Adventures in Faith

Easter Sermon- Three Dimensional Resurrection

2011-05-02T12:28:00.000-07:00

Three Dimensional Resurrection

Matt 28:1-10; Luke 24:1-11; John 20:1-16

Three stories about One resurrection of Jesus the Christ.
For some, the three perspectives are confusing-
Was there one women or two or three at the tomb?
Were there men in dazzling clothes or angels who greeted the
women at the tomb with the story of the resurrection?
Did the disciples respond to the women’s testimony
with amazement, or disbelief or action?

For others it is encouraging to know how much these stories
Agree with each other even though they were written by
different authors at different time from different perspectives,
they were inspired by One Spirit and testimony to one Christ.
Each tells the story of the empty tomb,
Each tells the story of women who went to the tomb early,
Each tells the story of witnessing at the tomb,
And how difficult it was for people to believe the Gospel
That the women shared with other believers.
There is a truth that runs through each of these stories
And it is the truth of the resurrection of Christ.

For me, the power and common purpose of these different accounts
Of the one resurrection of Jesus Christ is to give us
A Three dimensional perspective on the resurrection.
It is not a flat two dimensional picture that looks the same
From every angle but rather it has texture, depth and substance.

For example the resurrection speaks to us when we feel God is absent
As the body of Christ was absent from the empty tomb and
Yet the beloved disciple “saw and believed.”

But the story is equally poignant when we encounter the Risen Christ
In our daily lives. We might mistake him for the gardener but
When he speaks our name “Mary” we know it is “The Teacher”.

The three different sources help us to see three dimensionally.
Of course three dimensional movies are the rage right now.

It seems that every movie we see today has a 3-D option.
And the way three dimensional movies work is that they
Trick the eye and the mind into thinking there are
At least two different angles to every shot.
They shoot the movie from a 45 degree and 135 degree angle.
Each eye sees a different angle to give the illusion of 3-D.

And yet in today’s scripture we have not just 2 perspectives
But we have three perspective (and we could have four)
and within the stories themselves we also have
a variety of perspectives on the story so that
we are not just tricking our eye and mind
into thinking three dimensionally
but we are helping believers to know the multiple dimensions
of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ that is real and personal,
Inclusive and yet beyond even our wildest imagination.

You see the story of Jesus resurrection is not a story that seems
To reach out to us and take place right in front of our eyes.
But it is the story of God who came down into this world
That God created to actually touch us, talk with us, live in us.
It is not the story that takes place in virtual reality but rather
As story that takes us into hyper-reality. And by that I mean-
A reality that recognizes the paradoxes of life, the purpose
and problems of life and the presence of God
Who is willing to be present in all that reality.

So I call the three versions of the resurrection of Jesus Christ
A three dimension understanding of the resurrection.
And unlike the 3-D movies we see with special glasses
This is not an illusion, or a trick.

It is the continuation of the incarnation story where God came down,

Not longer was God simply spoken of by the prophets but now
God spoke to us directly as Jesus said to the crowd in Luke
“Today the scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

No longer did God exercise God’s sovereign control from afar
But God walked with us in Jesus and ate with us
And entered into our lives as he did with Cleopas
And his companion on the road to Emmaus:
“Their eyes were opened and they recognized him.”

No longer did God promise healing from heaven above,
But God entered into our pain in Jesus on the cross,
healed us with his spittle as he healed the blind man,
Allowed us with Thomas to touch his wounds,
Even as he touched and healed our woundedness.
“Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe”

No longer does God simply promise us life after death,
But Jesus cries with us as he did in the death of Lazarus
and dies with us on the cross at Calvary so that
we might be raised with Christ to life eternal.

So the real question we must ask on this Easter morning
As we consider the three dimensional resurrection of Jesus
Is who will we be in this story…

Will we be the disciples who thought that this was just an idle tale
And did not believe?

Will we be Peter who went home amazed at what happened?

Will we be the beloved disciple, John, who looked into the tomb
Saw the empty tomb…and believed.

Will we be the women in Matthew who took hold of Jesus’ feet
And worshipped him?

Or will we be Mary who went to the other disciples and told them,
“I have seen the Lord”?

The beauty of this three dimensional understanding
of the Resurrection is that the depth and dynamic experience
of the resurrection does not illicit just one response-
there are as many responses to the Resurrected Christ
as there are disciples- the “Bible tells us so.”
There are days in which we hear God call upon our lives
As personally as Mary heard Jesus call her name.

There are other days when we leap into mission
with the boldness of Peter only to go home
amazed but exhausted and spent
Still other days when we experience what other people
Might consider to be the absence of God in life
As John experienced the empty tomb and
We remember something he told us
And we believe.

But if we believe a three dimension resurrection
As God who enters into the reality of our lives,
And opens us up to a reality beyond the bounds of our vision
Then we know, that God will use us to proclaim God’s kingdom.
And that is the mystery, the wonder and meaning of Easter. Amen

Lesson Plan for Chapters 9-14 of "Geography of God"

2011-04-18T16:11:00.000-07:00

“Geography of God” Lesson Plan for Chapters 9- 14

Life on the Road

Chapter Nine: Geography of God

Symbols of the Trinity
Triquetra Knot ; Celtic Cross ; Shamrock ; Trinity Shield ; Presbyterian Symbol ; Catholic Sign of the Trinity ; Rublev’s Trinity- Genesis 18

Trinitarian Affirmation
• II Corinthians 13:13 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit”
• The Words of Jesus in John “I am the way, the truth and the life”
• God doesn’t just show us the way, the Triune God is the way (Lindvall, pg. 52)
• “The most transforming affirmation embedded in the Trinity…an understanding of a God who is love, a God who is relationship, a God who is communion.” (pg. 52, Lindvall)

Three Forms of Devotions- Chap 10

• Worship
• Bible reading
• Prayer
Devotion is not either/or - It is both/and
– Corporate and Individual
– Discipline and discipleship are related
– Humans crave BOTH tradition and innovation

Chapter 11: Worship- Turning to the Center

• Worship is neither entertainment, therapy or education. These are all directed to the worshipper. So what is it?...
• It is God directed. God is the audience and the whole congregation are the actors, singers, readers, dancers performing for God’s good pleasure.
• Question “What did you get out of the service?” should be replaced with “What did you lose, give, or offer.”
• The opportunity we are met with on Sunday is to give ourselves again to God, to lose ourselves in the Absolute, to turn away from self and re-center on God

Packing a Bible- Chap 12

• “The way to defend the Bible is the same way that you defend a Lion. You let it lose.” Charles Spurgeon
• Three-fold word of God.
– Living word in Jesus Christ
– The written word of scripture
– The proclaimed word of the church

“Imagine the Bible as a great conversation of people who have witnessed what God has done history.”
• Three Things you bring to Bible study
• Identity- who are you in the story of the prodigal son…the good Samaritan…
• Recognition- what is the truth that comes to you; the “A-ha” moment. What do you discover about yourself in your relationship to God in the stories of scripture.
• Imagination- dare to enter into the world of scripture. Karl Barth calls it the “Strange new world of the Bible”

What best describes you sense of Scripture?
• Road map
• Lens through which we see Christ (Calvin)
• Love letter between God and God’s people.
• Cradle in which the Christ child is held
• Rule book
• The revelation of God’s love
• Other_________________________

On Your Knees- Chapter 13

• “Prayer is none other than expanding our heart in the presence of God” Calvin

• “To pray is to edge into relationship with God…in prayer the vector of your purpose comes to be more and more curved to God.” Lindvall, pg. 82

• “Prayer is not merely about changing the course of events…prayer is also about changing me in my relationship with God” Lindvall, pg. 81

List with the class the ways you pray
• ACTS of Prayer
• Prayers of Adoration
• Prayers of Thanksgiving
• Prayer of Confession
• Prayers of Supplication (for self and world)

Reflections on the Lord’s Prayer: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power and glory, forever and ever. Amen (Matt. 6:9-13)

Ways to pray
• Praying Scripture: Lectio Divina
• Praying the Psalms (check out Psalm 22/23)
• Prayer Phrases: Psalm 103 “Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all His benefits.”
• Prayer Books: Presbyterian Book of Common Prayer
• Prayer woven into life- Brother Lawrence “Practicing the Presence of God”

Traveling Companions, Chapter 14

• “We are built for relationship” pg. 87
• “If the deepest truth about God is that God is relationship, love, communion, the implications for those who would be in relationship with God are stunning.”
• “We who name a Trinitarian God are called to live in relationships of deep communion that are nothing less than an earthly reflection of the life of God.” pg. 88

Where do we find, live, build up Community?

• Church- ecclesia- “The gathered”(Matt 16:18; Acts 14: 27 and 15:3- The Church gathered and sent); “The Body of Christ”; I Corinthians 12:12-27

• Marriage and Family- Genesis 1 “It is not good that man should be alone. I will make a helpmate for him”; Eph 5:21 “Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ…husband love your wives as Christ loved the church.” koinos- “household” is the Greek word for community, partnership.

• Friendship: phileos; “I no longer call you servants but friends” John 15:15)

Lesson 6 "All or Nothing"

2011-04-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

Lesson Six “A Geography of God: Exploring the Christian Journey”
Chapters 18-20 “All or Nothing”

Chapter 18 “Stuff and Work”

Michael Lindvall challenges us to find a balance point in Stuff and Work. When either our work or stuff becomes central to our life we risk idolatry.

What do you think of Lindvall’s claim that consumerism and careerism become idolatry when “what we have” or “what we do” defines us.

Do you think that the stuff we buy should have a warning on it “Warning: This thing, like all things, could be dangerous to your spiritual health.” Reflect on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) and the rich ruler (Luke 18:18-30), “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Lk. 18: 25) the Beatitude “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received you consolation.” (Luke 6:24)

And yet Lindvall claims that “the incarnation is necessarily an affirmation of the potential goodness of the physical.” (p. 119) How does Jesus redeem the physical part of life for God’s use?

Similarly, Lindvall challenges our “workaholic” nature as idolatrous when our work defines us, or when we seek our salvation through work or it becomes the center of our lives.

Contrast this with the Christian notion of “vocation”. Frederick Buechner once defined Christian vocation as “Our calling is where our deepest gladness and the world's hunger meet.”

Lindvall also contrasts the imagined stories of two great writers Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Barth entering heaven with their life works “Confessions” and “Church Dogmatics”; Rousseau believing this is a great gift to the angels and Barth imagining that they would use his life’s work as waste paper on the floor. What do you think about each of these men’s assessments of their life work?

The ultimate workaholic remedy “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.”

Chapter 19 “An Expansive Lifestyle”

“The God encountered in Scripture and Christian tradition is a radically expansive deity”. (Lindvall, p. 124)

J. B Phillips wrote a book in the 1952 “Your God is Too Small” in which he claims “that we have not found a God big enough for our modern needs. In varying degrees we suffer from a limited idea of God. Phillips exposes such inadequate conceptions of God as ‘Resident Policeman’, ‘Grand Old Man’, ‘Meek and Mild’, ‘Managing Director” and explores ways that we can find a truly meaningful and constructive Gods for ourselves.”

Can you imagine ways that you might have limited God in your own thinking of God? Read Psalm 8 as a remedy to this little God syndrome. “O Lord our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory about the heavens’…When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that your have established, what are human beings that you are ever mindful of them, mortals that you care for them.”

Lindvall talks about a circle from God to us to others to all humanity (pg. 125) He also talks about the vertical (God to us) and horizontal (us to our neighbor) dimensions of the cross and the commandments “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and might” and “Love your neighbor as yourself”.

Chris Kettler (Professor at Friends University) speaks of the twofold movement of God in Christ. In the incarnation God reaches down to earth to redeem us but we often forget that even as we respond with faith to the God who redeems us that it is only in Christ that we can reach up to God in the worship and mission that God desires. Kettler calls this the “Vicarious humanity of Christ” or the two-fold movement of God in Christ.

Lindvall says that “the expansive love of the church is traditionally divided between evangelism and mission.” (Lindvall, p. 128) Reflect on both Lindvall and Kettler’s understanding of God’s expansive love and our limited response of mission, evangelism and worship.

Read the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:26-40) in light of Deuteronomy 23:1-8 (Law against foreigners and Eunuchs in the temple), Isaiah 53:1-5 (passage about Jesus sacrifice) and Isaiah 56:1-7 (Passage opening up the Kingdom of God specifically to Eunuchs and foreigners.)

Chapter 20 “All or Nothing”

When you were baptized was there anything that you would have liked to “hold back”? What is the hardest part of your life to offer up to God?

Reflect on the Greek word Metanoia. We often translate this word as “repentance” and sometimes talk about it as change. What are the implications of this idea if we buy into the notion that it means a 180 degree turn in our life?

Reflect on the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10), What would you do if Jesus just invited himself into your house? “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay in your house today”.

Lesson 5 "As Good as It Gets"

2011-04-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

Lesson # 5 Lenten Study Series “Geography of God”

Chapter 15 “As Good as it Gets”

Why do we do good as people of God?
Obedience
Imitation
Inspiration

What about sin? Can people change? Is repentance really possible?
“In order for people to change, something must die: Old habits of the heart must die, dear and self-centeredness must die, complaining and peevishness must die, anger and hatefulness must die…All that which is sin must be crucified, dead and buried.” Michael Lindvall, pg. 96

Other sources to look at on sin
“Whatever Became of Sin?” by Karl Menninger
“Moral Man and Immoral Society” by Reinhold Niebuhr

A good word for hypocrites: “We are a bunch of hypocrites”

A good word for love
“The core of Christian ethics is a tough and insistent love. This love draws into itself three gifts: obedience, imitation, inspiration…Love is not a feeling but an act of will, a commitment to act.” Lindvall, p. 103

Chapter 16 “Seventy times Seven”

David Freeman’s summary of the message of scripture (Old and New Testament) is: “There is forgiveness”

We struggle to forgive because we “underestimate the forgiveness of God.”
Read Matthew 18:21-35 (1 talent= 15 years wages so 10,000*15*$20K= $3 bill)
“To refuse forgiveness is to refuse God whose very nature is to forgive” (p.105)
Desmond Tutu “There is no future without forgiveness”
“How many lives have I seen eaten away by the acid of unforgiven hurt.” Lindvall, p. 105

Forgiveness is not to diminish the offense. Forgiveness also does not depend on our goodness. Lastly forgiveness does not even depend on the perpetrator asking for forgiveness?!?

Chapter 17 “Deserts and Wild Beasts”

“If God is good, why do bad things happen?”
Quick answers: “It’s God’s will”….”It’s not partly cloudy- It’s partly sunny”..
What about “I found God in the wilderness?”
St. Thomas of the Cross “Dark Night of the Soul”
Ultimate comfort “God is with me”
23 Psalm “Ye, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me…”

Matthew 1:24 “…and they shall call his name Emmanuel which means “God is with us”

Matthew 28:20 “And remember, I am with you to the close of the age”
Rev. 21:3 “See the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples and God himself will be with them, he will wipe away every tear from their eyes”.

Class Two of "The Geography of God"

2011-03-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

Session Two Study Guide for “Geography of God” by Michael Lindvall
Prepared for First Presbyterian Church by Rev Rob Erickson
Session Two- The Way
Read scripture and look and listen for the Trinity:
Genesis 1:1-5 and John 1:1-5- The Story of Creation
Matthew 3:13-17- The baptism of Jesus
Luke 23:46- The Crucifixion of Christ

Chapter 6 “Beside Yourself: I believe in God”
Think about the world with us at the center of it (pg. 26 in Geography). What does that world look like to you? What happens if we take ourselves out of the center and put God in the center? Read Matthew 16:24-25
When we think of God as Father, “Abba” what attributes of God do we think about?

Chapter 7 “Specifically Spiritual: I believe in Jesus Christ”
What are the influences on “that little voice” within us that helps us identify right from wrong? (See page 30 in Geography “My faith has carried me a long was. It’s Sheilaism. Just my own little voice.)
What does the “incarnation” mean to you? God “in the flesh”. What difference does it make?
Think of the word “Atonement” as “At-one-ment”. Review the atonement theories: 1) Forgiveness or “Substitution Theory of Atonement- Anselm; 2) Inspiration or “Moral Influence Theory”- Abelard; 3) Revelation- “I am the way the truth and the life”

Chapter 8 “Present Tense Divinity: I believe in the Holy Spirit”
The Hebrew word for Spirit, breath and wind is the word “Ruach”. The Greek word for Spirit is “Pneumas”. What do we know about God who is described as spirit, wind and breath? What do we know about God whose name is synonymous with power?
Read John 14: 25-27 (Jesus introduces the Holy Spirit); Acts 2:1-4 (The Holy Spirit comes upon the disciples in Pentecost); Matthew 4:1 (The Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness after his baptism to be tempted.)
What do you think about Lindvall’s notion that the Holy Spirit is “The Present Tense of God”

Leaving Home

2011-03-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

Study Guide for “A Geography of God: Exploring the Christian Journey”
Prepared by Rev. Dr. Rob Erickson for First Presbyterian Church, Jefferson City, Mo.

Class One “Leaving for Home” Chapters 1-5
Genesis 12:1 “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”
In Chapter One Michael Lindvall writes about faith as a journey and entitles the first section “Leaving for Home”.
Share a little bit of your spiritual journey with the person next to you. Share with the group what you hope for in this spiritual journey and what are you a little bit nervous about.

Why get up in the morning? That’s the question Michael introduces in Chapter 2.
Do you know people like Albert Camus who are searching for purpose in their lives? (pg. 8)
What does the question from the Westminster Shorter Catechism have to say about this whole question of purpose?
Q.1. What is the chief end of humanity?
A. 1. Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy God forever.

What’s so irresistible about Grace? That is the sub-question in Chapter 3 “Finding or Found”. C. S. Lewis describes man’s search for God as a mouse searching for a cat (pg. 10). Why might it be scary or inconvenient to seek God? Or is it?
Read Francis Thompson’s poem “Hound of Heaven”. Does it speak to you?
How did God find you or how is God finding you? Have you ever been lost and found by God as the song “Amazing Grace” implies?

Chapter 4 grapples with the “delicate balance between the sovereign power of God on one hand and human freedom on the other.” Why is that balance so important to God…to us?

The Greek word for faith is “pisteuo” which means “to believe or to trust. Explore as a group the difference between trusting someone or something and believing in someone or somethings. Why does Lindvall call this risky?

