In preparation for the upcoming sermon series I was reading Basil Pennington's Centering Prayer . At the end of chapter one, Pennington quotes Revelation 3: 14-21. For those who aren't familiar, that is the letter to the church of Laodicea. It is also home to two enduring images of scripture: being vomited out of God's mouth and Jesus standing at the door knocking. Pennington uses the expression of this passage to discuss the intimacy of prayer. I am not going to quote the entirety of the passage from this book. But I do want to hit upon its most powerful messages and apply them for myself. Maybe you, dear one reading this, will gain something also. The letter begins with ascription of Christ's preeminence. The Amen (the truth of all that is), the Faithful and True Witness, and the ruler of God's creation. That verse puts Christ as the substance of it all, the medium of understanding it all, and the ruler of it all. Creation and life, hope and joy, grace and mer...
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It is Monday, January 2, 2017. A new year has begun. I am human, therefore, I feel compelled to do something different with this new year. Something to improve my life. Something to make a change in how I live and work and have my being. Yesterday, I preached a sermon that borrowed the text from Mark 12:28-34. It is Mark's account of the scribe asking Jesus which commandment is the greatest. The response - The Lord our God is one. You will love the Lord your God with all that you are. The second is that you will love your neighbor as yourself. I say that I borrowed that text because I used it to talk about how we can improve ourselves using Jesus' description of self - heart, soul, mind, and body. In order to connect with the contemporary listener, I used the most familiar understanding of those English words instead of the Greek/ANE understanding. It was my hope to offer direction for listeners, and myself, to pursue improvement in one or more of the 4 arenas of self. ...
I wish President Elect Trump well. I did not vote for him. I did not support the idea of him being President. I feel that the Republican Party gave into popularistic tides so that, instead of saying, "NO" to Trumps run for the office, they rolled over and allowed themselves to compromise their entire ideology. But choices have consequences. Now we have to live with their choice. But the election of Donald Trump leaves all of us facing some uncertainty about the future. And there are changes coming. The question is are we prepared to face them? Can we accept the permission for hate, racism, and bigotry that the Trump campaign has granted to certain groups? Can we accept the tens of thousands of people who were receiving NECESSARY medical care under the Affordable Care Act who will most likely lose their health care coverage? Can we accept that our neighbors will be screened and profiled for having brown skin, wearing a head scarf, or associating with non-white, non-Ameri...
Some community members gathered at the front door to the high school in Turpin one Wednesday evening. It was hot. The sun was beating down out of the still bright, western sky. Shade was not in abundance as we stood in the parking lot. But the discomfort we all experienced was with purpose. We gathered to pray for the school and community. The prayer walk was to take us through the entire community in teams. But it began with a walk around the school property. Prayer would be lifted over the boundaries of the property to make this new school year something new in the name of the Lord. We were instructed on the practicals of how to go about the prayer walk, but left to our own method of prayer as we journeyed. My method was to allow God to inspire the prayers. To drop from my mind the things I wanted, and allow God to feedback into my spirit what God wanted prayed. As I began the journey, one thing after another popped into my imagination. It took an entire trip around the ...
If you are hiding under a social media rock, then you probably have not heard about Pokemon Go. It is a game played on cell phones or other portable devices. The Pokemon property has been around about 20 years and has spawned games, television shows, comic books, and movies. The basic rule of the game is to catch imaginary creatures and collect them, power them up (by collecting more of the same), and sending them to fight others. The collecting part requires a player to wander around the real world until they cross paths with a critter. Then, using the device on which they are playing, the critter is captured by flicking a ball on the screen toward the object of their capturing desires. Part of the real world interaction are places of interest or gathering. Pokestops are a sort of refilling station. Gyms are places where rival players can "battle" their Pokemon. No real violence is committed. What Niantic and Nintendo have done is create an intersection of virtual realit...
My social media feeds were filled with unending samples, comments, and memes regarding Pokemon Go! In order to be a well rounded geek, I downloaded the app and proceeded to discover what it was about. Walking around looking at your phone. Stopping occasionally and flipping something on the screen. Walking some more. In other words, it is an exercise program hidden within a conditioned response device. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I purchased the Steam updated version of System Shock. Originally released when computer game graphics were less realistic, that game had a fantastic story line as well as atmosphere. And all these years later, it still spawns some of the same gut reactions. It is not graphically pleasant to watch. But that may not be extremely necessary. It remains to be seen how it will hold up the further I play into the story. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mr. Lee, The days of finding a "fan mail" address for favorite stars seems to have disappeared. But I wanted to use some form of correspondence to make known how much you have been for me. I wanted to express this to you in person. I was at Dallas Fan Expo in early June. I was looking forward to getting an autograph or photograph just so I could have the 30 seconds to express my admiration. Unfortunately, the cost was beyond my budget. I was disappointed that a financial barrier such as $100 would keep me from meeting you. But I was able to sit in on the spotlight panel in the arena. That was the highlight of the weekend for me. I appreciate the time and energy you devote to your fans. It is understandable that you would retire from making as many appearances at conventions. I don't know how extensive your retirement will be, but if I don't ever get the opportunity again, I treasure the little time that you shared with your fans. I have to admit to a streak of e...
I preached on the moral failure of Christian leaders. In that sermon, I put forward 5 templates of moral failure that appear in the Bible. These templates are still relevant in the life of churches. Below is my offer. This isn't perfect or a complete idea. 5 Templates of moral failure for Christian leaders Pharisee Template Sadducee Template False Teacher Template Ezekiel Shepherd Template Aaron Template Pharisee Template Moral failure: Using tradition and rules to manipulate people Modern example: Legalism without compassion Biblical examples: Matthew 23:4,13,16,18; 12:1-13; 15:3,14; Mark 7:1-13; Luke 17:1; 14:1-6 In this template, a leader uses traditional boundaries or legalistic boundaries to dictate how a group of followers should exhibit their faith life. It could apply to pastors or lay leaders within a local congregation. The problem is that tradition serves to flavor the way a people live out a faith life. Rules de...