as well as the blessing of the elements for shut ins and so on. Now to clear this up right away, I personally feel that anyone can serve communion, and that elders should not be fighting to make the list of who can bless the elements and serve them more exclusive. However I have a very high view of communion, I do believe that when the elements are blessed that they are no longer just bread and wine(grape juice). I also believe it does matter what we do with the remainder of the elements, we can't just throw them in the trash.

Now I know that this has not been the discussion but the part that I've been concerned about is have we lost our mysticism? It seems to me that people would rather take communion on a symbolic level because its easier to explain rather than show yourself as being at odds with any form of modernity. I guess what it comes down to is that I am not trying to explain my beliefs for the scientific part of me, I am willing to allow Christ to work in through these elements differently than I would think things should work in the world. (I am not claiming that people don't believe this, I am just stating it for my own self clarification.) Our faith is a mystical one, and this extends well beyond the discussion of Communion to how we view the world.

I grew up loving mythical writings, fables, tall tales, and fairy tales. And personally where I find myself now is looking at the way we talk about our faith and fight over doctrinal issues and saying we could learn a few things from the people who wrote these stories. If the world is crafted by God on all levels of its existence we have to believe that there are some surprises that we just can't explain and yes even these surprises happen in our doctrine. My personal preference when it comes down to communion is that we have people trained to bless and distribute it. It is a precious thing, and while I believe anyone should be able to bless the elements, I personally just need to know that they have done their homework. I just truly hope we haven't lost touch with the mystical or else all our doctrinal discussion will truly be in vain, it will just be a scientific discussion not a faith discussion.

Hiatus

2008-03-30T18:50:00.003-04:00

There have been several reasons for the recent hiatus from blogging. Primarily it has been the fact that I have not been allowed to share anything that has been going on, but now I can talk. I have been re-appointed to Emmanuel UMC in Allentown Pa. (Sorry to the blogging folk, they don't have a web page yet but I'll see what I can do :)). This is a tremendous step for my family, we will be moving into the parsonage that is literally attached to this church, my wife will be quiting her job of 6 years, and we will be the farthest away from our family that we have ever been. All in all though it is very exciting. The reason that the move was decided was because I can't keep working two jobs, the possibility of burn out (these are two very high stress jobs) is just to great. Also financially we will be coming out ahead with just my pay at a full-time appointment.

I haven't been able to blog also because of the general stress of the last few weeks. I have not had a day off in three weeks because of various meetings. I'm also getting stressed over one particular place that I am working at for the TSS job. Its like having a customer who makes you want to quit but you still have to go back to them. Except of course its not the actual client, its the environment but thats all I can say. Prayerfully I will make it through the next two months (that will be when I quit TSS) and then I will be able to blog, and do what I feel called to do all the time (wow that feels a little scary.)

The Silmarillion

2008-03-02T20:50:00.002-05:00

This week I finally finished JRR Tolkien's "The Silmarillion" I had tried to read it once years ago in 9th grade, needless to say I didn't make it to far. This time I loved reading it, it was definitely one of the best reads I've done for a long time. Tolkien's imagery and storytelling are perfect making the pages just fly by.

One thing I have to talk about as well is Hairspray the movie. My family has been watching this movie a lot over the last several weeks, I recommend it to everyone. It must be noted that this movie deals with some powerful themes of racism and various forms of discrimination but in a playful way.

I've also been spending some time cooking lately, partly because I nearly crashed last week. After doing two services and working 30 hours at my other job I needed ways to relax and cooking was where it was at this week. I made homemade marshmallows, as well as a full meal with flavored olive oil, pasta, and desert form my future sister-in-law (my brother just proposed to her).

Hopefully in the next week I'll have a little more time to reflect and write.

Recent News

2008-02-18T20:50:00.003-05:00

Well the last several weeks have gotten away from me, and I have been unable to keep up with posting. There is a whole lotta news, first I made it through my BOM interview. It was a long and grueling eight hour meeting that involved more waiting than meeting but I made it through alive. Unfortunately it has meant that I will have to leave my current appointment for a full time appointment but I pray the will of God will be done. Also because of this I didn't take the job move up within my company, I already have enough on my plate and to risk burn out for just a little bit more money isn't worth it.

Besides this I have been trying to concentrate on taking time off. What I mean is that I have been trying to make sure I have one designated day of rest as well as a few hours each day of rest to recover. So far its been going good, at least as long as I have some good books to read.