Geography of God Lenten Study

2011-03-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

Lesson Plan for “Geography of God: Exploring the Christian Journey” by Rev. Michael Lindvall
This Lent we will be using Michael Lindvall’s book “A Geography of God” for our Lenten Study Groups. Michael uses this curious phrase “The Geography of God” as a title for his book and the title of chapter nine in his book to help move to a place of understanding who God is, what the terrain and the make up of God is as Trinity- Father, Son and Holy Spirit- so that we might walk with this Triune God. Michael is aware that to actually speak of God in Trinitarian language and to imagine that we might move in this Trinitarian language to greater understanding and not great confusion is a stretch for most people. And so he calls the book, “The Geography of God: Exploring the Christian Journey” and he speaks of understanding “this God who is love, a God who is relationship, a God who is communion. That is to say, the ultimate reality of the universe is a relationship of intense love and profound communion. This Way before us leads into participation in the very life of God who is communion The way of faith is not just toward God; it is not simply following God; it is not simply walking with God. The road itself is God.” (pg. 52) So I invite you to join us on the journey which is God.

The lesson plan for the Tuesday, 9:30 class will be:

Part One “Leaving Home”March 15 Lesson #1 Chapters 1 “Spiritual Maps” and Chapter 2 pages 3-9
Chapters 3 “Finding or Found”, 4 and 5 page 10-22

Part Two “The Way”March 22 Lesson #2 Chapters 6 “Beside Yourself” and Chapters 7-8 pages 23-50

Part Three “Life on the Road”March 29 Lesson #3 Chapters 9 “Geography of God” & Chapters 10-11 pages 51-66

April 5 Lesson #4 Chapters 12 “Packing a Bible” and Chap 13-14 pages 67-92

April 12 Lesson #5 Chapters 15 “As Good as You Get” & Chapters 16 -17 pg 93-115

April 19 Lesson #6 Chapters 18-20 “All or Nothing” pages 116-135

Day 38-Three Women at the Tomb

2010-04-05T10:44:00.000-07:00

"But on the first day of the week,at early dawn, they (the three women) came to the tomb, taking spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled aweay from the tomb, but when they looked inside they did not find the body." (Luke 24:1-2)

If I asked you to think of three women who made a difference
in your life and faith- who would you say?
For me those three women would have to be my mother Carolyn
Who grounded me in the faith that I have today;
My wife Joan who is my partner in ministry and life and inspires me
To be the best pastor, husband, father, brother, I can be;
And last might well be my mother-in-law Almira whose wisdom
Inspires me to strive to be patient, kind, wise and faithful
As I live the second half of my life on earth.
Yes, I believe that these are three women
who made a difference in my life and faith.
And I bet you can think of three influential women in your life as well.

But I would suggest that even though we would each name different
Women in our individual lives, that the three women
Who went to that tomb on that first Easter morning
Were influential in all of our lives:
Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary mother of James.

As I reflect on these three women, I am thankful for their faith, hope and love.
Their faith allowed them to go to the tomb even though they didn't know how they would roll away the stone to get to the body- but they went believing that God would open up the possibility. Their love allowed them to go to annoint the body of Jesus even after he had been brutally killed. And their hope allowed them to proclaim the Gospel of Christ's resurrection even when the people didn't at first believe. Only one disciple, Peter was curious enough to check it out for himself. And with that journey, the Christian church and witness in the world began.

Who will you witness to this Easter? If only one person is curious to follow up on your testimony, them God might just change the world through you as well.

Day 37 in the Wilderness with Jesus

2010-04-01T09:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight we will act out the story of Jesus Last Supper with his disciples and the washing of feet. I will have the privilege to act out the role of Jesus and Pastor Laura will play the part of Peter, having his feet washed. The contemporary Bible paraphrase "The Word on the Street" (by Rob Lacey) reports it this way:

So Jesus gets up from the table, takes off his jacket, rolls up his sleeves and puts a towel around his waist. He pours water into a bowl and, one by one, washes his team's dirty, sweaty feet and dries them with a towel.
Pete's next in line and he can't quite handle it: "Boss, no way you're washing my feet, surely?" Jesus answers. "You can't take it in right now. But one day you will get it." "No way!" says Pete. "I'm not having you wash my feet." "If I don't, you're not part of it all," says Jesus. "OK, then wash me head to toe. I'm in- totally!" When Jesus finished all twelve (including Judas Iscariot!) he explains: "If I've washed your stinking feet and I'm your boss, your mentor, your coach, then you've got to wash each other's feet. As ever, I'm not asking you to do something that I wouldn't do. I'm your example- so copy me: get washing!" (John 13:3-15)

What do you suppose Jesus was thinking? What is it like to wash another's feet? It is certainly humbling- servants usually had that job. The use of the word "dirty, sweaty" and "stinking" in Rob Lacey's paraphrase really hammers home the fact that it was humbling for both Jesus and the disciples. It is actually an intimate act to wash someones feet. It is what your mother or father does for you after a day at the beach. It's what a nurse does for you when you are bedridden in the hospital. It is the powerful act of hospitality and compassion. And that was, I think, Jesus' message for us- to dare to enter into this intimate community in which he is the center. And it is messy- to be in community with each other, to be vulnerable with each other, to care for each other, and to wash each other's "stinking" feet. Jesus loves us enough to wash our feet. To enter into the grimy parts of our life and help us to clean up our act. And he commands us to do likewise but also to receive the love and care and concern that others offer us in Christ's name and by Christ's example. We are called to be both- the foot washers and the foot washees- that's the Jesus way.

Day 36 in the Wilderness with Jesus Christ

2010-04-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

Today is Maundy Thursday. It is always confusing for people who ask: "Is it Monday or Thursday?" The name comes from the Latin for command or mandate that Jesus gives in John 13:34 "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

I preached on this passage on my first Sunday at Covenant and I have spent the last nine years seeing it lived out in the life and faith of the congregation. It was lived out last night as Josh, Lilly, Callie, Christina, Lauren and the children of Covenant served us dinner at Wednesday night fellowship. They were loved and encouraged by the congregation that appreciated them. It was acted out in the Palm Sunday service when several of our deacons left worship for a moment to give food from our food cupboard to a family who was hungry. It was lived out as phone call after phone call came into the office to check how Laura V. was doing after we prayed for her in worship. (She and the baby and Guy are doing fine.) It was lived out as April (or was it Amber) came up to me and motioned for me to pick her up and hold her during Wednesday night supper. It was lived out as the prayer group gathered to lift up their brothers and sisters in prayer on Wedneday evening.

I thank God that in the midst of a busy, impersonal world; that we have the opportunity to live out this command of Jesus and to enjoy the ocmmunity in Christ that results. Thanks be to God!

Day 35 in the wilderness with Jesus Christ

2010-03-31T20:36:00.000-07:00

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” just say this: “The Lord needs it.” ’ So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ They said, ‘The Lord needs it.’ Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,
‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,and glory in the highest heaven!’
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, order your disciples to stop.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.’ (Luke 19)

When I was growing up in Lincoln, Nebraska we would often have parades in the summer with all the neighborhood kids. So on Palm Sunday this year we gave out tabourines to the kids in worship and we marched around the Sanctuary, beating on the tambourines and collecting money for One Great Hour of Sharing. I expected it to be a good way to enter into the celebration and festivity of the day, but I was overwhelmed by the interaction between the children and the adults. What I had expected to be a little 3 minute parade turned into a 6-7 minute connection and affirmation between the adults and the children as we collected more money that we could have imagined in those little OGHS fish. And the money we collected will go to build up the Kingdom of God as disaster relief efforts around the world. Certainly the children who encouraged us in our giving on Palm Sunday were blessed in the name of the Lord!

Day 34- With Christ in, over, and around us in the wilderness

2010-03-31T07:14:00.000-07:00

I thank God today for the devotions of Michael Lindvall "Knowing God's Triune Story". I met Michael at the Association of Presbyterian Christian Educators (APCE) this year and was introduced to his devotional guide as the 2010 Moderator's Lenten Bible Study. And it is every bit as good as the Moderator, Bruce Reyes-Chow had suggested. While I have been writing devotions each morning for my congregations, I have been fed by the devotional insights of Michael Lindvall.

This morning as I was feeling particularly overwhelmed by the demands of life and ministry and relationships, Michael reminded me of the Prayer of St. Patrick of Ireland (translated from Gaelic by Kuno Meyer): "I rise today through God's strength to pilot me...Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me. Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise. Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. I arise today through the mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in threeness, through the confession of the oneness of the Creator of Creation" (St. Patrick as quoted in The Presbyterian Outlook, May 13, 1996)

If you are feeling overwhelmed this morning by life, I invite you to pray the Prayer of St. Patrick today as your own prayer for Christ to be with, in, over and under you as you journey through the wilderness with Christ.

The 33rd Day in the Wilderness with Jesus Christ

2010-03-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

As Jesus prepared his disciples for his death on the cross and resurrection to new life he said: "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you." (John 14:18-20)

As I stood with a friend at his mother's funeral, I was aware that he and I were both orphans- our parents had both died and even though we were fully grown adults, that we were orphans. Then the funeral started and Pastor Laura read this line from John 14, a line that often gets left out in the funeral litany, and I heard Jesus speaking those words to me and my friend for the first time. It is a comfort to know that even when our earthly parents do pass on, that we have the promise from Christ that we are not orphans. We have a heavenly Father to care for us, and protect us and advise us, and keep a room for us in his house.

As an earthly father and grandfather, I hope all my children and children-in-law and grandchildren and grandchildren-to-be know that there is always a place in my house for them. As a spiritual father at Covenant, I hope and pray that my spiritual children and grandchildren will know that this home, Covenant Presbyterian Church, is their home. They are always welcomed here. They don't need a reservation. They/we are family.

Day 32 in the Wilderness- Joy and Agony together

2010-03-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

As we celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, we are profoundly aware that this journey into Jerusalem is not triumphal in the way we usually think of triumph. Jesus does not win a contest. In fact, his journey into Jerusalem is his final journey, culminating in his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, trial before the Sanhedrin and Pilate and crucifixion at Golgatha. The triumph is that Jesus dies on our behalf so that in his resurrection we are raised with him above our sin into new life. It is a paradox of the Triune God who is willing to participate in the very depths of human existence so that he can redeem us to new life by his death.

When I was thinking about the paradox built into this event, I was struck by the Olympic mantra "The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat" and the whole idea that the world is made up of one winner and everyone else is a loser. Christ turns this around by his willingness to be THE loser, dying on the cross for the sins of all people, so that all the rest of us can be WINNERS instead of sinners.

It was the Paralymics and not the Olympics where I saw this radical reversal of what we normally think of in Olympic competition. When the Paralympians marched in their Vancouver opening ceremony weeks after the "other Olympics" they were accompanied by their trainers and people who would help them compete. They each had a "disability" that they had to overcome just to compete in the games. And yet there was a joy and a triumphal attitude in these athletes that was contagious. And there were not just one winner and many losers but all winners by virtue of what each had overcome to get there. One athlete in particular grabbed my attention, Lauren Woolstencroft from Canada. She was born without either leg below the knee and without her left arm below the elbow. And she won, not one or two gold medals but 5 gold medals in virtually every downhill skiing event possible. She was truly an Olympic Golden Girl and a testimony to the way that faith can transform hardship and trajedy into joy and triumph.

Day 31 in the Wilderness with Jesus Christ

2010-03-28T15:22:00.000-07:00

"Jesus Christ, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross." (Phil 2:6-8)

This passage from Paul's letter to the Philippians is humbling and essential to our journey with Christ this Lent. In Christ, God is expressing God's desire to get down on our level and to walk with us in our life journeys. God is even willing to crawl with us if necessary, the way a parent or grandparent gets on the ground with an infant who is learning to roll over or crawl. We had that opportunity in our recent trip to Germany as we got on the ground with Evan. As we got on his level and connected with him, he learned to roll over and had the biggest smile on his face. So it is when we realize that God has come down to us to be with us, to teach us and to live with us in Jesus Christ!

There was a prayer from the Taize worship service that remembers the God who accomodates to us in Christ: "Risen Jesus, you are there close beside each person, you descend to where we are, to the very lowest point of our human condition, and you take upon yourself all that hurts us, both in ourselves and in others. You accompany every human being. Go with us as we leave this place. Remind us daily that we represent you to the world." Amen

Day 30- Walking with Jesus through Holy Week

2010-03-24T15:04:00.000-07:00

Isn’t it amazing to imagine that we stand within the same community of disciples who witnessed the risen Christ on that first Easter morning! And like those disciples, Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John; we are also called to go and tell someone. Unlike those disciples, we know enough about what happens on Holy Week to actually invite our friends or our family to come with us and see this whole story unfold. If you have never been to the array of services that happen on Holy Week, I would invite you to make a commitment to walk with Jesus Christ through his last week. On Palm Sunday the children and Choir will lead the way into the sanctuary as we sing Hosanna, Loud Hosanna. The choir will sing and the Rainbow Bells will ring as we remember the Triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. I will be preaching on the theme “The Joy of Victory and the Agony of Defeat” as we remember that Jesus' entry into Jerusalem was the first step in his journey to the cross. On Maundy Thursday, we will gather in Fellowship Hall, just as Jesus gathered with his disciples in the Upper Room to share a communion meal around tables. Our elders will preside at each of the individual tables as we experience what it would have been like to break bread together and share this special meal in small groups. We will have the music of our Praise Team as background to this gathering and we will witness the washing of the disciples’ feet as we hear the story read from the Gospel of John.

On Good Friday we will hear the story of Jesus trial and crucifixion presented in story, music and pictures. We will imagine what it would have been like to be in the shadows during the trial of Jesus or at the foot of the cross during the crucifixion. We will come face to face with the Wondrous Love of God revealed on the Cross. And then on Sunday morning as the dawn is breaking we will gather outside as Mary and the Women did when they went to the tomb on that first Easter morning. We will hear the songs of faith and share the stories of faith as we become the people of faith. We will be fed by modern day angels (messengers of God) as the Men’s group cooks breakfast for us on Easter morning. Then we will join with the Chancel Choir and the Instrumental Ensemble “Atonement” to raise our voices in celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ at our 8:30 and 11 am worship services. We will celebrate between the services with breakfast and an Easter Egg hunt for the children as we’re reminded of the mystery and new life of that first Easter morning.

Now you know the plan. What none of us knows is how God will use that plan to transform us and build up God’s kingdom.

29th Day in the Wilderness with Christ

2010-03-23T14:26:00.001-07:00

I love drama in worship. Part of the reason I like it is that it allows us to enter viscerally into the biblical stories and even start to imagine how the people must have felt or how we would have felt if we had been there. It brings our emotions into the story. Like the times I have run down the aisle during church, to welcome the prodigal home. It is a strange feeling to be running in a Geneva preaching gown but it is helpful to remember how the father would have felt as he ran with his arms open to receieve his lost child.

I love the acting out of the Last Supper that we have done as a congregation: the Men's reenactment to the Women of Easter Play to the youth acting out the Seder Supper Passover. It is always exciting to enter into the role of disciple and start to imagine how one would have felt.

This year for Maundy Thursday we will be having our communion meal around tables with elders presiding at each table in Fellowship Hall. We will all have a chance to use our imagination to remember that first Seder Meal as it was transformed by Jesus into the communion meal we share even today.

Day 28- In the Wilderness with Christ

2010-03-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterady, I had the opportunity to walk the "Stations of the Cross" in the Great Room with the "Unbinding Your Heart" class. I was struck by the words of Christ "My destinity was to die for you but your's is to live for me." It was a poignant reminder that when Jesus tells his disciples "If any want to become my followers, let them take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who would save their life will lose it, but those who lose their life for my sake will save it." (Luke 9:23,23), that he was telling them to live, full robust, daring lives for him.

I was thinking about those people who have taken up their crosses in history- Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Jr., John Calvin, Mother Theresa, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. They each made a difference in the world. I am also struck by those people who are slightly less famous, but who have made a difference in the faith community in which we live- Jim Naylor, Kelly Cox, Bill Brewer, Calvin Ross, Sarah Johnesee. I have been reminded this week of each of these saints and the vitality and life that they shared in Christ. And they are only a few of the saints who have touched my life and yours at Covenant. I invite you to remember some of those who have taken up their crosses and followed Christ in their lives and the impact they have had in our lives.

I am reminded of the Heidelberg Chatechism: "What is my only comfort in life and death? That in life and in death I belong not to myself but to my faithful savior Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him."

In the Wilderness with Christ- Day 27

2010-03-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

When Jesus was in the synagogue in Nazareth, he read Isaiah 61 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor". (Luke 4:18,19)

Sometimes we are tempted to think that Jesus was only speaking those words of healing and hope to people long ago and a place far away. But yesterday, I had the opportunity to see these words of hope come alive in our church, among our people. I had a chance to see one our our folks eat for the first time in three months- it was a miracle. I heard from another of our sisters in faith, that she had started to walk again- another miracle. And a Presbyterian colleague reported that he had just returned from a medical mission to Haiti where they treated 1100 patients in 8 different villages- many miracles. Jesus Christ is still healing and we are still proclaiming that good news today.

Day 27 in the Wilderness- Lions and Tigers and Bears

2010-03-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

"The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them." (Isaiah 11:6)

Yesterday, the second to last day of spring break, it was beautiful outside and everyone and his brother went to the zoo. And I also went to the zoo with my future grandkids, Phoenix and Gracie. I love the zoo and I'm always on the lookout for people to go with me to the zoo and Gracie and Phoenix and their mom, Brooke (Adam's fiance) were willing partners, so we went. It was amazing how close we could get to the lions and the gorillas. Only a sheet of plexiglass separated us. And I remembered this summer when I visited the Little Rock Zoo with my already grandkids, Ashton and Ethan, and we were actually in the cage with the parrots and birds. It reminded me of the Isaiah 11 passage and that we are still far from that time Isaiah spoke of and that the painter Edward Hicks painted. We can get close to creation but we are still far from being reconciled with creation. But that is my prayer, that as Ashton, Ethan, Phoenix, Gracie and Evan grow up, that they will grow up into a world that is more peaceful and in harmony between humans, animals and nature.

