Category Archives: Uncategorized

SOME THINGS I DID. SOME THINGS GOD IS CHANGING.

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As I look back on this sabbatical, and consider some of the things I did during it, I am realizing why it had felt so different from other sabbaticals. Some of the things I did made this month different, and perhaps a bit un-sabbaticalish, but as I consider these things I realize that each has played its part in shifting/ revealing the rhythm of life for the future…which after all is the main reason I took the sabbatical.

On day two of the sabbatical a truck hit the church, so I spent some time this month dealing with insurance and contractors. That is an example of several administrative and pastoral tasks that I have taken on this month that I should not have. I have shifted over the month and have begun to delegate the tasks to staff and volunteers. As I come back I am asking the question, “What tasks do I need to begin to share with staff and volunteers on a permanent basis?”

At the beginning of sabbatical my old phone broke beyond repair. I had been jollying it along for a few months. I probably should have taken time to replace it before I went on sabbatical. I would not have had to spend five hours of resting and prayer time fixing something that could have been fixed if I had taken the time to do it before it was an emergency, As I come back I am shifting to a pace that will enable me to take care of necessary work before it becomes a true problem. I am going to figure out this procrastination thing.

During sabbatical I went to my doctor for my annual physical (something Im have been becoming better at). The physical raised some alarm bells for my doctor and she sent me for a cardiac CT which showed I am at risk for a cardiac event. I have been prescribed medication for the first time in my life and have been referred to a cardiologist. As I return from sabbatical I am choosing a pace that will involve the health care that is required to “take the journey into the winter season” (I have a lot more to say about that particular word which was a personal word to me and a corporate word for the church).

I am looking forward to hearing what the church has heard from God as we have sabbatical together.

THOUGHTS FROM THE 21 DAYS, DAY 16

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In January our church held its annual congregational fast. For 21 days we prayed together, fasted together and meditated on 1 John . Here are my thoughts from those times of devotion in 1 John.

Beloved, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an old one, which you have had from the beginning. This commandment is the message you have heard. 8Then again, I am also writing to you a new commandment, which is true in Him and also in you. For the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining.

9If anyone claims to be in the light but hates his brother, he is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT: The commandment to love one another is both old (from the beginning) and new (embodied in Christ).

MY THOUGHTS: St. Augustine of Hippo said, The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed.”

Here in John 2 we see that love and restoration has been God’s point all along. From the Old Testament to and through the New Testament love is thread that runs and hems everything together. Restoration of a whole is the point. There can be no salvation without love and there can be no salvation without restoration.

Hate is a separator and so it has no place in the body of Christ because it has no place in God where people are concerned. The only thing God hates is sin itself because it has the potential to separate God from the ones He loves.

THINKING THROUGH THE THIRD PATHWAY PT. 1

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In a post, last week, I mentioned that the Lord had been impressing on me that it was time to find another pathway of life ( a third pathway) through the increasingly complicated maze of our culture here in America. I sensed, during that time, that if Christians were to remain Christian, in the days ahead, we were going to have to withdraw from the world’s way of doing things and embrace a new way…which I guess is really an old way we have neglected for a bit.

you may remember we started here: FULL POST HERE

So let’s begin at the beginning. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO STAND WITH SOMEBODY?

Well, here is what AI suggested as a definition of “stand with”- To “stand with” somebody means to publicly support, align with, or show solidarity with a person, group, or cause, often during times of conflict, difficulty, or in a shared, unified effort.

We’ll get to what it means to be underserved tomorrow but let’s talk about:

Public support– For me this means to love people unashamedly and to publicly build relationships with people… By love I mean….Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails.  1 Cor. 13:4-8

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Align with- To me this means finding the spaces of community cooperation with people I do not see eye to eye with. Alignment is not, in my mind, perfect agreement but cooperation on values we do agree with.

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Show solidarity– I had to look up a definition here. Solidarity is unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group.

Again this is not about perfect agreement but about finding those things we can agree on to build our communities together. I hate to keep talking about the absence of perfect agreement, but I realize that in our Christian communities we have embraced an unwillingness to work with people unless they agree with every one of our doctrines and ideals of personal holiness. This has to change if we are to become effective parts of our communities again and if we are to gain a voice at the community table. This is not about compromising what we believe or our identity in Christ. It is about us learning how to live out our identities peacefully in a world that does not understand or agree with them.

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This does not mean I am going to join in every project our community puts forth. It means I am going to be an active part of my diverse community and work with the underserved just like Jesus did. He wasn’t in perfect agreement with the people of his community. He still worked within the community. He attended weddings and parties and synagogues. He went to the Temple as required. He walked among the underserved of His day with love. He conversed with zealots and tax collectors and Pharisees and Saducees and Essenes and Centurions and prostitutes alike. He helped. He healed. He argued sometimes. He taught gently at others. Sometimes he flipped tables, but he stayed. He worked.

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That’s at least a part of the Third Pathway.

WHAT ELSE COMES TO YOUR MIND WHEN YOU HERE THE WORDS STAND WITH.