General Update

2008-01-29T06:59:00.000-05:00

I realized this week that its been a while since I posted a general update. I do this in part to help me prioritize in my mind what is going on. First and foremost in my mind right now is that everything has been turned into BOOM for my interview in February. I am excited to finally get this far in the process, but I am also very anxious. Its hard to work so hard and so long to have to look towards a meeting where the people on the board could require me to do more things (as if my schedule was that flexible) or stop me completely in the process. I guess when it gets down to it the latter of the two options is the one that makes me the most anxious.

I have also told the DS in this district that I was not seeking a re-appointment. True I'm hoping for a two point charge which would make me full time at church work, but I am also willing to do one year as part time (which is allowed if I am probationary).

My job as a TSS has also been occupying my thoughts lately. Last week I received a raise, a very good one based on my six month review. They also offered me a higher position, basically doing the same thing except I'm salary, guaranteed 40 hours and so on. I am happy there but I have been approached by other companies trying to offer me higher positions and it is extremely tempting. I am still praying and seeking more information on these other companies but thats where it stands. The odd thing for me is that the counseling job is the first job I have had that I feel is "right." That is it fits in with who I am and at least in part what I am called to do. I find myself thinking that if for some reason I get "blocked" in the ministry this is a job I could make a career out of. Its an interesting thought, and very new to me and my family. Katie and I are not used to having options when we aren't desperate.

Political Rant

2008-01-21T17:09:00.000-05:00

This is just a brief rant today, I've been thinking lately how frustrated I am with people who are overly concerned about me voting. Yes I vote and at the moment will continue to do so, but I find the people who ask me about voting tend to like me less when I step in and say I don't like any politician. Let me say that again I don't like any politician. They are (by and large) rich spoiled brats. They don't know what its like to buy, oatmeal, or mac and cheese to eat because its the only thing you can afford. I will come flat out and say that I don't like anyone who currently has their sights on the presidency. God knows we could use someone peaceful, wise, just, and noble in the role of President, but from what I see that ain't happening. So for anyone who reads this don't remind me to vote unless you want an ear full.

Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, Brian Herbert

2008-01-12T20:52:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of this week I completed one of the books I received for Christmas from my wife. I had read the original Dune series a few years ago and at the recommendation of a co-worker at the printing plant this summer I picked up House Atreidies. Needless to say I read that book very quickly and found the story to be very enjoyable over all.

I had the same expectations for Butlerian Jihad when I started and I was not disappointed. The novel itself was very good, the story line moved well, and I can’t wait to get the second one in this trilogy to read. However I was disappointed by one thing in particular. The original Dune series is known for being a stunning work with a powerful message about ecology and our treatment of the planet. The Butlerian Jihad only briefly touched on this message particularly at the end. While that in and of itself is not bad because it is the first of a “historical” trilogy. The novel delved in to the religious aspect of the future projected by the Dune chronicles.

I found the over all religious tones very superficial on one level and that the author doesn’t seem to have a good grasp of religion and the working of religions. In the novel there are the Pan-Christians which are more reminiscent of Secular humanism than any real religion having to do remotely with Christian. Then there are the Zensunni, and Zenshitte., there is almost no need for me to explain what two religions are being blended here. The portrayal of these religions suggest to me an extremely basic knowledge this author has on the various religions he is portraying. For example from my studies I see practically no ground for grouping Zen Buddism with the Islamic faith. In fact the two religions would have more trouble joining together than say Christian and Muslims.

Overall I would say the book is a good read if you disconnect your knowledge about religion from your reading. Either way it’s an excellent way to kill a few hours.

Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer

2008-01-06T22:11:00.000-05:00

Spoilers with-in

The short book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is the story of a young man named Christopher McCandless. I read this story in just two day, this is not a testament to the writing quality, Jon Krakauer writes articles for Magazines and the writing in this book feels much the same as a two hundred page magazine article. That is not to say that the writing is bad, its just not difficult if that is what you are looking for.

Another reason for having read the book really quickly is the actual story that it tells. My reaction to McCandless is still uncertain even though I finished the book over a week ago. McCandless abandoned a comfortable life after he graduated from college to live out the beliefs of Leo Tolstoy. A Russian writer who believed in giving up wealth and seeking experience in the common, more specifically with the common people, regrettably he didn’t live up entirely to his belief system non-the-less McCandless was inspired. He gave up his status and became a tramp living on the road, hitchhiking every where and living off the land when ever possible.

I personally admire and respect that. It is not often that someone attempts to truly live what they believe and for an extended period of time at that. I for one have often thought of giving everything up and living off the land, but I know that people depend on me, my wife and daughter but also my parents and brothers and sister. McCandless refused to acknowledge that people depend on him, he didn’t acknowledge that there is a debt of love that we all owe in some respects and if we were to vanish the pain that causes.