Gathering around the Table- Day 26 in the Wilderness

2010-03-18T11:56:00.001-07:00

I am on a roll, three meals in a row with with friends in faith at church. We had a wonderful meal prepared by Roger and the men on Wednesday evening. We gathered for breakfast and Bible study and prayer at the Riverside Cafe for the Men's Prayer Breakfast Thursday morning and I just got back from the Karl Barth Study lunch at LaGalette. Is all this eating necessary in the Kingdom of God? Luke 13:29 says: "Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God." When we gather together at table there is a certain fellowship that happens. We find ourselves in fellowship even as we are fed. So it is good and biblical to gather at table with brothers and sisters in Christ. "When he was at table with his disciples, Jesus said 'This is my Body broken for you". Our communion meal is a time of being with God and with each other in Christ.

But what about the wilderness? The Psalmist asks: "Can God spread a table in the wilderness?"(Psalm 78:19) When I was growing up my family used to go out for breakfast in the park. We weren't a camping family but there was something about eating outside that was appealing to my mom and dad. It was kind of like the story of Jesus after the resurrection eating breakfast with his disciples on the sea of Galilee. We somehow felt nearer to nature and to God when we broke our evening fast and ate breakfast in the midst of nature. Of course when I went hiking with the youth in the mountains of Sonlight Camp in Colorado our meals were a time of respite from the strenuous hiking. And when we gathered one evening, fished at a lake, and ate the fish we had caught and cleaned ourselves, we felt particularly close to God and to God's creation and to each other. And so even and especially in the wilderness, we need to take time to break bread with each other and fellowship at Christ's table.

Psalm 23 speaks of a God who feeds and comforts us in the wilderness: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff- they comfort me. You prepare a table in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long."

Day 25 in the Wilderness- Team Work

2010-03-17T14:26:00.000-07:00

Twenty-five was my favorite number when I played team sports- basketball and baseball. My biggest problem with team sports was that they never actually were about team but about individuals- what individual do we claim for the victory or blame for the defeat. Perhaps that's why I ended up concentrating on track as my main sport in college. Then you only had yourself to blame in victory or defeat.

Have you ever paused to consider how the Triune God is the perfect team. Consider the words of Jesus, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own ; but the Father who dwells in me does his works". (John 14:10) And later Jesus says, "I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate , the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will sned in my name, will teach you everything and bring all remind you of all that I have said to you." (John 14:25,26) There is no sense of ownership in these words of Jesus. Everything is shared between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Such is a team in it's best sense. The team works together, builds each other up, and shares in the successes AND the failures. The team is not about blaming but about sharing the good news. E. Stanley Ott wrote a book, "Transform Your Church with Ministry Teams" and he reminded me of the ministry we share regularly at Covenant. "And when member of a staff team are enjoying friendship with other team members, being encouraged in their faith and faithfulness, and relishing the challenge of their ministries, their attitude will be infused throughout the entire congregation." (pg. 45) As we laughed and cried our way through our most recent staff meeting I was glad that we function as a ministry team and I am glad that ministry teams are thriving at Covenant. The Bulletin folders are a ministry team that gets together and does a task but in the process builds each other up. The Men's and Women's Bible Studies on Sunday morning and Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning are groups that not only study a book or scripture but also attend to the emotional and spiritual needs of the members and the church. The choir not only sings together but prays together and supports each other. And the list goes on. I am profundly aware that as we go through the wilderness, we cannot do it alone and so I thank God for the ministry teams that we share in Christ.

Day 24- A New Way in the Wilderness

2010-03-16T14:06:00.000-07:00

Do you ever just wish for a god who was completely predictable all the time; where there was no mystery and you could understand everything about that god? I must admit that even as a theologian who is trained to appreciate the paradoxes that are part of our faith, that there are times when easy, simple and straightforward might be appealing. And yet the one Triune God of Scripture is indeed the God of mystery and selfless love and paradox who reveals himself to us in ways that are both enlightening and confusing at the same time. When this God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob called the people into the wilderness with signs and wonders through Moses,they thought the journey would be short and straight and sweet. Then they spent the next forty years in the wilderness, learning who God is and who they were as God's chosen people. Through the prophet Isaiah, God explained in part why it took so long: "I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a new way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." (Isaiah 43:19) God was teaching the people a new way of being the people of God and that way was through a relationship of love and trust with God and with each other.

Shortly before his death, Jesus told the disciples "'And you know the way to the place where I am going' Thomas said, 'Lord we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?' Jesus said to him, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.'" (John 14:4-7) Jesus was telling his disciples the same thing, that following the way of the Triune God is not about travelling the same path over and over again but about being open to new paths, new relationships and new ways of experiencing and expressing God's love. And Jesus is careful not to conceptualize this but rather to personalize it. It is through Jesus, God's Son, that we know God fully and completely and yet...there is always a mystery and a what next and a new possibility that God offers in Christ.

The early Christian community that started to live out the teachings of Christ were not called Christians but rather "The Way". It was a reminder that our Christian faith is not static but a dynamic expression of God's love alive in the world through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. So as we spend time together in the wilderness with Christ this Lent, let us look not to the way we have always done things but to a New Way to walk through the wilderness with Christ. As we build a new chapel in Westminster Woods, as we give out prayer shawls to people in times of need, as we worship in different ways this Lent, help us to see Christ along the Way.

Day 23 in the Wilderness- Partner for the Journey

2010-03-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

"Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner." (Gen. 2:15)

It is not good to be in the wilderness alone. When God created Adam, he also created Eve. When when Noah spend forty days and forty nights on the ark it was with his wife and their sons and daughter-in-laws (and Noah's wife's name was not "Joan of Ark"). When God called Abraham to journey to a far away land he called Sarah on that same journey. And when Jesus sent out the disciples in mission, he sent them out two by two. God created us in community in the very beginning and intends for us to be in community with God and with each other throughout our adventures in life. It is good to have a partner in the wilderness.

We were very excited this week when our son Adam and Brooke told us they were going to be married. We are excited to welcome Brooke into our family and her kids Phoenix and Gracie as our newest grandchildren. Who we share our life with is one of the biggest determinants of success or failure in life. God's call to partnership is part of what determines who we become in our life journey. It has been a joy to see Adam and Brooke developing as partners- in church, in music, in parenting, in life.

It doesn't seem that long ago when Joan and I got married. (We just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary at Covenant Presbyterian Church.) We have always claimed each other as partners in the adventures in life whether it was raising a family, leading church, teaching college classes together, travelling or participating in Presbytery. God intended Adam and Eve to take that notion of partnership seriously and joyfully and I see our Adam and his Eve-Brooke taking that call to partnership seriously and joyfully as well.

Day 22 in the Wilderness- Tabernacling with God

2010-03-13T13:45:00.000-08:00

"For in the day of trouble God will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me on a high rock."(Psalm 27:5)

When the Israelites were in the wilderness God tabernacled with them. God gave them explicit instructions on building the tabernacle, but it was God's presence that made the tabernacle a place where they experienced God in their midst. As I write this devotion, our youth are at Sterling with advisors Joe and Katie. They are worshipping at the Sterling College auditorium in which God's presence is palpable and real. I remember the times I had the privilege of serving communion with the youth at Sleepless and feeling the energy of God and God's people in that place. I remember feeling that same energy in worship at Westminster Woods as we would worship God on the edge of the woods and the water and know that God was tabernacling with us there. As I write this devotion, the new chapel is being built at Westminster Woods and I know that it will be a place where our young people meet God in the wilderness. Today, I thank God that God is still tabernacling with us today. And I look forward to going "to church" tommorrow knowing that God is tabernacling with us in the sanctuary of Covenant as well.

Day 21 in the Wilderness- Imago Dei

2010-03-12T13:26:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest gift we have in relating to each other is to see the image of God, Imago Dei, in each other. I remember when I was hiking with the senior highs in Colorado, I was expecting to see the glory of God in the wonder and majesty of creation and instead I saw the glory and majesty of God in the grimey faces of my fellow travellers. Ray Anderson reminds us in his book On Being Human, that "each human person exists in the image and likeness of God." Of course you don't have to believe Ray or me, you just have to believe Scripture: "Then God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness...so God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:26,27)

Today I received some wonderful pictures on the internet and was reminded of that wonderful "Imago Dei" in each picture: my youngest grandson Evan; my friends and collegues in ministry- Eric, Laura and Daisy; my hiking buddies from my one Sonlight Backpacking trip.

Dear God who guides us as a loving Daddy/Mommy, walks with us as Brother and breathes your own very life into us as Loving Spirit, I thank you that I need only look to my brother or sister in Christ from any nation to see your image. In Christ I pray, in God I trust, in the Holy Spirit I live. Amen

Day 20 in the Wilderness- Don't forget your humanity

2010-03-11T12:14:00.000-08:00

One of my pet peeves is when a politician or sports figure falls into disgrace through some indiscretion, people inevitably say: "He or she's only human." I find that disturbing because I recall the scripture from Genesis after God created humanity and said "It was very good." We were created to be the best of God's creatures, not the worst. The Westminster Shorter Catechism response to the question, "What is the chief end of humanity" is "To glorify God and enjoy God forever." And so I am saddened when we suggest with our words that poor ethical behavior is "only human".

Karl Barth says we must first go to Christ to learn about our humanity and then to Adam. Theologian Paul Lehmann says: "God's purpose is to make and keep human life fully human in the world". Ray Anderson in his book On Being Human says: "The humanity of Christ, by which he shares our creaturely nature and bears our sin, discloses the radical form of true humanity and how reconciliation leads to wholeness and holiness alike" (pg. 19)

Jesus Christ gives us a glimpse of who God is but he also gives us a vision of who we are in our best human selves- compassionate, caring, selfless, creative, forgiving and merciful. Psalm 8 says: "When I look at the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast established. What is man that thou art mindful of him?...Yet thou has created him little less than God and dost crown him with glory and honor." (Psalm 8:3-5)

I must admit I was pleased after the US/Canada hockey game, not with the result but to hear the sports announcers comment as they celebrated the character of the hockey players "There are some real human beings." As we journey in the wilderness, let us remember that we are HUMAN BEINGS created in the image of the Triune God as revealed in Christ. Amen

Day 19 in the Wilderness- Endurance and Character

2010-03-10T08:04:00.000-08:00

"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God though our Lord Jesus Christ, though whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given us." (Romans 5:1-5)

This Romans passage was in my devotional reading for today from Michael Lindvall's book "Knowing God's Triune Story". It is a great devotional book and a wonderful reminder of all the places where God's Triune story shines through in scripture. I have to admit that I have read this passage many times and been baffled by it's claims many times but never realized that the Trinity was explicitly named in this passage. Perhaps the mystery of God in relationship with Godself and with us is part of the answer to how Paul could make the claim that suffering ultimately produces hope.

This morning already I have spoken and prayed with people whose places of business were broken into, another who was in the hospital trying to recover from a chronic disease and another who is battling with the fatigue of cancer. I have written notes to a young person who just lost their job, and talked with another whose work is in jeopardy. None of these people spoke positively of the suffering and yet...they did have hope. Where did it come from?

As I read the writing of Paul and reflect on the people of God, I am convinced that the hope in the midst of suffering does come from the Triune God who does not lose hope in us- in the wilderness with Moses or on the cross of Christ or in the Spirit that came upon the fearful disciples in that Upper Room. This God is in a passionate relationship with us and will not let us go. This God is with us in our suffering and so we do have hope. And in the process of living with this God who suffers with us and receiving the hope that God alone brings, we discover that we can endure. And we develop as disciples whose strength of character depends not on the circumstances of life but our faith in Christ. And whose character does not shift with the whims of culture but is rooted firmly in the Triune God whose being and action are one.

Day 18 in the Wilderness- What's next?

2010-03-09T07:39:00.000-08:00

We're just about half way through our wilderness time: like Jesus after the first temptation, without bread to eat and yet getting ready for the second temptation to take the world's version of power ; or like the Israelites who had received manna in the wilderness but still weren't convinced Moses knew where they were going; or Noah and his family who had a boatload of animals but no land in sight. The middle of the wilderness is a scary place to be. It is tempting to bail out of the journey at that point because it is difficult to see the end.

And yet this is the time when the Holy Spirit, freed of all the constaints we impose, is free to act. It is the time when we are free to think outside the box, because we've lost track of the edges of the box. It's a time to move forward because it's just too far to go back. Our mission committee met to figure out how we going to raise $2,000 for our part of the Habitat for Humanity Build and decided to have a "Palm Sunday Cake Auction" to raise a significant portion of the mission money. It is a time when the "Faith Connection" met on Sunday night without the usual commitment of young people from First Presbyterian or Westwood or Covenant and yet we had a wonderful Spirit filled worship service with college students from Russia, Tanzania, Uganda, and all around the world. Palm Sunday is three weeks away and yet the next two weeks will be a time to celebrate a grant from Self Development of People to Sunflower Action Community and a time to receive three new members, Susan, Kevin and Danielle as brothers and sisters at Covenant.

There's no going back but the adventure in faith is always before us. Blessings on the journey as the Spirit that drove us into the wilderness continue to guide us, inspire us and revive us to journey on.

Day 17 in the Wilderness- Finding a Safe Place to Rest

2010-03-08T10:01:00.000-08:00

"Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true." These first words in the song "Sanctuary" provide a wonderful challenge for living in the wilderness today. Our world is so busy and "productive" and "crazy" (as my brother so often says) that we need to intentionally seek out those places that are sanctuary for us so that we can find peace within ourselves.

Margaret Wheatley makes this point in an article "Reclaiming Time to Think" in her book Finding Our Way: Leadership For an Uncertain Time. She says "As the world speeds up, we're forfeiting these wonderful human capacities. Do you have as much time to think as you did a year ago?...But don't expect anyone to give you this time. You need to claim it for yourself." (pg. 214-215) She is challenging us to take time, find a place to rest, so that we can think and feel and care.

As I write this devotion, I am at one of my favorite sanctuary places, "The Daily Grind". It is a quiet coffee shop near my home. I know the proprietor. His family in Pratt is connected to the church where my son Adam is youth director. It is a quiet comfortable place...to have a cup of coffee, to feel welcomed and to think.

I was at an Association of Presbyterian Church Educatiors Conference in Vancouver several years ago and the keynote speaker and author Leonard Sweet, challenged us to think of the church after the model of Starbucks. It is a place where hospitality is central, where community is provided and where people learn the language (tall skinny late' !?)in order to participate fully in community and hospitality and refreshment. He argued that the church is such a place. I resisted the image because of the crassly commercial nature of Starbucks. But as I sit in my own coffee shop "The Daily Grind" I resonate with the idea that our churches are sanctuaries, where we come in from the wilderness, find community, hospitality and a connection in Christ. As I listened to new members sharing the warmth of community they felt at Covenant, I was encouraged that sometimes we are that safe place to rest, think, and center ourselves on Christ as we prepare to face the wilderness that is all around us.

Day Sixteen in the Wilderness- Curiosity over judgement

2010-03-07T20:10:00.001-08:00

On Saturday, I had a chance to sit in on a Southwest Kansas cluster gathering of the churches at Dodge City. It was part of Presbytery's sabbatical year of Bible study, prayer and discernment. The consultant, Larry Peers from Alban Institute, challenged us to suspend our judgement for the day and replace it instead with curiosity. I think that is good advice for our lifetime wilderness journey as well.

Certainly the Apostle Paul was curious when he travelled to Ephesus, Corinth, Galatia, Philippi and Athens and Rome and all the cultures he encountered on the way. He didn't succumb to fear but operated with a curiosity that allowed him to share the gospel by drawing alongside the people he encountered.

Curiosity has served me well in my faith journey as well. Curiosity allowed me to go on an Interfaith Trip to Israel, the Occupied Territories and Jordan 20 years ago with Joan and a group of Presbyterian pastors and last year with Christian, Jewish and Muslim friends and learn about their faiths as I became more grounded in and committed to my Presbyterian Christian faith. My faith curiosity was fed this winter as I travelled with and explored Germany with Joan, my son Stuart, daughter-in-law Megan and grandkids. And my curiosity is fed each month as I gather at Brotherhood with folks from around the world- Russia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania- and worship the Triune God.

Day Fifteen in the Wilderness- Temptations

2010-03-05T09:09:00.000-08:00

One of the things I don't want in the wilderness is temptation and yet that is the very thing that I'm sure would follow me into the wilderness, even and especially if I am with Jesus. Even the Apostle Paul said "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." (Romans 7:15)

What is it that gets in the way of your doing and being the person God wants you to be? For me that temptation is television. While the Olympics were on, it was a way to connect with the world and start conversations and learn about other countries and people. Now that the Olympics are over it is just a way to waste time alone. Sometimes it is a good relaxant but often it is just a distaction and waste of time and temptation. It's like the fictional conversation from one old devil to a young one that C. S. Lewis writes about in Screwtapes Letters: "All healthy and outgoing activites which we want him to avoid can be inhibited and nothing given in return, so that at last he may say as one of my own patients said on his arrival down here, 'I now see that I spent most of my life in doing neither what I ought nor what I liked.'" (page 64, Macmillan Edition, 1960) C.S.Lewis was writing before television was such a great distraction, but he is making the point that whatever distracts us from the purpose and power and presence of God is a worthy temptation. What is your distraction...internet, television, alchohol, drugs, food, fear, work.
Whatever it might be, let us fervently pray that God will lead us not to temptations and when that temptation has a prominent place in our home and lives, that God will deliver us.

Day Fourteen in the Wilderness- Music

2010-03-04T08:07:00.001-08:00

Whenever I encounter the question, "If you were on a desert island, what would you take?", I have evolved to including two items in my list every time: the Bible and a guitar. I guess I would answer the same if I were asked what I would take "into the wilderness". The Bible is an easy answer since it is "The Book" that tells the story of God's love so convincingly and dynamically that one can read it over and over again and continue to discover something new and exciting and life changing every time. I love to read and the Bible is a virtual library of poetry, prose, narrative, soap opera, adventure, romance, theology and mystery. The Bible is God's love letter to us and if I were on a desert island or in the wilderness, I would want to be reminded over and over again in many different ways of that love.

The second item I would take is just as vital to my physical and emotional and spiritual wellbeing- my guitar. Now I am not a great guitar player or a great songwriter and yet the guitar gives me an opportunity to express myself through music and I have discovered that for me, that is a life giving, life saving necessity. During times in my life when I was going through a time of struggle and change, I have found myself writing songs. In those times in my life where things are going well and I look for a creative outlet to share that positive feeling- I write songs. When I worship in small groups or alone, I find that singing is a vital part of that worship experience for me. I understand that music is not as crucial of a part of everyone's worship or creative experience but I do think that everyone has a creative outlet that allows them to express themselves when words don't seem to be enough- knitting, cooking, music, physical exercise, woodcarving, carpentry, art, scrapbooking, dancing, poetry. Just as Scripture is God's word of love to us, these creative outlets are often our word of thanks and gratitude and creativity and joy back to God. It is exciting to pass this love of music on to my sons and sons and daughters in faith.

