I recently began a new call as a solo pastor. I’ve been preaching the lectionary Scripture texts since I arrived in April. Honestly, preaching every week is still new to me, so I thought sticking with lectionary for a while would help me grow into the challenge. But, having moved from a relatively large Presbyterian church, I am actually more familiar with preaching a series. So, for better or worse, this summer I put together my first preaching series on heaven. I was so excited about it that I found myself "hyping" it to almost everyone around me – to fellow pastors, to random acquaintances at barbecues, to my family. And, interestingly enough, most of them had the same initial question regardless of their faith background: "Is there really much about heaven in the Bible?" Not wanting to sound like a know-it-all (and truthfully, having not completed all of the planning for the series at the time), I would typically respond with something comical like, "I sure hope so!" … [Read more...]
Self-care Jesus-style
This month we asked our bloggers to share how they are caring for their bodies and souls in the midst of the demands of ministry. Here are their stories. There is something about the term “self-care” that has always bothered me. A couple of months ago, I read this on Facebook: “When poor people take time out for themselves, we call it lazy. When affluent people take time for themselves, we call it self-care.” I hope this isn’t true, but I fear it might be. There is something rather pretentious about the term “self-care” that I can’t quite put my finger on. Yet, I’ve met many people who called themselves Christians or desired to follow Christ, but lacked self-love and their lack of self esteem or lack of love for themselves truly did seem to impede their reflection of Christ in their lives. Self-care is an interesting subject for Christians to tackle, because Jesus never explicitly told us to do it. Instead, he just did it. Somehow we seem to struggle more with the “what would … [Read more...]
A jar of pickles
I recently left my first call as associate pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Rockford, Illinois, to take my second call as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Franklin, New Jersey. About two weeks before I left, I received a gift of a jar of pickles (the good kind: Milwaukee Dill Pickles) from a dear member and friend in my congregation. And it made me realize something. After four years of being their pastor, my congregation does really know me. I struggled with letting everyone in. Westminster is a large congregation (900 members), so it was pretty overwhelming in the first weeks, months, maybe even year. And I am quiet when you first meet me. So, it was a challenge – balancing their sincere desire to know me – and my reluctance to share. I don't think of myself as closed off, but I'm also not an open book. I would think that getting to know me is a little like learning to snowboard. At first, it is really awkward, unnatural and forced. There are clumsy, … [Read more...]
Cancer and listening to the Spirit
When I first saw the invitation to blog about cancer and the church, I have to admit (and now will have admitted to all of you) that I thought: “Yikes. I guess I’ll have to come up with something else to write about this month.” It’s not that I’m such a Pollyanna that I wouldn’t consider writing about something sad or scary, but I just didn’t think I had anything to offer on the subject. So, I started writing a totally different post, and, as the Holy Spirit directs, it ended up being about cancer after all. In my last call, I was blessed to call a cheerleading parishioner, commissioned ruling elder (CRE) colleague and fellow left-brainer a friend. When I first came to that church, he took me out to lunch at and overwhelmed me with so much information that I retained nothing. Shortly afterward, he sat down in my office and told me the story of how he and his wife had visited the church; after a tour and hearing it was a fourth-day community (supportive of three-day spiritual … [Read more...]
Thoughts on church technology from an Oregon Trailer
A read a blog post a few years ago about "The Oregon Trail generation." Well, that's me! The article focused on the unique perspective Gen Xers (those of us born in the late 70s and early 80s) have in relation to mainstream technology. We were the last group of kids who experienced a childhood that was at least somewhat devoid of mainstream technology. Consequently, I can remember when we got our first IBM computer with DOS on it at home. But, I also remember using card catalogs in the library, microfiche and old school projectors. I remember using a mixture of online and "offline" sources for papers in high school because certain things just weren't accessible on the internet yet. And I remember getting my first laptop for college (which was by no means small) and Facebook showing up on the scene just after I graduated (and wondering if I was too old to use it at that point). So … while I don't think technology can ever replace the physical community of Christians that … [Read more...]
When God is silent
Recently, two of my friends surprised me by flying my twin sister out on my birthday weekend to celebrate. We are identical twins and during a phone conversation a few weeks earlier, I just had this feeling she might be coming… but I forgot about it. So, when she jumped out of the car I was thrilled, but "only sort of" surprised. And so, I said, "Oh! You're here, too!" in delight. And my friends, while pleased that they had delivered the best gift a twin can get on her birthday, exclaimed disappointingly, "Oh … we were hoping you would cry!" Anybody who's ever planned a surprise anything for anybody would agree that it is all about the reaction. And, we live for reactions even from the youngest among us. We love to watch babies try new foods to see their faces react with surprise, delight or disgust. We love to re-tell jokes to the next person to compare how much they laugh with the last time it was told; in fact, the very motivation behind comedy and humor at its very root is … [Read more...]
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