This is the place where my respect breaks down. Abandoning society and family for the sake of experience can only go so far. Something that has been handed down to me from my family is that most people in life are transitory figures the only ones that truly matter, and that you must make time for is your family. They are the only one who will be there in the end.

There is another aspect that threw me off of McCandless, the way he died. He went into the wilderness with poor provisions and died possibly because of ingesting some poisonous plant. I do admire that he was able to keep himself alive by hunting and foraging for several months, to me that alone shows that he was a very capable man. But he was arrogant, he didn’t buy a map that could have helped him, and he didn’t take more than ten pounds of rice into the bush with him. While I understand money may have been an issue the map would have been an essential piece of equipment that almost certainly would have made the difference between life and death.
Having been a bit of a woodsman, I found this story to be disturbing, partly because I could see myself in McCandless’s shoes. It is a very thought provoking story and well worth the read even if it doesn’t take long.

I'm Still Here

2007-12-30T20:02:00.000-05:00

Yes I'm still around, I'm just taking time to get everything worked out. Working 40hrs a week counseling, 20 + hours pastoring, and trying to be a husband and father tends to push out any blogging prerogative. My hope in the coming year is to re-find the joy of blogging and do it once a week, maybe Sunday afternoon. I figured I needed to post now to do my annual best books I've read for the year post as well as total numbers and averages, so here we go...

Two books that got excellent from me in the fantasy department were Eragon, and Eldest.
Until I Find You, for fiction
A Walk in the Woods for Non-fiction
And The Irresistable Revolution, and Generous Orthodoxy for church

Honorable mentions go to Into the Wild and Velvet Elvis. Into the Wild is placed here because I am still processing the story having just finished it yesterday.

My total amount of pages for the year was 11,718 This actually keeps the trend that when I graduate I read more than when I am in school. In fact my second year of Seminary had the lest amount of reading.

Well thats all for this week, hopefully I'll have enough energy to post next week. If anyone wants the names of the authors for these books or more detailed information just let me know.

Catching Up

2007-11-06T20:39:00.000-05:00

Well I was sitting here tonight and I realized that I finally have some time to do a little bit of blogging. Over the past couple of weeks I have been struggling with keeping some "me" time in my schedule. The reality is I haven't really had any. Things have been working so far that I have been able to keep one day a week open for my family, but I just haven't found that rhythm and roll yet on keeping some "me" time. This week has been going a little better on this score. While I have worked on my sermon for a few hours each night I have forbidden myself for reading any book explicitly for church (by saying that I mean something that I have an eye toward helping my sermons, bible study, worship or anything of that sort.) So tonight I have been reading Sex God by Rob Bell. So far I have to say I like it, I do admire Rob Bells writing style and his down to earth manner so I will give a further update as I complete the book. Besides this I've just been chugging along.

Debriefing

2007-10-08T09:02:00.000-04:00

So whats the verdict for my first Sunday at Stehman Memorial, great. I felt everything went well, my first sermon was around the 20 minute mark, and even though the DS and myself have never performed communion there it went off basically without a hitch. I would post my sermon but I'm saving that for when I can start a church blog (at least thats what I'm thinking). Everyone at the church was really friendly to us and there are a lot of children for Olivia to play with. So more to come later this week :)

Official

2007-10-01T20:21:00.000-04:00

It's official now. I can talk about what has been happening in my life. I have been appointed to Stehman Memorial UMC in Millersville Pa. This all happened about three weeks ago, everything was announced this past Sunday, and I do my first service there this coming Sunday. It is amazing that this has happened now, and I will give a much more full update when I've had time to process. I've also been very happily working with Pa Counseling Services as a TSS and have been learning the ropes at that job. Now I will be working at balancing 35 + hrs a week at Pa Counseling, and 20 + hrs (but we all know more) at Stehman, and family time. Now we just need prayers for my wife as she struggles with where she wants to work, and what we can afford to do. For now here are a few rough pics of the church, I hope to get better ones, I had to take these ones incognito.

Here I am

2007-09-26T16:55:00.000-04:00

Well its obvious that I have not held up to my last post of getting back into a rhythm. There are a few very good reasons for this but I'm not able to say why just yet. I figured for anyone who still checks my blog I should drop a quick note to say that a full explanation is coming here in another few days so my recommendation would be to check back either this Sunday or Monday. If everything goes well I will be posting exactly what has been happening in my life then.