It has been a joy to see and listen to the CD that Ryan and Josh and Adam have made together and to rejoice in their chance to make music together. I am happy that Adam has been able to dedicate a room in his house in Pratt to be a music studio. In a sense it is a sanctuary, because beatiful, creative music is made in that place and spiritual gifts of singing, playing and songwriting are encouraged. It is an expression of Psalm 150:

"Praise the Lord! Praise God in the sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! Prasie him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; Praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud crashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!"

Day Thirteen in the Wilderness with Christ- Patience

2010-03-03T07:40:00.000-08:00

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans "But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." (Romans 8:25) He lists patience at one of the fruits of the Spirit in his letter to the Galatians: "The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and self-control." (Galatians 5:22) Of all the fruits of the Spirit, I think patience is the one that is hardest to learn, to live and enjoy. We learn patience sitting in a hospital bed waiting to recover from a mysterious disease or waiting beside the bed waiting for a loved one to recover. We learn patience waiting for a child to come home from his or her first date or waiting for a child coming home from their first day at school or waiting for a son or daughter or husband or wife or brother or sister to come home from his or her deployment to war. Pateince is hard to learn. I have been known to discourage people from praying for patience because the answer to those prayers is usually long and trying. And yet patience is one of the six fruits of the spirit, right up there with love and kindness. It must be of great value to God and an important gift to us as God's people. And it is invaluable as we find ourselves more and more engaged in the wilderness of life.

The root of the word "patience" is the Latin "pati" or "to bear". The meaning is "sustaining pain, long suffering, waiting for calmness, perserverence". It is the gift God gives us in the very person of Jesus Christ, who suffered on our behalf so that in our suffering we would know that we are never alone. And yet patience is not a veil of tears activity but as way of expressing faith in the midst of stuggle. It is not a curse of God, but rather a gift of God to allow us to get through the difficult parts of life. So I thank God for patience as we head into day 13 in the wilderness. And I pray along with Reinhold Neibuhr, the whole Serenity prayer:

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. Taking as He did, this sinfulworld as it is. Not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will. That I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy in the next."

Day Twelve in the Wilderness- Directions

2010-03-02T13:41:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite disciples, Thomas, once broke the cardinal rule (supposedly) of all men...he asked for directions. After Jesus had said "In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way you are going", Thomas asked "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" I am thankful that Thomas had the courage and honesty to ask the question so that we could hear the timeless, priceless answer "I am the way, the truth and the life." It got me thinking about where we go for directions in our lives.

When we were traveling in Germany we were often lost and supremely thankful for the GPS system that Stuart and Megan had in their caravan. It was a comfort to hear the British accented voice saying "Turn left in 200 meters". We didn't understand the street signs (they were in German) so we just trusted that the "British lady" knew what she was doing. We did get a map as well but we discovered that none of us was very adept at reading a German road map. One day, we were meeting Stuart in Worms, Germany since he had to fly a mission while we were visiting Heidelberg. For that day, we printed out a mapquest set of directions (like we would do in America)and hoped that somehow he would be able to find us in this completely foreign country and city. As one might imagine, he got completely lost and finally called up Joan on the cell phone. Her advice was to "look for the steeple of St. Peter's Cathedral and our guest house is right next to it". He did what his mother told him, and within minutes was able to join us at the guest house.

This life parable was a reminder to me of the guides we rely on in our faith journeys in the wilderness. We listen to those voices who have been there before. That "cloud of witnesses" (that Paul talks about in Hebrews 12) are like that GPS system that continually guided us in our journey around Germany. We also look to our roadmap- scriptures- to guide us. We continue to be thankful for Martin Luther's efforts to translate the scriptures into the vernacular of the people since we became very aware of how hard it is to read a map or road signs in a foreign language. And we look to the church to be our guide in those times when all else fails. It was conforting to Stuart to be able to look up in his confusion and see the steeple of the church and to follow it to sanctuary.

While I was writing this devotion, a person came in to sit in our sanctuary at Covenant. She just wanted to spend a little time in the sanctuary in the midst of the wilderness of life. So as we struggle to hear the words of Christ, through the "cloud of witnesses", through the scripture and through the church, we are reminded that it is ultimately Christ who we seek: "The way, the truth and the life".

Day 11 in the Wilderness- Worship Together

2010-03-01T08:52:00.000-08:00

Last week we started our worship service with the words:
Leader: In this season, we worship remembering Jesus death in love for us and all people.
People: Lent is a time of tears.
Leader: But out of tears, joy is born- the joy of sin forgiven, hope reborn, and life restored.
People: We stand in awe of the God who brings joy out of tears, and life out of death.
Unison: Let us worship with reverence.
It is a reminder that worship is an imprtant part of our journey in the wilderness and that communal worship is a place we find the strength and wisdom to journey on.

While we were in Germany, we worshipped once at the Base Chapel (on Boy Scout Sunday) and once at St. Peter's Cathedral in Worms. You couldn't ask for two more different worship services. At the Base Chapel the service was in English, and while it was a Lutheran Style worship service we recognized every element of worship. At St. Peter's Catherdral, the worship service was a Catholic service in German and while we recognized the major elements of worship, we were at a lost to know exactly what was happening at any point. We were glad that Martin Luther translated the Bible and the worship service into the vernacular of the people. We do like knowing what's going on and what's being said.

And yet in both worship services, we felt the presence of God. In the worship service on Base it was the presence of the incarnate God finding expression through a young Eagle Scout and his brother (a Life Scout) who read the scriptures, not with perfection but with energy and enthusiasm. They read like modern day James and John, Sons of Thunder and disciples of Jesus Christ. The sanctuary was modern and modest and it was the community in which we felt the presence of Christ. At St. Peter's Catherdal in Worms, the Priest stood in the front of the church in his best vestments as the intermediary between us in the wooden pews and heaven, represented by the beautiful gold inlaid statues at the front of the sanctuary. It was absolutely beautiful and awe inspiring. The canter was note perfect even as she battled a cold. And as the priest offered the meditation, the laughter of the congregation warmed us to the words we couldn't understand. And so I read a Children's Bible to Ethan as we listened to worship in a foreign language and sensed the presence of God here in the awesome beauty of the sanctuary and the light laughter of the people of God.

It was hard to leave Germany but I thank God that the first event when I returned was the Ash Wednesday Worship service at Covenant. Even though I had to leave Stuart and Megan and our grandchildren in Germany and Joan in Little Rock, I was thankful for my faith family at Covenant. And when one is in the wilderness, it is good to worship and to realize that in one's loneliness that God is with us and the people of God support us.

Day 10 in the Wilderness- Travelling with Forebearers and Descendents

2010-02-27T07:52:00.000-08:00

When Moses was getting ready for his forty-year journey in the wilderenss he asked God, who shall I say sent me, God replies: "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:15a) God was telling Moses that not only was he going into the wilderness with thousands of people from the 12 tribes of Israel but that they we also travelling with the forebearers who have gone before them and the descendents who will follow them.

Joan and I were reminded of this when we visited the Heifer International Center yesterday in Little Rock. We had ordered a brick to be placed in the plaza in front of the Heifer Education Center in honor of our parents, Bob and Carolyn and Jack and Almira. It was exciting to see the brick with their names inscribed on the walkway, since they are an implicit part of every journey of faith Joan and I take together. When we have gone in mission to Israel, Mexico and New Mexico, their influence is part of that journey. When we travelled to Germany to visit our son Stuart and his family or to England to celebrate our 25th Anniversary, we remember our families of origin who were willing to go on adventures as a family and experience different parts of the world. And as we serve the church in Wichita and Little Rock, we are walking in the footsteps of our parents who served God in churches everywhere they went.

And now our calling is to continue to share that faith with the generation to come so that they might not be afraid of the wildernesses that are ahead of them. Whether the wilderness is a country or city or town different from any we grew up in, we know that God is with us on that journey. With every different job experience and every new community we meet, God is there to nurture us,guide us and remind us that we are part of a larger community that includes those who have gone before us and those who will come after us.

Friday, Day 9 in the Wilderness- Resting

2010-02-25T11:43:00.000-08:00

"Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work- you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock ot he alien that lives in your town." Exodus 20:8-10

Sometimes we forget that the commandment to rest is actually a command, not a suggestion. We get caught up in the business of life and forget that God desires us to rest for God's sake as well as our own.

I was the one in Germany who had to be talked into resting. And when we did take time off from visiting and touring, I discovered that the rest time was some of the best time we had together as family. We napped with Evan. We played Starwars with Ethan and Ashton. We took walks to the bakery with both of the grandkids. We had a snow ball battle in which no grandfather or father or grandchildren were injured in the process. We had wonderful meals at home and a chance to watch the Olympics and snuggle with grandkids early in the morning. I thank God for the Sabbath.

Prayer: Dear God of the Sabbath, thank you for commanding us to rest, so that we might enjoy community, build relationships and be renewed and energized to be a faith family together. In the name of Christ I pray, by the power of your Holy Spirit, I live. Amen

Day 8 In the Wilderness- Bread for the Journey

2010-02-25T07:50:00.001-08:00

"Give us this day our daily bread"
This line in the Lord's Prayer is crucial for our journey in the wilderness. When we read about Jesus' journey and his ability to fast for 40 days and to resist the temptation "If you are the Son of God, then turn these stones into bread", we are profoundly aware that we cannot do this. We cannot exist without food for 40 days so as we go on our wilderness journey we will need bread for the journey.

When we were travelling with our family in Germany, eating was a special time of getting warm (it was cold in Germany in February), of getting fed (we worked up an appetite going through castles and cathedrals) and getting acquainted with the local people and customs. We met more people in our eating time than any other time so that the journey was not so strange. We met the waitress in Worms, who directed us to the Martin Luther museum. We met the owner of a ma and pa restaurant near Stuart and Megan's village who held Evan while we got ready to leave. We had time with our grandchildren getting to know them better. Every meal was a time of fellowship and fun. One day we even decided that it would be fun to eat each meal in a different country so we had breakfast in Trier, Germany; lunch in Luxenburg; and dinner in a Patissserie in Thionsville, France.

So it is with the community of faith in our wilderness time together. The Men's Second Chance Valentine Dinner and the Women's Salad Supper were both opportunities to enjoy fellowship in the midst of Lent. The Wednesday Night suppers are a great time for the extended family of faith to gather and be nurtured as we share birthdays and anniversaries together. And our communion meals on the first Sunday of each month in morning worship and the fourth Sunday at the evening Taize worship services are opportunities to gather around the Lord's Table and to be fed by our Savior Jesus Christ. And then our Food Cupboard and Lord's Diner outreach become places where we share that meal and the bread of God with others. I thank God this Lent for opportunites to feed others, to be fed and to gather as the community of faith around the bread of Christ.

Day 7- Light in the Wilderness

2010-02-24T09:45:00.000-08:00

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid." (Psalm 27:1,2)

As I study this passage for Sunday, I am reminded of our trips to Westminster Woods and the moment in almost every trip when we realize that even though we know our way pretty well, that we really should have brought our flashlights with us. It gets really dark in the woods, and there are so many things to stumble over in the dark. Inevitably the person with the flashlight becomes the person you want to draw close to as we walk through the woods together.

So it is in our faith journey. There are certainly times when we think we have it all figured out and we are ok walking along on familiar paths without a light. But then we stumble. There is a rock or a branch that wasn't there before. Something blocks our way in the journey of life and we start to be afraid. We lose our job, we struggle in a relationship or we fail just when we think we are invincible. The light doesn't get rid of the obstacles but helps us to see and deal with the hurdles we encounter. The Psalmist is making the same point in the Twenty-seventh Psalm. "Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident." The light that the Psalmist is talking about is the light of Christ shining in the darkness. We often evoke this light imagery in Advent but I think it is equally important in our Lenten journey through the wilderness. We need the light of Christ so that we will not fear as we journey in the wilderness.

This year Joan and I presented our VBS curriculum "Renaissance Faire: A Rebirth in Faith" at the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators Cofnerence in Nashville. People loved the pictures and the stories we shared and it was a joy to share what we had learned with the greater church. We were also nurtured by the conference and especially the evening that Amy Grant came and sang and chatted with us. Her song "Thy Word" is a regular part of our worship services so it was wonderful to hear her telling stories of her life and family and then to share this song that speaks a word of hope and light into our lives. "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path...When I feel afraid, think I've lost my way, still you're there right beside me. And nothing I will fear as long as you are near, please be near me to the end." That is our prayer for our wilderness journey. As the church, let us reflect the light of Christ. Let us be that body people draw close to on our wilderness journey.

Day Six in the Wilderness- Stay Together

2010-02-23T12:08:00.000-08:00

I always find it interesting to note that after Jesus' wilderness temptations, as he starts his ministry that he calls twelve very flawed people- his disciples- to journey with him. I always imagine that it would have been easier for him to journey by himself but for some reason, Jesus' first act was to call people to share with him in his journey. And so it is with the people of God. When God called Moses, God called him to go to the people of Israel and take them also into the wilderness. When God called Abraham and Sarah, he also called the thousands of descendant who would come after them. When Paul wrote his letters it was to the whole church at Corinth, Ephesus and Galatia. God always calls us in community as the whole people of God to journey together in our journeys of faith. We aren't called to do it all alone. We are not lone rangers in our faith journeys.

It is like the journey our senior highs take to hike the mountains of Colorado. We do not send them out on their own. If we did they would probably perish. Instead we send them out with a guide who knows the mountains and knows how to gauge the weather warnings to stay safe on the journey. We send them out in a group who looks after each other. If one person has trouble with their backpack, we don't leave them behind but we share part of their burden so that they can continue. And on the trip we become profoundly aware that God is with us on the journey- in the beauty of creation, in the image of each person we travel with and in the strength God's spirit gives us to continue on the journey. The power of this trip is that we can't do it on our own, any more than we can go on our Christian journey of faith alone. We are part of a community even and especially as we travel through the wildnerness of life together.

Think about the journeys you have taken and the people you have journeyed with. I remember each person that went with me on the backpacking trip five years ago and some difference they made in the trip. I remember how fun it was in my recent Germany trip to share these new experiences and trials of travel with each other and how together we were able to turn things that would have been problems into times that were fun and memorable and tranforming.

I guess God knew what he was talking about when he said "It's not good that man should be alone". I guess Jesus knew what he was talking about when he sent the disciples out two by two. I guess the Apostle Paul knew what he was talking about when he said "If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." (1 Cor. 12:26,27)

Day Five in the Wilderness- Finding Forte/Strength

2010-02-22T09:30:00.000-08:00

"You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, 'My refuge and my fortress: my God in whom I trust.'" Psalm 91:1,2

When I read this passage after our trip to Germany, I was reminded of the many fortress castles that people put their trust in and were disappointed. We saw a magnificent castle in Heidelberg built on the side of a hill in the 17th century And yet it had been destroyed first by the 30 years war and then by lighting in the 18th century. It was a poignant reminder that no matter how strong we build our fortresses that they can't really protect us from the worst that humanity and nature can throw at us. Within the Heidelberg Castle is the largest winevat in the world. Another place that people go for comfort is "liquid strength" and that never seems to work either. But as we looked down on the city of Heidelberg from the castle and saw the Cathedral, we became aware of where our real strength comes from. It doesn't come from the church per say but from the one to whom the church points- our God revealed in Jesus Christ. That's why Martin Luther wrote "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." Our strength and comfort come from the Triune God.

Now this wasn't news to us since we had gone to Heidelberg because of the Heidelberg Catechism. The Heidelberg Catechism was written in 1562 by Professor of Theology, Zacharias Ursinus and preacher, Kaspar Olevianus to try to bring the gap between the Lutherans (followers of Luther) and the Reformers (followers of Calvin). The Catechism was written to bring these sides together around the sovereignty and grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ. But as we stood in the ruins of the castle, looking down at the city with the church in the very midst we were reminded visually of the God who chooses to dwell with us and in whose shadow we are blessed to live and abide. The first line of the catechsim is the best known and a powerful reminder that God is our strength and shield and comfort in life and death.

Heidelberg Chatechism
Q. What is your only comfort in life and death?
A. That I belong- body and soul, in life and in death- not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit according to his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

Day Four in the Wilderness- Put on the Armor of God

2010-02-19T11:47:00.000-08:00

When Joan and I presented the Renaissance Faire VBS Curriculum at this year's Association of Presbyterian Church Educators (APCE) Conference we had the whole group sing a song Joan had adapted to describe the whole armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-13 "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you will be able to stand agaist the wiles of the devil. For our struggle in not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, agaist the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm." When we were singing the song in Nashville: "Salvation- Goodness- Truth and Peace- Truth and Peace" to the tune of "Heads-Shoulders-Knees and Toes"; I didn't imagine that just weeks later I would be trying on armor in Germany. It was however, a good exercise in learning what that verse of Ephesians really meant.

While we were visiting Stuart and Megan and the grandkids in Germany, we went to the town of Kaiserslautern to see the Cathedral. Right outside the Cathedral was an impromptu Medieval Festival to raise money for Haiti Relief. One of the characters, Thies the Wildhunter, invited me to try on the chain mail and armor. It was hard to get on and took three of us (I now know why knights have helpers). It was heavy, but it was distributed over the whole body and didn't feel as heavy on the body as it did off. And when you had the armor on, you did need to stand firm with you feet apart to keep your balance. And it did protect the body.

It was fun to be dressed as a knight after reading about knights my whole life. It was especially fun to see my grandsons looking up to me with amazement and even a little pride. Then it was fun to share the armor with them and let them try it on for size. So it is with the Armor of God. One does need help putting on the full armor of God. Those are our mentors and teachers along the way. The armor seems heavy when you are young in the faith, but as you live into the faith, it starts to feel like outer skin. It becomes part of you. And it does protect you on the outside and give you courage on the inside. Such is faith. I thank God for the impromptu opportunity to try on armor and to understand just a little better the imagery Paul uses in Ephesians to describe the whole armor of God: belt of truth; breastplate of righteousness; shoes of the gospel of peace; shield of faith; helmet of salvation; sword of the Spirit- which is the word of God.

Learning- A Guide on Day Three in the Wilderness

2010-02-18T14:46:00.000-08:00

When Jesus was in the wilderness, being tempted by Satan he quoted Deuteronomy 6 twice and Deuteronomy 8 once. "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." "You shall worship the Lord your God and serve only him." "Man cannot live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." I never stopped to think where Jesus learned these lessons of scripture until I realized this week that Deuteronomy 6 is where the Shema states "Hear O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you this day in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise." I am guessing that the words of Deuteronomy are words that Joseph and Mary told Jesus as Jesus walked to the well with Mary or hung out at the carpenters shop with Joseph learning a trade. They were part of the everyday life of Jesus family and they were the words that he realied upon to deal with the temptations in the wilderness of life.

These words came to life as we were wandering around the first Berg Nanstein Castle in Landstuhl with our grandchildren in Germany. It was a small castle but because they had been there before they were ours guides. They showed us the "dungeon", the "look out tower" and all along the way we were swordfighting and imagining what life would have been like back then. They were our guides through this castle. We entered into their world to understand their castle and in the process it became our castle. We fell in love with it in part because we caught the love that they had.

So it is with our faith journey. We can't force anyone to see or feel anything that isn't there for them but we can draw alongside each other as guides. We can share what we know and what we feel and the excitement that is in our hearts and minds and it is contageous. And when we share our faith with our children and grandchildren as we walk by the way, when we rise and when we lie down, it becomes a faith and love we hold together.

Lost- Day Two in the Wilderness

2010-02-18T04:24:00.000-08:00

"I once was lost but now I'm found"
These famous words from the hymn "Amazing Grace" certainly describe the starting point for many of our journeys, and journeys of faith are no different. Right when we think we have everything figured out, we discover that we're actually lost and need help. When we dare to ask for help is when we start to be found.

I had this experience when Joan and I started our trip to Germany. We met in Dallas-Fort Worth Airport so easily without any real planning ahead of time that I commented "I know my way around airports pretty well. I figured we could find our way." That was in America. After 10 hours on an airplane flying through the night to Frankfort, Germany we woke up (actually we hadn't slept much) to a completely different airport, where the signs were mostly German and our cell phones didn't work. We saw a sign that said "Meeting Place" so we started walking to that place assuming that maybe in this country everyone ended up at one common meeting place. When we got there there was still no sign of our son and his family. We were lost. We had no German money, no cell phone and we didn't know where our family was. We knew that we needed to talk to our family to let them know when we were so that we could find them and they could find us.

I exchanged some dollars for Euros, asked how to operate a pay phone (how quickly we forget in this age of cell phones) and finally got hold of our son Stuart. They were back at the gate where we had come out after customs. They were there waiting for us and would have found us if I hadn't been so anxious just to start walking without any idea of where I was going. We found them and it was a grand reunion with son and daughter-in-law and grandkids after five months apart.

As I started reflecting this Lent, I was struck by the reality that our faith journeys are like that. Right when we think we have everything all figured out, when we try to go off on our own, when we trust random signs more than trusted friends and family, when we are out of communication- we are in trouble and usually lost. When we take the time before we start to talk with God and when we keep those lines of communication open through prayer, then God will find us and guide us and walk with us on our journey. Prayer is our connection with God, and if we find that we can't reach God through our impromptu personal prayers, we can always fall back on the "Old Fashioned" prayer that Jesus taught us so long ago:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen

As we prayer this prayer together in hospital rooms, in church, in mission trips, in crisis and even on international plane rides we know that the God who created us is with on on every journey of life. Amen

Ash Wednesday, 40 Days in the Wilderness

2010-02-17T14:53:00.000-08:00

Forty Days in the Wilderness
Deuteronomy 8:1-10; Luke 4:1-13
What would your response be if I told you that for the next 40 days
We would be spending that time in the wilderness.
Would you be excited about the possibility or terrified?
I would guess terrified.
And yet that’s what Lent is intended to be
40days in the wilderness with Christ just as the Israelites
Spent 40 years in the wilderness with God.

For Jesus the forty days were not just figurative.
In my visit to the Holy Land, I got a chance to see the wilderness
where Jesus was tempted
And it really is hostile dessert- not a nice retreat.
Humorously there is a restaurant there today
Called the Wilderness Temptation Restaurant
Maybe the place the angels took Jesus
To nurture him back afterwards 

But the wilderness for Jesus was a time of real testing.
Just as the wilderness for the Israelites was a time of testing.
The Israelites were tested with temptation to worship idols- and they failed.
Jesus was tempted to worship Satan and he responded
“You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him alone.”

The Israelites were tempted to take more manna than was allotted them
And they failed. Jesus was tempted with bread and responded
“You shall not live by bread alone but by every word that
Proceeds from the mouth of God.”

The Israelites demanded water from God and Moses struck the rock and
Water did appear- but in the process they lost the right to enter
The Promised Land because they had tested God
Jesus was tempted to throw himself down from the Temple
And he responded “You shall not test the Lord your God.”

So in every case the Israelites failed their temptations
And yet Jesus came through with flying colors.
So it doesn’t seem like a good idea for us mere humans
To purposely go into the wilderness.
Perhaps that’s why Jesus says in his prayer
“Lead us not into temptation”
Since we are more like the Israelite people than Jesus
We succumb to temptation more
It seems than we resist.

And yet this Lenten time in the wilderness in not a time to put
Ourselves into more temptation but rather to acknowledge
The temptations we face everyday
And the wilderness that is part of our regular life.

This Lent we recognize that the wilderness is all around us
And that there are temptations that are part of that
Everyday wilderness.
When I was visiting my son and his family in Germany
They have Armed Forces TV which is like US TV
Except instead of the commercials they have
A stream of public service announcements
That try to help soldiers cope with
The temptations of life.
Depression, sexual harassment, family violence,
Sexting on internet, corruptions and greed.
It was actually depressing to watch commercials.

But we have temptations on our television in America as well
It’s just disguised better.
Television's purpose seems to be tempting us to eat more, spend more, covet everything our neighbor has, and wish that we were different than we are.
-The temptation of the internet is with us daily and parental controls
May be even more helpful for the adults than the kids;
-The economic wilderness has become more prominent
As credit card companies and banks try to entice us
To spend more money than we have;
-The political wilderness in which debate and destroy
And win at all cost seems scarier and more hopeless
And more contentious than just decades ago.
-And there is even the religious wilderness which constantly tempts
Us to a corporate mode of consumerism where bigger is better.

So the truth is that we are in the wilderness, whether we like it or not.
We are tempted whether we acknowledge those temptations
As acts of Satan or just a way of life.
And the good news in this Lenten Season is that God will not give up
On us any more than God gave up on the Israelites.
Just as God tabernacled with the Israelites in their wilderness
Just as Jesus wonders into the very real wildernesses that we endure-
We know that the Triune God is with us in our wilderness journey.

And unlike Jesus, we are not forced to endure our wilderness time alone.
We have our church family, our pastors, to surround and support us
When we dare to acknowledge the wildernesses we encounter.
We have a community of faith that believes God is with us
by the power of the Holy Spirit not just two thousand years ago
but in the very wildernesses we wander today.
And God will not give up on us.
God will not abandon us.
God is with us- Emmanuel.

I invite you to journey with me and your church family during Lent
in a series of Lenten devotions each day in the next 40 days
on this blog site named appropriately- Adventures-in-Faith
In this time together we will reflect together on where God is in the midst of our wilderness.
I will be drawing on my own experiences in the past several months to start the conversation
but I want you to feel free to take off from my stories and share you own stories.
In this way our devotional journey will truly be a shared communal journey.

I want you to know that you are not alone in your journey.
God is with you, God has given you a faith family to walk with you
And in Jesus Christ, God has set apart this time to draw alongside you
And take hold of your hand as you walk through the wilderness of life.

New York- Community to the Max

2009-08-31T18:39:00.000-07:00

The last several days of sabbatical were spent in Manhattan, Philadelphia and Brooklyn helping Josh move. It was a great time to be with Josh, see New York City and to learn about community to the max. We started with a visit to my niece, Sarah. We experienced the wonderful ethnically diverse community of Astoria, Queens. Here were are eating in a Greek restaurant. Luckily I love Greek food. On Friday, while Josh was working, I spent the day in Manhattan. I saw the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, Times Square, the United Nations Building and Broadway. But the most amazing thing I saw was the throng of people. Even on a day when it was raining, there were people everywhere, from every nation, speaking every langauge, gawking at the tall building and Times Square just like I was. Times Square was like being inside a video game. Every building had a sign with moveable images. After lunch I just sat in the middle of Times Square and soaked in the atmosphere. As busy as the city was, Josh and I discovered that being a calm presence in the midst of the chaos was our best strategy for finding and sharing a sense of peace. When we were renting a u-haul, negociating an apartment lease, trying to wind our way through the Lincoln Tunnel, we found that responding with patience and calm was the best strategy. It's a good strategy in the busyness of Manhattan, New York and it is a good strategy for Wichita. Kansas, As I was driving back to Wichita at the end of the sabbatical, I was listening to Ekhart Tolle's book "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose". In it he talks about being a non-anxious presence in response to life situations. He talked about living in the present as opposed to always worrying about the future as a way to become spiritually alert and alive. It was a good reminder as I headed back to work after my sabbatical not to get caught up worrying about all the things I have to do, but instead to focus on the present, enjoy getting back in touch with people and to listen to the still small voice of God. As I pulled into my driveway, I was listening to Michael Card's song "Know You in the Now". I was a good way to end a wonderful sabbatical,

A Story of Faith in Astoria

2009-08-27T12:05:00.001-07:00

I got into New York, Laguardia Airport to see the welcoming face of Joshua greet me. When all is said and done, I am a midwestern boy and very intimidated by the big city. New York is like a foreign country to me so I was glad to have my guide, Joshua to show me the way and to have my nieces apartment in Astoria, Queens to stay at while we were getting Josh moved into his apartment in Brooklyn. They were both gracious hosts.As they both headed off to work, Sarah wondered what Uncle Rob would do. Josh assured her that I would find something. She told me where the Starbucks was, so after they left I headed out on my own to explore Astoria. Along the way I saw the Astoria Presbyterian Church which was obviously abandon. I am always saddened when I see an abandon church in the heart of the city because it seems like such a rich mission field. I took a picture and was heartened to see that they had moved to a new location on Broadway about ten blocks away. I was intrigued so I abandoned the Starbucks quest and set off in search of the hopefully reborn Presbyterian Church at a new location. I found the church at 2335 Broadway in what used to be an old doctors office. The door was unlocked. The sanctuary was right off the lobby. I noticed the PCUSA blue hymnal so I was hopeful that it was a Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation. As I approached the last office on the left, I heard the voice of the pastor, Dr. Don Olinger who waved me in.
After I introduced myself as a fellow Presbyerian pastor, he started to share the story of Astoria Presbyterian's journey from being an old established Presbyerian Church with too much building to heat and care for to seeing itself as a mission outpost in a growing and changing part of Queens, Astoria. There is an article on the PCUSA website, http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2009/09363.htm that tells the story better than I can. Don is legally blind and yet he and his congregation have an incredible vision for ministry in Astoria. The location they are currently at is temporary. The land that the old church is on is going to be developed into affordable housing for senior citizens and the church will inhabit a part of that building as worship space and offices. In forty years the land will revert back to the church's ownership. The ministry is being transformed as the congregation is attentive to the need for ministry in the area and the gifts they have to offer. They are truly living our Buechners definition of calling: "When the worlds great need and your great desire meet." Their worship is blended and their congregation includes folks from at least six different national origins. Their current worship space is adaptable and yet the order of worship was definitely Presbyterian and Reformed. The art on each side of the front of the sanctuary depicts the season of the church year (on the left) and the season of Christ's life (on the right). They share their current worship space with a Thai congregation. They are doing some inovative things with their Sunday School using computers and music.
So you never know where God might take you when you go for a walk in Astoria. You might meet a brother in faith that you didn't yet know. You might be moved from sadness to inspiration as you hear what the Holy Spirit is doing in this little church in Astoria. You might have an opportunity to pray for a sister congregation that is stepping out in faith. You might discover a story of faith in Astoria.

Baptized in the Name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit

2009-08-24T14:42:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I had the privilege of witnessing my grandson, Evans' baptism into a community in which he is loved and cared for and nurtured in faith. It was wonderful on my sabbatical where I have studied and reflected and written on the Trinity to hear those words "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" and to know that the love that is lived out in the Trinity is indeed reflected in the faith community where my son and daughter-in-law worship and live out their faith.
I saw that love lived out in the tearful sharing of the pastor as she spoke the words of baptism. I saw that unconditional love reflected as the pastor put her hand in the water of the baptismal font to pronounce a blessing on the water and Ethan followed suit and it was ok. I saw the love lived out as people came up to Megan and Stuart and the whole family and shared how much they enjoyed and loved the family.
Of course it was a bitter sweet moment for the congregation because even as they were baptizing and celebrating Evan's welcome into the body of Christ, they were also aware that Stuart and Megan had received orders to be transfered to Germany in the fall. So as the congregation was welcoming the newest member of Christ's family, they were also starting to say goodbye to this family who had grown up in their midst. The pastor and educator (in the children's message) both helped us realize that even as this local congregation was speaking vows to nurture and raise this child in a Christian community, that they were in fact speaking and vowing on behalf of the whole Christian community, even as far away as Germany.
As I have been studying and reflecting on the Trinity this summer, I have been struck by the love that is within the Trinity- love of the Father for the Son and the Son for the Father through the Holy Spirit. Dan Migliore, who spoke at Covenant last fall, made the same point when he said, "We are called to reflect God's life in communion, called to become a real if always fragmentary and incomplete witness to and participant in the life of the Triune God, who is Love". I think I witnessed that fragmentary and incomplete, yet wonderful reflection of the God's triune love last Sunday.

Koinonia at Community Presbyterian Church

2009-08-22T08:30:00.001-07:00

"I have to admit before God and everyone that I am pridefully Presbyterian." I heard Marge Carpenter use those words once and I must echo the sentiment in my own life. I love ecumenical dialogue and even interfaith dialogue. I love being in conversation with other denominations and other faiths and I believe that we can indeed learn from each other. I believe that it is only when we get all the Christian denominations together that we are fully representative of the whole body of Christ alive and at work in the work. And yet I do all this from the perspective of a Presbyterian pastor who finds the Presbyterian Church USA, Reformed Theology and Worship as the place that my soul is at rest and in communion with the triune God. So after a week living and growing with the Catholic community at Little Portion Monastery and a weekend retreat with Michael Card and the Evangelical Community at the Retreat Center, I called my friends Dennis and Phyllis Winzenried to see if I could come and worship with them last Sunday. When I pulled up to their house at Forsythe and saw this big PCUSA symbol at their front door, I knew that I was home.
The view fron Dennis and Phyllis's porch is a wonderful reminder each morning and evening of the wonder of God's creation. It is beautiful. It was my first time to be in the Branson area and I now know what everyone is talking about with the natural beauty of the wooded hills and vast lakes. And the warm welcome I receieved was the embodiment of Presbyterian hospitality at its best. It is nice to be part of an extended denominational family so that where ever we go we have family in the area. This coming Sunday, as my grandson Evan is baptised, we will be welcoming extended family to Little Rock, and yet Stuart and Megan and their family already have some extended family here in the community of their church, Westover Hills Presbyterian. It is good to be part of an extended faith family.
Sunday morning I went to Community Presbyterian Church in Forsythe with Dennis. Dennis has pastored there for 7 years and the congregation and pastor are obviously confortable with each other. I had the opportunity to sit in on a video theology study called "Questions of Faith". The topic for the week was "What's Being Good Good For?" In it we heard from writers and religious leaders who challenged us to think deeply about the question of goodness. If we believe in God's grace revealed in Jesus Christ and don't think that we can earn our salvation by good work, then what's the use of being good? If we acknowledge that sin is pervasive and "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are therefore justified by God's grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ"(Romans 3:23,24), where does goodness come in? If even Jesus says "Why do you call me good, no one is good but the Father" then what hope do we have? And yet through the discussion, we discovered that we are called by Jesus to "be perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect". And we are challenged by the prophet Micah "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) Perhaps, just perhaps, the opportunity to do good is not our way to be rewarded but in fact is a part of our reward. I had heard the week before from the pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Harrison, Chip Andrus, that "eternal life starts NOW." And I believe in my own heart and my own life that to walk with the triune God right here and right now in the person of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit is the greatest comfort and joy we can have in life and in death. It is good!
Of course my favorite part of the santuary at Community Presbyterian Church was the picture of the "laughing Jesus" that was prominently displayed on the communion table. I wondered if the congregation would reflect that joy in their worship and their community. It was indeed a joy to listen to the offering of prayer concerns at Community Presbyterian. There was a sense that you were sitting in around an extended family dinner table catching up with the events of the week. There was laughter, concern, care and an overwhelming sense of joy as this community engaged with God and with each other in worship. It was like being home at Covenant Presbyterian Church. As I walked out of worship, I truly felt like I had been in the midst of a community of faith that took seriously (but not somberly) the words of the Shorter Catechism "What is the chief end of humanity?...to glorify God and enjoy God forever." Amen

Hesed- A Portrait of God

2009-08-20T19:49:00.000-07:00

While I was tending the garden at Little Portions Monastery, I heard a voice from above. I expected that the voice might say, "Robert...Robert" but instead the voice said "What was your name again?" No, it wasn't God but John Michael Talbot showing Christian singer/songwriter Michael Card around the construction of the new monastery. Once John Michael had been prompted to recall my name, he told me I should go to the retreat that Michael Card was leading at the Little Portion Retreat Center on the other side of the mountain. Michael Card and John Michael Talbot had met several years ago and recorded an album "Brother to Brother". Since that time, Michael Card has been doing retreats at the Little Portion Retreat center. I heard that there was good food. Friday was fast day at the Monastery. And I had heard a voice from above. So I went to the retreat.
The topic was "Hesed- A Portrait of God" and it was a combination of Michael Cards singing and teaching. I was hooked on the first night and stayed at the retreat till Saturday afternoon. Michael Card's premise is the Hebrew word that is used to describe God throughout the Old Testament, 'Hesed', testifies to the same gracious God revealed in Jesus Christ in the New Testament. 'Hesed' literally means "Steadfast love". It is that unmerited, undeserved, un-earnable love that we call grace. It is "hesed" that allows God to continue to be in relationship with us through the covenant even when we continually break the covenant. It is "hesed" that allows Jacob to return and be reconciled with his brother Esau. It is 'hesed' that the psalmist is speaking of when he says "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love (hesed), according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgression." (Psalm 51:1) Michael Card defined 'hesed' as "when the person from whom I have the right to expect nothing gives me everything.
Michael Card then took the idea of 'hesed' in the Old Testament and traced it through to the New Testament in the Gospel of Luke. The Greek word 'eleos' which is most often translated as 'mercy' is the most frequent translation for the Hebrew word 'hesed'. 'Charis' which means 'grace' is also a Greek rendering of the Hebrew word 'hesed'. So the stories about the Good Samaritan and the Loving Father/Prodigal Son are really stories of God's 'hesed', undeserved yet steadfast love. Michael Card then argued that it is not only a word that describes God's action with regard to us but also describes the very person of God.
It got me thinking that if 'hesed' describes the very person of God as Father and Son, then it must also be an accurate way to describe God the Holy Spirit. To the Corinthins, Paul writes, "Now there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are a variety of services, but the same Lord; and there are a variety of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." (1 Cor. 12:4-7) Indeed the triune God who shows steadfast love (hesed) to us in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, is in God's very person the embodiment of that love.