Update

2007-08-22T11:13:00.000-04:00

Well I can finally give an update. The last few weeks have been filled to the brim with work, I couldn't maintain my 1 post a week commitment. Not to mention I didn't want to keep talking about my job situation, but now I have a positive update in that direction. I was just hired on to PA Counseling Services, this means I will be working with children and youth on various issues in school and at home. I was told the primary group I will be working with are children with Autism. I am excited, scared, and happy all at the same time. I will need continued prayers as I embark on this new journey.

Besides this my wife starts back to work next week and we are trying to figure out a babysitting routine for my daughter. We are making enough to just make our bills with about 15 dollars +/- to spare so paying for childcare is not a high option. That is also paying our bills without paying student loans which I will have to defer due to being dirt poor.

Well anyway I hope to be back in the rhythm of posting every week starting this week.

What a time

2007-07-18T10:19:00.000-04:00

I haven't been able to post much over the last several weeks, this is a combination of several reasons primarily being that I've been working a lot at the printing plant, so I've been unable to to much reflection for blogging purposes. The other reason is because when I get a day off I spend it doing things with my family rather than on the computer. In the past several weeks I've had several other interviews at various church's and I still have another one this week. Hopefully soon I will be working with a church full time.

This past Friday I went on long weekend, I came off of midnight shift and I am going back in today at 3 for work. So my wife and I took advantage of this and went to see the Harry Potter movie. It wasn't bad but there were a few details I wish they would have included. The graphics and the acting were far better than they used to be, in my opinion that is.

Then on Sunday we took my daughter to the ocean for the first time. This solidified the fact that she is a water baby. She had no problems getting into the water, and even when a wave caught her and threw her down she still got up and ran back in. It was a great day. And heres a pic to show the fun she was having.

I'll do my best to keep this updated but until I get a job that makes putting the time aside feasible then unfortunately this blog will be taking a lower place on the line.

Ultra Marathon Man

2007-06-27T11:48:00.000-04:00

My wife bought me this book for my birthday because she had heard some of the stories from it at the school she worked at. This book tells the story of Dean Karnazes (who is also the author) and how he came to run ultra marathons, an ultra marathon is a distance of 50 miles or more (the last story in this book is where Dean runs 199 miles). For those of you that don’t know a marathon is just over 26 miles long and was made to commemorate an event in ancient Greece.

Dean’s story reminded me of a lot that I used to love about running. I also read this book thinking the entire time that this guy is crazy, and in some levels I’m right. I do recommend this book it is a fast read but good as long as you can get by how individualized the story is. Over all I give it a 3 out of 5 a comfortable middle ground

Clarification

2007-06-24T23:42:00.000-04:00

After talking with a friend I realized that my last post sounded a little mad. I guess I should throw in some context. I am dealing with why God called me to the ministry and I haven't been called to a place (and not for lack of trying). And I'm trying to see how all of my education fits into a place where the people don't care about the issues that I have grown to see as important.

I have great faith in the UM and God's ability to work through the church. Yet in the context I'm in I am honestly struggling with what these people need to see about Christ and his work in their lives. I believe that John Wesley was able to do this and that is why the UM has potential.

I hope I didn't offend anyone with my rant last week, but as I have always stated on this blog, I am on a journey and I have no problems talking about my raw emotions and things I feel, if anyone reads anything here and doesn't know how to take it...just talk to me and I will explain myself. If if wasn't for a friend saying something about this last post I wouldn't have thought other wise (I have worked 74 hrs this week so my minds not working to great anyway.) I'll do another regular post hopefully Monday or Tuesday but I do need some rest so don't be surprised if you hear nothing by next Monday.

General Musings

2007-06-17T00:05:00.000-04:00

Working at the printing plant this week has given me some much needed reflection time. Much of the work I am engaged in is mindless and repetitive, so I then have the ability to let my mind wander. This week as I was stacking CVS magazines, the junk mail you get everyday, I began to reflect on how much of the official church stuff really matters and how much I learned in seminary really matters. The conclusion I came to is not much. When I spent time talking to the people I worked with this past week, they didn't care that annual conference was going on, and what decisions were made where, and what the latest "cutting edge" or newest trend in ministry is. They didn't care about feminist issues, womanist issues, black issues, any issues in general. These people we're worried about their paycheck, whether or not the plant will be there for another couple of years so they could retire, how I was doing, and how my dad (who worked there for 25 years before getting injured) was doing. I have become more convinced this week that much of what I learned was not worth it, and much of what every denomination pushes is just for their own agenda, regrettably it doesn't help most of the people that I see on a day to day basis. As far as I'm concerned the Methodist church needs to wake up and smell the coffee, we are far more complacent than we used to be. John Wesley valued education, but he also valued the common man (read humanity) and the ministry that that individual could perform.