Remembering My Father-in Law: A Real Renaissance Man

2009-08-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

This is the eightieth birthday of my father-in-law. Jack Sharp who died several years ago but not before making an indelible mark on my life and the lives of my sons (his grandsons). I remember Jack as a brother in the faith journey that we are all on. He and I were both interested in the Men's Movement in the eighties and early nineties as men searched for a new way to understand and celebrate masculinity. As the father of three sons (and now three grandsons) I am always exploring ways to discover how to live fully and faithfully as a man and how to help my sons in their journey as well. How does one encourage young men to not only embrace sports but also intellectual pursuits, music, spiritual fulfillment, social outreach, relational integrity, personal health and emotional wellbeing?
Jack and I attended several men's conferences together and read everything we could from Jungian books like Robert Bly's "Iron John" and Sam Keene's "Fire in the Belly" to the more Christian focused books, Patrick Arnold's "Wildmen, Warriors and Kings" and Moore and Gillette's "King, Warrior, Magician and Lover". These books challenged us to see and claim the depth and breadth of what it is be fully a man in this world and to embrace the physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual dimensions of manhood. With Jack, I have tried then to live out this model for and with my sons and grandsons. I would say that Jack as a Husband to Almira, Father, Grandfather, Air Force Colonel, Counselor, Athlete, Recorder player, Writer and Faithful Seeker was truly a Renaissance Man. My hope is that my sons, grandsons and I can walk in these footsteps as we remember Jack. As we were growing up (yes, dad's actually grow up with their children) we enjoyed Knights and Kings and Jesters and Scribes. We even developed a men's club where we would dream and plan trips. But my real hope was that these games would allow us to embrace the many dimensions of being a man in the world and not just the singular dimension portrayed in the media. As our sons grew to be men we (so far) have a medieval family with one son a warrior (Air Force), one a churchman (Youth Minister) and one a business person (music industry). But within each one there is a wonderful spiritual, emotional, physical and intellectual depth and diversity that they share with their grandfather.
Finally, I want to thank Jack for blessing my marriage to his daughter, Joan, twenty-five years ago. She has been and is my soul mate and she encourages me everyday to be the man God created and called me to be. I see so much of my father-in-law in his Renaissance daughter Joan. During my sabbatical with Joan this summer, I have tried to nurture the physical (golf, tennis and hiking), emotional (spending time with family at the graduation of Josh and Miles and the birth of Evan), intellectual (reading, writing and learning at the pastor's school) and spiritual side (devotions and worship and retreats). Joan has been both partner and coach through this time. I miss Jack on the eightieth anniversary of his birth but I am thankful for the journeys we took together and the legacy we share in Stuart, Adam, Joshua, Ashton, Ethan and Evan.

Presbymergent

2009-08-17T14:44:00.000-07:00

The Emerging Church is a part of the ecclesial landscape now and if you believe Phyllis Tickle, it is part of a major movement within the culture as well. Dan Kimball is one of the faces of the emerging church. In "The Emerging Church" he wrote "worship is not just singing"; "guard the content of what we sing"; "times of silence are a way for people to worship"; "communion is beautifully designed for experiential participation"; "reciting creeds is a valuable way to involve people". If you are thinking that the emerging church is simply embracing the things that the traditional church is already doing you are partially right. Even Kimball raises the issue, "The new cutting edge or simply back to basics". It depends where you are in the ecclesial landscape. Compared to the contemporary worship/seeker sensitive churches which previously stripped their sanctuaries of religious symbols and traditional language to be more accessible to unchurched people, it is a return to basics. Kimball calls this "vintage Christianity". If you are tuning in from a more traditional venue, it is still not business as usual. The emerging churches are experiential, community focussed, mission driven, integration of action and beliefs. They are not business as usual but they are integrating the ancient and the modern in a unique way.
I had a chance to experience emerging worship in the Presbyterian tradition last Sunday (August 9) at First Presbyterian Church in Harrison, Arkansas. The music was a blend of contemporary, taize and hymns played on instruments ranging from guitar and drums to saxaphone and penny whistle. The congregations was seated in four quadrants facing the communion table in the middle with the band on a stage but not in the center of worship. Communion is celebrated each week and the baptismal font is also front and center and filled with water weekly during the prayer of confession. The order of service was classic Presbyterian but each part was ceative, passionate and participatory. You could see the pastor's enthusiasm rise as he approached the communion service. You could feel the congregation's connection with the pastor as he preached with passion and joy and humor. The congregation even completed the pastor's phrase when he said: "Don't come to church...BE THE CHURCH." And the fascinating demographic was that the congregation in this emerging worship service at 8:30 in the morning included about half over 60 years, one quarter baby boomers (many in the band) and one quarter under 30 with many children in worship for the whole 70 minutes. You can check out the website at www.fpcharrison.org. And if you were surfing the web last week on the www.pcusa.org website did you notice that our church, Covenant Presbyterian Church was featured. You can also check out the Presbyterian expression of the emerging church at www.presbymergent.org.

Spending Time in the Garden

2009-08-16T20:07:00.000-07:00

I had just finished reading N. Graham Standish book "Becoming a Blessed Church" and the chapter on gardens. Standish suggests that just as there are many different gardens: an old English garden; a cottage garden; a vegetable garden; an herb garden; a wilderness garden; there are also many different and distinct churches. And each church needs to discover what type of garden they are intended to be and be true to that purpose. When I arrived at Little Portion Monastery on Monday afternoon, I didn't at first realize that it would be a hands-on workshop on gardens. The Little Portions Monastery was founded over 25 years ago by Christian singer songwriter, John Michael Talbot. I had decided to go to Little Portions Monastery in part because I was a long time fan of John Michael Talbot's music. But when I got to the monastery, I discovered that it was more that a place that packaged John Michael's music. It was a working farm, a spiritual community, a beautiful setting and a place of refreshment and renewal.
Each day started at 6:00 am in my cabin and then to chapel at 6:45 am for morning prayer. The liturgy was beautiful and the singing was heavenly. After a brief meal in the common room, we met in the prayer garden to plan the days work. I was assigned to work with Sister Mary Catherine in the vegetable garden. She was a fine mentor to someone who is not much of a farmer or gardener. She showed me chickens, goats and the general layout. We picked tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, and collected eggs from the chicken coop. It was a great connection with nature and when we gathered for a common lunch which usually included home grown chicken, and tomatoes and beans from the garden.
While I was at the retreat I read "John Calvin on Prayer: Coversation with God" and Michael Talbot's book, "The Lessons of St. Francis: How to Bring Simplicity and Spirituality into your Daily Life". It was interesting to be in conversation with two giants of the faith. While the vegetable garden was a good place to work, the prayer garden was a great place to read, reflect and pray. There were humming birds, squirrels, and it reminded my that the monastery was founded in the spirit of St. Francis. The people and animals seemed to get along in this unique setting.
I enjoyed getting to know that community of sisters, brothers and families that were part of the Little Portion Monastery. With each day, I felt more and more welcomed. I was sad that Catholic polity doesn't allow Catholics and Presbyterians to take communion together but in every other way I felt fully welcomed into the community. On Wednesday, I did get a chance to meet John Michael Talbot when he was leading a community Bible study on Gifts of the Spirit in Corinthians. I will remember the friendships I established, the experiences I shared and the beauty of the Little Portion Monastery.

Make it so, Number One!

2009-08-09T14:21:00.001-07:00

I finished reading N. Graham Standish's book "Humble Leaadership: Being Radically Open to God's Guidance and Grace" and would whole heartedly recommend it to leaders in the church. Just the titles of the chapters give a good summary of the key points of his book: 1. Humble leadership; 2. Self-Aware Leadership; 3. Prayerful Leadership; 4. Unifying Leadership; 5. Spirit-Led Leadership; 6. Humbly Effective Leadership. And if I wasn't already sold on the book, in the final chapter Standish invokes "Star Trek- The Next Generation" as a model for leadership.

Standish makes the point that when producers came up with the "Next Generation" they had to come up with a captain who was radically different than the individualistic, charismatic style of Captain Kirk in Star Trek. They came up with Captain Jean-Luc Picard who instead modeled a uniquely democratic leadership style. Standish make the point that Picards leadership style was so unique that it spawned a leadership book, "Make It So: Leadership Lessons from Star Trek- The Next Generation".
I remember when Jean-Luc was faced with a problem he would ask for responses from all the members of his senior staff. After he had the input, then he would either choose one of the options or come up with something that integreted the different insights that members of the senior officers, all gifted leaders in their own right, had offered. As I read Standish's discussion of Picard's leadership style, I couldn't help but think that Picard in many ways reflected a post-modern leadership style compared to Captain Kirk's command and control leadership style. Standish asks the question "How do we lead others in a process that allows for full participation and at the same time offers decisive leadership?" He suggests that in the church, a democratic style "recognizes that the Holy Spirit speaks through many people in the decision-making process" and our job is sometimes to discern the Spirit's voice, no matter who the Holy Spirit is speaking through.

I knew there was a reason that I liked "Star Trek: The Next Generation" even better than the original. Of course when we say: "Make it so, Number One" we are talking about the One in Three triune God who is with us in all our adventures in faith no matter what galaxy it takes us to.

Lesson from a hike in the Woods

2009-08-06T14:26:00.001-07:00

Today I had a great opportunity to have my morning devotion in Pinnacle Mountain State Park. I finished reading Graham Standish book "Humble Leadership: Being Radically Open to God's Guidance and Grace". (I'll talk about the conclusions of the book in another blog.) Today I was struck by the lessons of leadership in the hike itself.
As I was walking, I was aware that I had to pay attention to three perspectives at the same time. I had to watch the ground and my feet to make sure that I didn't trip and fall. That is also one dimension of leadership, to keep our eyes to the ground to ensure that everyone is safe and well. I also discovered that it is when you are paying attention to the path itself and where your feet are going that you notice the littlest creatures in the forest- like frogs, snakes, turtles, ground squirrel and the lizard in this picture.
At the same time I had to look up see the markers to make sure that I was on the right trail. Of course sometimes the signs were just little marks on the tree and other times they were big easy to spot signs. In leadership, we also have to keep our eyes looking forward to see the signs that God put in front of us to make sure that we are going in the right direction. Sometimes God reveals our direction with clear easy to understand guidance but other times we have to look for markings that are more like the subtle tree markings I discovered on the path. And of course we have to keep our head up to see the beauty and wonder of God's creation. Unless we look up we miss all the beauty and wonder of God at work in the world. This picture is looking toward Pinnacle Mountain with a little bit of the Arkansas River in the foreground. It is a beautiful picture of God's creation and a reminder to me that God did all this without me. Sometimes, we discover Humble Leadership on a hike as well as in a book. Likewise in leadership, we need to look up to see the wonders that God has for us and to realize that God is the creator of all things. Our role, like Adam and Eve, is to care for that creation and for all the wonderful works God is still creating in our world. It was a good morning of looking, walking and learning from the creator.

You had me at Jedi Knights

2009-08-05T15:36:00.000-07:00

My oldest son Stuart is introducing his sons to Star Wars this summer while I've been on sabbatical. As long as I have known Stuart (since he was 7) he has been a Star Wars devotee. The first movie we saw together was Star Wars. And so this is a near spiritual experience of sharing from father to sons. I even got to seen "Clone Wars" with the kids last weekend while I was baby sitting.
I have also been a fan of science fiction even before I met Stuart. Star Trek in all its many pertubations was my favorite.
But I was also a fan of the Star Wars Trilogies (both of them) and have even come to believe over the years that Reformed Theologians, like the Jedi Knights, are almost a dying breed trying desperately to preserve the radical message of God's grace revealed in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, as the Jedi Knights strive to preserve "The Force". I have even gone so far as to imagine that the monthly group I meet with to study Karl Barths "Church Dogmatics" are the 21st century incarnation of such modern day Jedi Knights. So you can imagine my delight when I was reading Graham Standish's "Humble Leadership: Being Radically Open to God's Guidance and Grace" and he invoked both a worm hole analogy and a Star Wars analogy in his chapter on Spirit-Led Leadership. His worm hole analogy (borrowed from Bill Easum's "Leadership on the Other Side") was trying to capture the point that Mainline Churches trying to reach out to post-Christian culture is sort of like the Star Trek space ships trying to reach another universe. Unless they discover the "worm hole" it will take them forever. The good news is that we can get there, we just need to find the "wormhole" that connects the two galaxies.
The Star Wars analogy refers to N. Graham Standish's assertion that Humble Spirit-Led Leaders will have to use not only intelligence and emotional intelligence to lead the church in the 21st century but also mystical intelligence. Standish uses the image of Yoda teaching Luke Skywalker to raise his spaceship with the force and Young Skywalker being unable to do it because it's impossible. When Yoda is able to raise the space ship, Luke comments "I don't...I don't believe it." To which Yoda replies "That's why you fail." The mega point that Standish is trying to make here is that we need more than our own power to lead the church when God want's us to lead the church. We need not only intelligence and emotional inteligence but also mystical intelligence. Standish defines mystical intelligence as being aware of God's purpose and God's power and God's presence. For a guy who is reading and writing on Trinitarian Leadership, I must admit that he had me with Jedi Knight.

Humble Leadership is a Unifying Leadership

2009-08-04T11:12:00.000-07:00

It has been a good weekend. We had a chance to worship with a small Presbyterian Church Alpine Presbyterian on Sunday. The text was from Mark 8, the story of the disciples wondering where the next meal would be after they had just witnessed the feeding of the 4000. Jesus asks "Do you not yet understand?" The preacher challenged us to hear those words as words spoken to us. And he used several grandchildren stories to illustrate that sometimes a child's faith can be the most profound faith: "Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." (Mark 11:15) Then of course we went to Stuart and Megan's house to eat and hangout with the grandchildren. It was a good day.
Of course, it set the scene for my readings on Monday and Tuesday from N. Graham Standish's book "Humble Leadership: Being Radically Open to God's Guidance and Grace". As I am starting to write about Trinitarian leadership as leadership that seek unity in the midst of diversity, his chapter on "Unifying Leadership" was particularly insightful. Standish talked about the divisiveness of the culture in which we live. And he is right, whether you are talking religion, politics, generations or sports. His book is particularly tough on us Baby Boomers who he characterizes as "an individualist generation". He challenges us to think communally about what is good for the whole. "Humble leadership is unifying leadership. Unifying leaders lead people to seek a common good that is rooted in God's good. They are called to put aside their own desires for power, control and dominance and to seek what is good for everyone." (p. 92) He also talks about how we have to embrace 1 Corinthians 12 description of the diversity of the body of Christ in our leadership. "This is a profound statement, because it emphasizes that everyone, even one with whom we completely disagree, has a part in the life of the church. It also suggests that healthy leaders unify that body, finding a way to help all body parts work together." (p. 107-108)
Standish does not suggest that we can do the work of unifying the body of Christ by sheer will or force of personality. Instead he challenges humble, unifying leaders to rely on the Holy Spirit to find this unity. "To grow the member of the church, we leaders have to help the members remember that we are to seek unity in the Spirit. It isn't enough to be unified; we need to form a sort of divine union with each other and with God through the power of the Holy Spirit." Standish is restating what theologican Jurgen Moltmann says in "The Trinity and the Kingdom" when he challenges us to know that our unity, real unity cannot rest in us but is always a unity that is build around Christ by the Holy Spirit. Standish summarizes the principles of unifing leadership as: calling to live out our faith; grounding in God, relationships and humility; and binding to God and each other.

The Great Emergence- A great opportunity to rediscover and share Trinitarian/Incarnational Theology

2009-07-29T14:12:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading "The Great Emergence" by Phyllis Tickle and I would commend it to anyone who is trying to get a handle on the most recent changes in the various expressions of the Christian faith in such congregations as Jacobs Well (Kansas City), A Simple Way (Philadelphia) and other Emerging congregations around the country AND the world. She lifts it up as the next reformation of the Christian church and she suggests that this happens every 500 years or so. A short video summary can be seen at thegreatemergence.com presented by the author. She says "The Great Emergence, like the Great Reformation or the Great Schism (between Eastern and Western Christianity) or the time of the Great Gregory or the Great Transformation, is generalized social/political/economic/intellectual/cultural shift." (p. 120) She talks about the variety and diversity of the Emerging Church movement and yet she also states that "All however, share one shining characteristic, they are incarnational. Not only does Jesus of Nazareth incarnate God, but Christian worship must be incarnate as well. It must involve the body in all its senses and take place among people, all of whom are embraced equally and as children of God." (p. 135) Tickle says that the emerging churches are radically Jesus centered, communal, connected electronically to each other on a real time basis, non exclusive and searching ancient Christianity for ancient symbols to reflect this emerging reality.

And even though Tickle talks about this movement as "post-denominational" she is not negative about the life and vitality of denominations as a result of this "great" movement. In fact she spends a good part of her last chapter exploring how this phenomenon fits into the current denominations world that she characterizes as having roughly four quadrants:

Liturgicals (Catholics,Epis)-Social Justice Christians (Presby, Meth)

Renewalists (Pentecostals)-Conservative (Baptists, Evangelicals)

Of course Tickle acknowledges that within denominations there is variety and that no one denomination fits neatly into a box and so there is overlap between these somewhat artificial groupings. She then positions the Emerging Church movement at the center of this denominational landscape suggesting that they are picking and choosing from the various traditions. She also suggests that each of the denominations will in turn learn from the Emerging movement (just as the Catholic Church learned and grew out of the Reformation) and that in response to the the Emerging movement, that the Christian church will in fact grow in size and vitality.

So what does this all have to do with Trinitarian leadership (since that is the current focus of this blog)? I believe that Trinitarian leadership is something that us "Old Reformers" can offer to these new reformers. As I read and reflect and teach on the Emerging Church movement, I also see the incarnational theology shine through but I also see a strong Trinitarian theology as embedded in the leadership of the movement. When Tickle describes the emerging church as "relational, nonhierarchical, a-democratized form of Christianity...moving toward a system of ecclesial authority that waits upon the Spirit and rests upon the interlacing lives of Bible- listening, Bible-honoring believers" I believe that she is talking about ecclesial leadership after the model of the triune God. Characteristics of Trinitarian leadership that I am developing based on Jurgen Moltmann's discussion of the Trinity in his book "The Trinity and the Kingdom" and Miroslav Volf's "After Our Likeness" are:

-1-Unity built on open and inviting communication that integrates the many distinct parts;
-2-Diversity which allows uniqueness and self-differentiation while still works toward a common purpose;
-3-Integrity among the leaders in the leadership community and integrity in what the community says and how it operates;
-4-Mutual Concern and Care which implies an intimate relationship through the Holy Spirit. This allows us to know each other and hold each other even and especially in pain;
-5-Equality of Shared Power and integrated power in place of a hierarchy of held power; and
-6-Mutual Encouragement in which each part of the leadership community builds up and encourages the others.

I do agree with Phyllis Tickle that we can be in conversation with these new and evolving expressions of the Christian witness not as one team competing with another for a market share but rather as a community also formed around Jesus of Nazareth with a rich heritage to share and a thing or two that we might learn together.

Trinitarian Leadership: A Community of Leaders in Christ

2009-07-28T13:35:00.000-07:00

What can I do to create a leadership team if I'm not in a big church with a large staff? I still don't really know enough about the Trinity to understand what it has to do with leadership? How can I bring my elders and deacons on board with this idea? What if I'm not too crazy about the whole idea of team to describe ministry groups since teams imply competition?

These are some of the questions that I have heard as I have been exploring, researching and starting to write about Trinitarian leadership during my sabbatical. I have discovered a wonderful collection of academic and theological books on the Trinity and I could read Jurgen Moltmann and Miroslav Volf, Dan Migliore and Shirley Guthrie forever. (And besides that I just love to say their names.) I have also uncovered a number of books that I didn't know about like George Cladis' book "Leading a Team-Based Ministry: How Pastors and Church Staffs Can Grow Together into a Powerful Fellowship of Leaders" and Wayne Cordeiro's "Doing Church as Team". Cladis actually does a very good job of lifting up the Trinity as a model for team building in large church staffs and he describes the whole idea of "perichoretic community" so that readers can understand this technical term that describes how the Father and Son and Holy Spirit interact with each other "in constant movement in a circle that implies intimacy, equality, unity yet distinction and love." (Cladis, p. 4) Cordeiro's book is also a very accessible book to help create a team culture in a church. However both these books and most of the literature seems geared to large churches and their church staffs.

My project will focus instead on creating and nurturing leadership communities in the small to medium sized churches after the model of the Triune God. Notice that I am trying to steer away from the term "team" because in our culture it does imply a competitive group and the whole thrust of this project it to move away from a competitive, authoritarian and individualistic image of leadership to a cooperative, eqalitarian and communal way of leading the church. And I will be focussing on how we can build leadership communities within the church- pastors, elders, deacons and trustees and beyond the church as churches and presbyteries and colleges get together to lead. Our shared worship service with Brotherhood and Wichita State University is an example of Trinitarian leadership model that extends beyond the church walls to encompass several unique communities who share leadership in Christ.

So far I have discovered six Trinitarian characteristics that would allow us to build a leadership community in Christ. They are: Unity built on open and inviting communication that integrates the many distinct parts; Diversity which allows uniqueness and self-differentiation while still works toward a common purpose; Integrity among the leaders in the leadership comminity and integrity in what the community says and how it operates; Mutual concern and care which implies an intimate relationship through the Holy Spirit which allows us to know each other and hold each other even and especially in pain; Equality of shared power in place of a hierarchy of held power; and Mutual Encourage in which each part of the leadership community builds up and encourages the others. These all aspects of the Trinity that Jurgen Moltmann describes in more theological language in his book "The Trinity and the Kingdom".

Let me know what you think. I am hopeful that this book, "Trinitarian Leadership: A Community of Leaders in Christ", might reflect that same kind of collegiality in its writing that it will hopefully reflect in its content. In the next several days I will explore each of these ideas on the blog and will look forward to your feedback. Thanks for your help and your participation in the faith community that lives and worships in the name of the Triune God revealed in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Leading a Team- Based Church

2009-07-22T14:14:00.001-07:00

As I have been researching Trinitarian Leadership, Joan introduced me to a book that explores and describes Trinitarian leadership in much the same way that I have been evolving over the past several years. The book "Leading a Team- Based Church: How Pastors and Church Staff Can Grow Together into a Powerful Fellowship of Leaders" was written by a Presbyterian pastor, George Cladis. Cladis after aknowledging the theological contributions to Trinitarian understanding from such theological greats as Shirley Guthrie, Miroslav Volf and Jurgen Moltmann writes "My contribution as a pastor has been to look at ways to live out this theology practically in churches seeking to relate to the postmodern world." His purpose sentence could easily describe my sabbatical study and his book is an outstanding introduction to Trinitarian leadership.

Cladis focusses on the "perichoretic model of God that calls into question the traditional hierarchies of power, control and domination that have formed the basis for church leadership in the past." (p.5) By "perichoretic" Cladis is talking about the Triune God who is in constant communion and conversation with Godself in a movement of intimacy and love and equality and unity and community with real distinctiveness. His book then takes this understanding of God and relates it to leadership in the postmodern world. He identifies seven attributes that contribute to a healthy ministry team: a shared covenant, articulated vision, a life giving culture, collaboration, trust, an empowering spirit and a learning attitute. It is an outstanding book and a must read for pastors who seek a more egalitarian leadership style after the model of the Triune God. Cladis provides a nice blend of practical ministry insights grounded in solid reformed understanding of the Triune God at work in the world.

Conversation Partners in Trinitarian Leadership

2009-07-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

As I headed back from the Pastor's School at Hastings, I stopped to visit Jacob's Well in Kansas City. Jacob's Well is an emerging congregation started by Pastor Timothy Keel, who wrote the book "Intuitive Leadership". Our session had studied his book last summer and I was anxious to meet Timothy and to share a conversation around Trinitarian Leadership with him. Well it turned out the he was busy and I was referred instead to Executive Pastor, Deth (pronounced Date) Im. I was initially a little disappointed not to be meeting with the "head pastor" (sorry Deth) until I met Deth and we started to talk. Deth shared a passion and commitment to Trinitarian leadership (even though we're just in the midst of defining what it means)and a wonderful and perceptive insight into what it might mean as it gets lived out in the church. And after all, Trinitarian leadership is not about one person but rather the shared leadership of several persons who articulate, live and grow together in the mystery and ministry of the Triune God.
As I pulled up to Jacob's Well, I was surprised to see a very traditional looking church building, nestled in a quaint Kansas City neighborhood. Deth shared that Jacob's Well had started as shared office space for Timothy in Roanoke Presbyterian Church. It grew to include fellowship space upstairs as Jacob's Well started to worship. Gradually Roanoke Presbyterian let Jacob's Well use the Sanctuary on Sunday afternoons and finally, when Roanoke Church closed in the mid-nineties, they encouraged the Presbytery to sell the building to Jacob's Well. As Deth and I sat in the sanctuary, I felt very much at home in this space which had once housed a Presbyterian Congregation and as Deth and I talked I became more aware that our visions for ministry and Trinitarian leadership were more alike than different. I was excited to see Calvin's "Institutes" in his library along with Miroslav Volf's "Exclusion and Embrace" right next to his Wesleyan theolgians. I noticed Leonard Sweet's "Postmodern Pilgrims" and McClaren's "A New Kind of Christian" and Tony Jones' "The New Christian". In a sense, what my Trinitarian Leadership project is trying to do is to connect these two shelves on Deth's bookcase. Letty Russell's "Church in the Round" was another point of connection for us.
I was fascinated to hear that the planning group I would call the "worship committee" was called the "Kairos Team" at Jacob's Well because it is the group that sets apart a "time of being in worship". I was even more intrigued that the "mission committee" is called the "Koinonia team" to reflect how our participation in the mission of the Triune God shapes and molds us into communities in Christ. Wow! As we talked about how leadership teams can become intimate communities formed around Christ, Deth shared a recent opportunity at Jacob's Well for staff memebers to meet three times a week for prayer and Bible study (lectio divina, centering prayer, praying the offices). We talked about how that activity, could potentially be expanded to include the elder leadership in the faith community. It was a great meeting and a great opportunity to share how we can learn from each other in the broader Christian community and learn and grow together in Christ through this process.

Dr. Seuss and Theology?!?

2009-07-18T20:13:00.001-07:00

I have always liked Dr. Seuss, perhaps because Theodor Seuss Geisel ('25) was a fellow Dartmouth graduate. Perhaps, I liked him because I like rhyme, doodling and creative story telling. What I didn't imagine was that Dr. Seuss was actually a theologian telling parables of the Christian faith. What!?! My wife Joan introduced me to a book from an Arkansas pastor who makes just that case.

In his book "The Parables of Dr. Seuss", Robert Short argues convincingly that the children's books we have grown to love actually have embedded Christian messages. For example,Short argues that the Cat in the Hat is actually Jesus; Thing One and Thing Two are the two sides of the law- love God and love your neighbor; and the fish that always seems to complain is organized religion. And of course if The Cat is Jesus then could "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back" be about the second coming or the resurrection? Short is bold enough to suggest that "Green Eggs and Ham" is actually a parable about the Lord's Supper and "Sam-I-Am" is short hand for God. Samuel means "the name of God" and "I-am" is of course the name that God gives to Moses, "I am who I am". Is it starting to make sense? How about "The Lorax", a delightful message about environmental awareness. But if your look at the story through Christological eyes, you might notice that the name "Lorax" just might be a contraction of "Lord and Christ", Lor-a-X. It is more compelling when you realize that the according to Seuss, Lorax came "out of a stump of the tree I'd chopped down. It was sort of a man..." It sure sounds like Isaiah language, "A shoot shall come out of the stump of Jesse..." And when Lorax departs, Seuss describes it with these words "he heisted himself and took leave of this place, through a hole in the smog, without leaving a trace." The ascension???

So next time I sit down with my grandkids to read "The Butter Battle Book" or "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" I won't just be reading a cute chidren's book. It will be a chance to see if indeed, there is an embedded Christian message. After all, Theodor Giesel once said "I get away with preaching by disguising the message." And did you know that Theodor Geisel once approached the Oxford University Press into re-releasing "Paradise Lost" with him as the illustrator.? We can only imagine!

Remembering My Mom on her Birthday

2009-07-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

The words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy in Second Timothy include: "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I'm sure lives in you."(II Timothy 1:5) These words could have been said to me as well at my ordination 25 years ago since the faith I live and preach was first taught to me by my mother, Carolyn Joyce (Olson) Erickson. Today is my mom's birthday. She died six years ago after a lengthy battle with a series of mini-strokes but as I remember back on my life growing up together, her impact on my life and faith is unmistakeable.

She was born on July 17, 1930 in South Dakota. As a child she moved with her family to Hartington, Nebraska and grew up in that small Nebraska Community. Her family was active in the Lutheran Church in town. My mom was athletic and articulate. There weren't a lot of sport options available to girls back then but she was a pretty good tennis player and golfer and would often play with my dad and his friends. She has passed a love of those sports on to me and my brothers, Mark and John.

Her competitive juices were expressed in her debating. She was on the debate teams in Hartington High School and Wayne State Teachers College. She never lost the love of debating and we all knew first hand what a fierce debater she was. That endeared her to some and alienated her from others. She was also curious and an avid reader. She passed that curiosity on to her children and I hope we have passed it on to her grandchildren. She didn't take things for granted- religion, politics or education- so she was constantly asking questions. It was her way of learning.

She advocated for those in need and was fairly liberal in her political and religious outlook, which was a nice balance to my dad who was fairly conservative in religion and politics. Our dinner table was a place to learn and ask questions and sometimes duck, when the rhetoric became more heated. But it was a good place to grow in understanding and appreciating the world. And it was a good place to learn that people who love each other, believe strongly in God and who respect each other's faith and intellect can disagree.

I must admit that I had my share of battles with my mom, but in the end I knew she was a fiece advocate for me and my brothers. On this day of her birth, I remember one from whom I learned faith, compassion, the art of debate, the wideness of God's mercy and the depth of God's love.

On the Road Again/ Or Lefsa in Hastings

2009-07-14T20:42:00.000-07:00

It was the last day of the Pastors School at Hastings College. I was sitting at breakfast and I commented that right when we didn't think they had any more culinary tricks up their sleeve they offer Belgium waffles. What's next Swedish pancakes? And I was surprised to find out that two of my table mates were from Minnesota and not only knew what Swedish pancakes were but also were very familiar with Lefsa (a potatoe based flat bread cooked in Norwegian households). We ate Lefsa each Christmas at my grandmother's. It's neat to have a little bit of personal history come alive even as we are learning about our Presbyterian history at the Pastor's School.
In our Presbyterians and American Culture class we were talking about how we, 21st Century Presbyterians, can hold our denomination together when we disagree on some of the polity issues of our day. We learned in our Presbyterian History how the denomination split over the issues of slavery, missions and clergy credentials. One of the suggestions was to make more strict boundaries, perhaps subscription to a single common confession rather than a whole book of confessions. I would argue that the key to holding our church together is not to build more stringent boundaries but to better understand and communicate the center of our faith. The ananolgy would be the difference between a bird cage (boundaries) that holds the birds of one type in or a bird feeder (center) that attracts a variety of birds.
The Reformed and Presbyterian tradition has a rich and wonderful heritage and a vibrant life giving center. I have just started reading John Calvin, Reformer for the 21st Century by William Stacy Johnson. In today's reading I was reading about the catchwords of the reformation "Grace Alone, Christ Alone, Faith Alone". Grace alone reminds us that we are not justified by our own works but by the Triune God who is for us, with us in Christ and among us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ alone reminds us that this grace of God is "made real in Jesus Christ and brought to bear concretely in human experience by the power of the Holy Spirit."(Johnson, p. 26) We receive this grace by faith through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the center of our faith and it is a faith that is made stronger not big bigger and better fences to divide us from the outside world but by more clarity about the wonderful bread of life we receive from Christ at the center of the faith community.
I will be sad to leave my many new friends (this is a picture from 2006 but several of the participants including me, top left, are the same). But I am looking forward to seeing my brother John and his family, stopping by Jacobs Well Christian Community (where Timothy Keel, author of Intuitive Leadership is pastor) and seeing my new grand baby Evan and his brothers, Ashton and Ethan and of course my wife Joan. Let our center define us and our faith in Christ unite us.

It's not always easy being in the middle

2009-07-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

I have reached the midpoint of the Pastor's Conference and just about the midpoint of my sabbatical. It has been nice to have a group of colleagues and several professors at the Omaha School for Pastors to bounce ideas off about Trinitarian Leadership after spending the first month reading and reflecting alone. The picture above is of Hazelrigg Student Center where we have most of our meals, classes and fellowship time (and do a lot of idea bouncing).

In the last couple days we have learned in our "Presbyterians and Culture Seminar" that Presbyterians often find ourselves in the middle. Dr. Brad Longfield from Dubuque (where Dawn Flippin went to seminary) taught us that Presbyterians were not only in the middle of the Revolutionary War but also in the middle of the Civil War. In fact the Presbyterian Church split into North and Southern Presbyterians during the war and it took another hundred years after the war ended to heal the split. Sometimes being in the middle is painful. One of the questions that was asked in the lecture was: "If the Presbyterian Church had been able to hold together, is it possible that the nation would have held together?" The response by Dr. Longfield (that drew a laugh) was that "All things are possible in God." And yet it got me thinking about some reading from my morning devotional "Leading a Life with God: The Practice of Spiritual Leadership" by Daniel Wolpert. In the 11th devotion Dan Wolpert wrote: "When leaders and a faith community begin to live in the world of the impossible, a world inhabited by a God for whom nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37), they truly begin to see the miraculous happen. They allow themselves to step into the life of grace offered within a kingdom defined by boundless generosity and infinite blessing." (p. 147) Wolpert challenges us as spiritual leaders to be willing to listen to God and try the impossible- even is it's just beyond what we might think we are able to do. It's like the colleague at the Pastor's Talent Show on Friday who did a Taikwondo demonstration breaking boards. He said the trick is a lot of practice but also to hit through the board. Don't just aim for the board but for a point just beyond the board. And my colleage and friend is battling Parkinsons even as he was breaking the boards in the talent show. Maybe if we aim for the impossible (just beyond our ability and regardless of the barriers) we will accomplish what God wants us to do and be who God wants us to be.

Celebrating John Calvin's 500th Birthday

2009-07-10T20:22:00.001-07:00

We celebrated John Calvin's 500th Birthday with a Pastor's Talent show at the Pastor's Conference at Hastings College in Nebraska. Jim Anderson from Newton First Presbyterian even wrote a song in tribute to Calvin that was performed by about 20 of the pastors. It was a lot of fun. Of course Calvin himself would have been more excited to know that we celebrated his birthday by studying church history, pastoral care, and scripture. We learned about the unique contribution of John Witherspoon as a Presbyterian who was the President of Princeton University and a leader in the American Revolution. As a leader of the Revolution Witherspoon called Presbyterians to start by fasting and confessing their own sins and to remain loyal to the King while they continued to move forward with their conviction of justice, liberty and human rights. It is interesting that even on the edge of Revolution, Witherspoon who was strongly influenced by John Calvin, called for self examination as they taking such a momentous step of war.
As I am writing this blog in my dorm room in Weyer Hall, I am listening to John Calvin's Institutes. In his chapter on Repentance, Calvin himself says "Repentance is the resurrection from death to life." Later Calvin writes "Repentance and forgiveness are interelated... Repent that your sins my be forgiven... Repentance indicates what direction man must face to receive grace." Sometimes people who trace their roots back to Calvin are called long faced Christians. And yet Calvin's purpose in focusing on sin and repentance is not condemnation but to open us up to God's grace and new life in Christ. In his sermon, yesterday Dr. Bill Carl challenged us to rejoice in our faith and even in those times when we struggling, to thank God that we are alive and in relationship with Christ. Calvin's influence is everywhere in the conference.
While we have learned alot we have also had opportunites to exercise as well. This afternoon, I played tennis with Bill Carl and discovered that he is as competitive on the tennis court as he is dynamic and thorough in the classroom and pulpit. Luckily, I was on his team. I also played a little two-on-two volleyball to keep my skills sharp for when I come back to Friday night vollyball at Covenant. Blessings and peace to all who read this and Happy Birthday to John Calvin.