I know some people already entrenched in the ministry may not like my Musings from this week, but as I look at my ink stained hands when I'm typing, and am thankful that I made it to my day off with all of my fingers my conclusion stands. We need to stop making the ministry a "profession," the more we become a profession the more we lose our soul and our heritage. So what does this make me? I don't know...

Recent Events

2007-06-06T11:57:00.000-04:00

There are several reasons I have not blogged in the last two weeks, first off there were a number of interviews at churches I needed to take care of. Regrettably I didn’t get any of those positions because I lack experience. Since nothing has come through I had to get a job at Quebecor Printing, a place I had tempted at for a number of years. I did this so that we could move out of seminary housing and into an apartment. I start the plant on Monday. So after I got that job we promptly have gotten an apartment and moved out. Of course when that happens we had to cancel our internet, cable and phone and it wasn’t until today that we got the internet back.

Currently I am interviewing at several churches, and I have my resume out at some local Christian schools in hopes of getting a teaching job. I thank all for their prayers and as that you continue them in the weeks ahead.

Busy

2007-05-20T22:37:00.000-04:00

Things have been moving fast around here since graduation. I have had several interviews, and am still in the process of finding a job. I quit my job at Lenscrafters for various reasons probably the biggest one being that they still won't give me hours. Last Sunday (Sunday after graduation) we had a party with church folk, old friends, and family, my wonderful wife surprised me with a joint gift of the entire New Interpreters Bible commentary, this has been the only commentary in my 8 years of biblical studies that I have wanted the entire set. I also received enough cash to buy some much needed personal reading books. I haven't been able to read what I want regarding church for so long but finally I can. So with the money I picked up "An Emergent manifesto of Hope" (so far this is a great read), "A Generous Orthodoxy", "Velvet Elvis", and "Early Methodist Life and Spirituality." I will keep you updated with what I think as usual.

Please keep my family and I in your prayers as we try to get our feet on the ground. After I get a job, it will be my wifes turn to find a new job, then I will have to find a CPE program. Its going to be a busy year.

The End

2007-05-07T09:15:00.000-04:00

As far as I’m concerned my seminary career is done. True I have graduation on Saturday, as well as other events but here I am this week faced with an almost scary prospect…I’m not in school any more. I went from High School to College, and then College to Seminary. In essence I have been going to school almost as long as I’ve been alive (about 19yrs, I’m only 25).

The realization came over me last Thursday, when I walked out of my Christology class and realized that that class was the last one I had to take. Now of course I’m not talking about continuing education, but just the sheer fact that I am no longer working toward a degree. For the last 8 years I have had this week in mind, now that I’m here I’m in some ways wondering what happens next. Christ has been present through my entire educational experience, even the times I didn’t think he was; now he is at a new crossroad with me. What is next? Only He knows.

P.S. I feel this is doubly fitting for my blog right now. This is my 100th post. I started this blog at the beginning of my seminary career and its going with me beyond.

What a Weekend

2007-05-01T08:42:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I went with the youth group to Pocono Plateau, a United Methodist campground. It was fantastic. The facilities at the campground were perfect, and the site was rustic. In general I think the youth had a great time. We got there at 8:30 on Friday night and after getting settled in we gathered around a fire (which one of the kids lit with my help because it was raining), and sang worship songs. We stayed up late that night talking and playing.

The next morning I did the lesson, and what we did was use the Myers Briggs testing to teach the kids about personalities, the whole weekend was centered on being the body of Christ. In the afternoon we went to do the low ropes course, when we went to do that Katie stayed with Olivia in the camp so Olivia could take a nap. Katie was so proud of herself when we got back because she was able to stroke the fire up from just a bed of coals. She was so proud that she took a picture of it, and I have to say it was pretty nice.

Of course what camping trip wouldn’t be complete with some sort of brush with animals? In this case some of our youth were observant enough to find a salamander tucked away under rocks. They kept a hold of it long enough to show everyone and take a picture before releasing it back where the found it.

There was also the dreaded baby of the forest. This one appeared magically by the campsite and then quickly stumbled through the forest as its parents gave chase.

Over all I’m glade I was able to help lead this weekend. True there were some trying situations, and my patience wasn’t always where it should have been, but over all I think we all learned something and grew.