Experiencing New Life and the Pastor's Conference through a Trinitarian Lens

2009-07-09T19:47:00.001-07:00

I feel thrice blessed today. I am blessed to be on sabbatical and to be able to spend most of the summer with Joan studying "Trinitarian Leadership".
I feel blessed to have been able to be in Little Rock to share the birth of my third grandson, Evan Daniel Rubio, and to be able to share the first two months of his life. And to share the summer with not one or two but three grandsons.
And I feel blessed to be in Hastings College this week to hear the preaching of Dr. Bill Carl and share the teaching of three Seminary Professors: Dr. Anna Case-Winters on "Science and Religion"; Dr. Brad Longfield on "Presbyterians and American Culture"; and Dr. Nancy Ramsay on "What Difference Does Difference Make in Pastoral Care". We heard each of the speakers today and they were each inspirational and thought provoking in their own way. I must admit that this year I am listening through Trinitarian ears, but that's good and I even received some encouragement in my study and writing on trinitarian leadership. It promises to be a good time to test some of my ideas and reflections and to learn in three very important areas of ministry.

I started the day today reading about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in Daniel Wolpert's "Leading a Life with God". Wolpert makes the point through the Lazarus story that our spiritual discipline includes not only our mind and soul but also our body. Then at worship Bill Carl preached on the topic "Becoming New Persons Altogether" using the II Corinthians 5:16-20 text: "If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation." Certainly, both of these devotional themes spoke to me as I continue to feel renewed, refreshed and restored in my sabbatical time. Thank you to all who continue to make this a time of new life and rebirth. I feel blessed to have a partner in life and ministry in Joan. I feel blessed to have three wonderful sons, a wonderful daughter-in-law and now three wonderful grandsons. And I feel blessed to have a congregation to share and grow with in these adventures in faith. I am bragging about all of you to my colleagues in ministry here.

It's a Boy! And his name is Evan.

2009-07-07T19:15:00.001-07:00

Today I am celebrating the birth of my third grandson, Evan Daniel. We had the privilege to be at the hospital moments after he was born and to see him welcomed by his brothers and family. Mom and baby are doing great. He is 8 lbs 5 oz and 20 inches long.

It is a little ironic that as I am on sabbatical to read and learn about Trinitarian Leadership that my third grandson would be born. Not only is he the third son in his family but his father is the oldest of three sons as I, his grandfather, am the oldest of three sons. We seem to like to be in groups of three in our family. Megan, his mother is also, the oldest of three siblings!

Stuart has already given him his first bath and he is a beautiful, robust baby. It was a real joy to see mom and dad sitting, reading and playing with their three sons all together just hours after Evan was born.

Interdependent Celebration of Independence Day

2009-07-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a wonderful Fourth of July Celebration at the Riverside Pavilion at Little Rock. There was a great orchestra, terrific fireworks and a lot of people from every ethnic group in town. Everybody was clapping, singing and oohing to the fireworks together to celebrate Independence Day, the Fourth of July. During the concert as the orchestra played the theme songs from each of the five branches of the Military service, they asked people who had served in that branch to stand up and we clapped for each of them. It was a great time to affirm how much we depend on each other. I realized that the way we celebrate our Independence Day is to celebrate our Interdependence. And that's good. Because in truth no person is completely independent any more than any nation is completely independent. We depend upon each other.

I was reading a book yesterday by an Hawaiian pastor, Wayne Cordiero "Doing Church as a Team". He writes "The bottom line of this book is that you can't do it alone. If you want to be a successful leader- if you plan to have a successful ministry- then you must develop not only your own gifts abut also the gifts of those around you." (p. 11) He is articulating a principal I am exploring in Trinitarian Leadership. Even Jesus didn't do his work of ministry alone. He was in constant conversation with the Father. He was always listening to and aware of the Holy Spirit (even as the Spirit drove him into the wilderness). And the first thing Jesus did in his earthly ministry was to call disciples to share with him in ministry and mission. Jesus/God the Father/God the Spirit are mutually dependent even as they are independent and fully self differentiated. We are too. We need each other in the church. We need the Triune God. And as we live in that interdependent community we are free to serve God in ways we could never have imagined serving alone.

Earlier in the day, Joan and I also went to the Heiffer Corporate headquarters and it further reinforced our interdependence with other people, animals and nations. Heiffer is an organization that provides cows,or goats or other livestock or crops to third world countries as part of an effort to enable them to become economically self sufficient. In addition we learned how choices we make as we eat breakfast or go grocery shopping will effect the rest of the world. We are not alone. Decisions we make about the coffee we drink affect the coffee bean grower as far away as Columbia. So happy Independence Day! I hope you found some wonderfully Interpendent ways to celebrate the day.

Finding Models for Ministry in the Strangest Places

2009-07-01T16:20:00.000-07:00

Joan and I finally got to see "My Life in Ruins" and it was a delightful story with beautiful scenery and a message that translates pretty well into ministry: if you are passionate about something, you have to communicate not just knowledge about it but passion for it and for the people you are sharing it with. Of course in the movie, the setting is a tour in Greece (the picture above is actually not Greece but from my trip to Jordan last year). The protagonist is a tour guide played by Nia Vardos (from My Big Fat Greek Wedding) leading a group a hapless tourist through the beautiful sites of Greece. Although she is a professor of ancient cultures with limitless knowledge about Greece, she doesn't connect with the group and consequently the group doesn't care about the historical details that she gives them. ("People don't care what you know until they know that you care.")It isn't until she enters into their hurts and pain and they enter into hers that they start to connect. When she worries less about getting to all the sites and focuses instead on the people entrusted in her care and sharing her genuine passion for Greece, she discovers that she has fun and learns from her new friends in the journey. The movie didn't get very good reviews and it has a few rough spots but it did set out a pretty good model for ministry and Richard Dreyfuss is terrific as a windbag who shares a strange brand of wisdom as he struggles with grief.

Thomas W. Currie in "The Joy of Ministry" wrote a whole book exploring how we can rediscover the joy of ministry even in the midst of pain and struggle. "Here is the joy that the cross has so strangely inserted into our world: the joy of God; the joy of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, whose triune life traces the terms of God's making time and space for us to rejoice in him." Currie is saying that God's own person makes time and space for us so that whatever we encounter in life and death that the triune God is there with us and we are there with each other. Currie says that joy is to be found in the ordinary life of the congregation...and worship is the day of entering into God's joy.

While I am gone, I hope that my friends in faith at Covenant are enjoying each other and the opportunity each week to worship God and to share stories of faith, hope and joy.

Jumping into the Pool- Living in Grace

2009-06-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

Remember Cynthia Rigby. She was the energetic theologian from Austin Seminary where Meghan (Hawthorne) Ludwig will be going to school next year. Cynthia spoke at our Wichita International Trinity Conference last year and also at Westover Hills Presbyterian Church(where my son and daughter-in-law are elders) this year. As I have been driving around Little Rock this summer I have been listening to her teaching on grace from a CD of her Little Rock presentation. One image- grace as a pool of water- has really stayed with me. Dr. Rigby suggests that one way to think about grace is as a pool of water that is there, it is refreshing, it is a community pool, it is good, it is free but we are afraid to jump into in. We might get our hair messed up. It might be cold for a moment. We will get wet. WE MIGHT DROWN. (After all the whole symbolism of baptism is drowning to an old way of life and being born into a new life in Christ.) We might put our toe into it. We might encourage our children to wade into the shallow end (with a warning) but for some reason we are reluctant to personally jump into the grace of God just as we might be reluctant to jump into a swimming pool. It's a fascinating image as I explore ways to think about- The love of God, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the communion of the Holy Spirit- the Trinity.

Last Sunday after church I had the analogy come alive for me as we invited our grandkids to come over to the pool to swim. We had bought lots of pool toys to entertain the kids. Ashton, our oldest grandson enjoyed diving for the pool toys as they were designed and playing catch with the soft football. He played well within the rules we had set up with the toys we had brought for our little group. He reminded me of me. Ethan on the other hand approached the pool as an adventure in grace. He would jump in wherever he was, knowing that one of us would grab hold of him and bring him out of the water. When he was underwater, he was in no hurry to get up. He seemed to like being immersed. The toys we had brought were fine but he was not constained by our toys and before I knew it, he had made friends with another young adult in the pool and she offered him her floating device. Before the afternoon was over he knew just about everyone in the pool, he hadn't drowned (not for lack of trying) and we all had a great time. He approached the pool as grace, full of confidence that he was safe, fully engaged in the community, wanting to stay forever and anxious to come back soon and often. I think this was Cynthia Rigby's notion of grace as a swimming pool. We were more comfortable playing with the toys we brought, with the group we were familiar with and yet we were drawn by the youngest in our group and his unbridled enthusiasm, to encounter the whole pool, the whole community and to share everything we had with each other. Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me and hinder them not; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.' I am amazed how much Ashton and Ethan teach me about myself and God's kingdom.

Translating the Trinity to the Church and to Leadership

2009-06-29T12:20:00.000-07:00

As I start week 5 of the sabbatical. I'm thankful for Joan's theological partnership in person and your theological partnership via e-mail. (Usually it's the other way around.) Joan recommended my newest devotional guide and I would recommend it to anyone who is a leader in the church: "Leading a Life with God: The Practice of Spiritual Leadership." In the first devotion Rev. Daniel Wolfpert (Pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Crookston, Minnesota) urges us as leaders in the church to take time to listen to God. By being silent he says we free ourselves of our need to control everything and open ourselves to actually listen to God instead of ourselves. He says that, in our silence the first person we encounter is surprisingly "our fallen selves". In other words we have to face up to our temptations in the wilderness before we can be about the business of God. He goes further to say that the business of God is a life of prayer: "Prayer is not just another program to be undertaken by a strange few but it is the program, the one activity that undergirds all activities." (p. 21) What a great insight and it is totally consistent with the other book we have been studying together in Sunday School classes in the church "Unbinding the Church".

My academic reading this week is equally challenging and particularly helpful in my project "Trinitarian Leadership." Miroslav Volf, a theologian who wrote "After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity" explored how we can find any correspondence between the Trinity and the Church since God is God and we are not. This is crucial for a project that is trying to develop a way of Christian leadership that is modeled after the triune life of God. Miroslav starts with the statement that "In a strict sense, there can be no correspondences to the interiority of the divine persons on the human level." (p. 210) He is talking about the fact that the persons of the Trinity mutually permeate each other- that each person of the Trinity is at the same time subject and object (Jesus says "I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (John 10:38). Of course we as human being can never be that close in any human relationship, even marriage. And yet Miroslav says because the Holy Spirit dwells in us (remember "We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord") then by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we can be made by God into a "communion corresponding to the Trinity; a communion in which personhood and sociality are equiprimal." (p.13) In other words we can never know each other as intimately and completely as the Father knows the Son and the Son knows the Holy Spirit. And yet in the church, as we are mutually known by God, we begin to know each other. We begin to understand each other "even as we have been understood" (1 Cor. 13) It is fascinating when my academic reading and devotional readings come together (as they often do) and this is one of those places where theologian Miroslav Volf and pastor Daniel Wolpert are essentially saying the same thing- our unity and community does not come from ourselves but rather from the Christ by the Holy Spirit. Both writers challenge us as Christian leaders to invest time becoming a community together in Christ before we dare to lead anyone in a shared Christian journey. (Food for thought; Manna in the wilderness: bread and fish to feed the five thousand!) Let me know what you think....

Starting to Write- Trinitarian Leadership

2009-06-26T13:09:00.000-07:00

As I start writing on Trinitarian Leadership, I want to share some of the preliminary, very rough drafts to get feedback. Let me know what you think.

Trinitarian Leadership
Introduction

The Trinity as a model for Leadership in the Church: An Ancient Model for a postmodern world”

This project grew out of 23 years of ministry from 1986 to 2009 as the church was moving from understanding itself in mechanical, linear, causal language to a more organic, systemic, integrated understanding of the church. Peter Steinke (Healthy Congregations) and William Easum (Sacred Cows make Gourmet Burgers) have described this evolved understanding of the church and have suggested that old ways of understanding the church and leading the church no longer work. They have rediscovered the writings of the Apostle Paul describing the church using body language, with a diversity of parts and a singular purpose. A number of writers such as Leonard Sweet (Soul Tsunamai), Brian McClaren (A New Kind of Christian) have described the modern church as post modern. Other writers such as Darrel Guder (Missional Church) and Alan Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk (The Missional Leader) have called this the Missional Church. Either way, the old ways of leading the church of the 50’s and 60’s are no longer effective. And yet a quick look at popular literature on church leadership reveals that the old models are still alive and well and being marketed with Biblical grounding. Lead Like Jesus (Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges), Jesus as CEO, The Book on Leadership (John MacArthur) each present models of leadership as a charismatic individual in the image of Jesus or the Apostle Paul. Even Leonard Sweet’s book, Summoned to Lead presents the polar cap explorer, Shackelford, as a model for leadership.

For the past four years I have taught a master’s level class at Friends University on leadership and discipleship and have been disappointed with the models of church leadership are available in the literature. The Purpose Driven Church (Rick Warren) and The Willow Creek Model (Bill Hybels) are the most popular models that are available. However at the same time as the mainstream church has been looking for new leadership models, an alternative expression of church has emerged under the broad and reluctantly acknowledged umbrella of the “emerging church”. Dan Kimball (The Emerging Church) and Shane Claiborne (Irresistible Revolution) are just two spokespeople of a movement that claims not to be a movement and not to speak with one voice. And yet others have called this movement within the Christian faith, the next Reformation. Tim Keel (Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor & Chaos), Pastor of Jacob’s Well, cautions us from taking the “emerging church” as a new model for being and leading the church. Rather he challenges us:

“God is alive and at work in you, your community, and your context. Our world is filled with possibility because of who God is and what he is doing in creation. God longs for our participation with him, and at the same time God is on the move. Jesus said ‘Follow me’ and he meant it. He is going somewhere, and if we are to keep pace, we must follow. This means we must move. I can’t give you any answers. All I can do is propose some postures- ways of positioning ourselves that allow us a greater chance of catching God at work among us” (Keel, Intuitive Leadership, 2007. Pg. 223)

This movement that claims no single denomination anchor has an overtly Trinitarian and Incarnational theological focus. In the compilation of articles, An Emergent Manifesto of Hope (edited by Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones) an intentionally diverse group of leaders within the emergent umbrella have explored the theological landscape, mining for ways in which to explain, explore and excite this movement of God that is already underway. Tim Keel’s article, Leading from the Margins, expresses the challenge of leadership in such an emerging church environment:

“Leaders today must be masters of creativity and intuition. Increasingly, and perhaps more important they must be able to create, nurture and sustain environments where those capacities can be birthed, fed and empowered among the people of God.” (Pagitt and Jones, 2007, pg. 231)

This language for the challenge of Christian leaders today is Trinitarian language that is most completely expressed in the way the triune God deals with humanity: creates, nurtures, sustains, births, feeds and empowers.
When we look to models of leadership to describe how we would lead this living, breathing, changing church of the 21st century we need only look to the triune God who has led us throughout all of time with the assurance of God the Father, the compassion of God the Son and the vitality of God the Holy Spirit. The ancient expression of God as Trinity provides leaders of the church today with a model of leadership that celebrates the distinctiveness we each bring to ministry while challenging us to speak with one voice and act with a unity that builds up each person of the leadership team even as we walk with and build up the church. This is Trinitarian leadership.

Back to the Books

2009-06-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

I am getting back into the routine of reading, reflecting and writing after a little break for graduations, birthdays and anniversaries. I was reflecting on the various books I have read this summer and thought that you might be interested in checking out a few. Some of the very accessible, practical books that have touched me so far are: "Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership" (2008) by Ruth Haley Burton; "Zenobia- The Curious Book of Business: A Tale of Triumph Over Yes-Men, Cynics, Hedgers and Other Corporate Killjoys" (2008) A Parable written by the Drexel graduation speaker, Matthew Emmens about creativity and innovation in business; "Trinity: A New Living Spirituality" by Joseph Girzone and "When Better Isn't Enough" a book about shared staff goals and evaluation in the church by Jill Hudson.
Some academic books that are shapng my study are: "The Trinity and the Kingdom" (1993) by Jurgen Moltmann; "God's Life in Trinity" (2006) a complilation of articles editted by Miroslav Volf and Michael Welker; "Persons in Communion: Trinitarian Description and Human Participation" by Alan Torrance; "After Our Likeness: The Church in the Image of the Trinity" by Miroslav Volf; "The Tripersonal God" (1999) by Gerald O'Collins; and "God for Us: The Trinity and Christian Life" (1973) by Catherine Mowry LaCugna.
And some fun reading for the summer: "Three Cups of Tea" (2006) a story of a mountain climber/nurse who ends up building school in Pakistan by Craig Mortenson and David Relin; "A Post-American World" (2009) a look at the changing economic and social dynamics of the world by Fareed Zakaria; "The Choice" (2007) by Nicholas Sparks; and "Hot, Flat and Crowded" Thomas Friedman's most recent book about the economic, environmental, cultural and technical changes in the world. (I think "The World Is Flat" was better) We listened to Jimmy Carters Bible study of the Gospel of Mark on our way out to Philly and appreciated his grappling with the Gospel of Mark as the U.S. was headed into the Iraq War.
I would be interested in you comments on any of these books. It has been amazing to me how they all speak to a common theme of how we can be community in light of the rich differences and diversity among us. What we believe about God and how we live are integrally connected. What we do is more a function of who we are than what we say. What do you think?

Anniversary

2009-06-24T13:35:00.001-07:00

On June 23rd we celebrated our 25th anniversary by driving back to Little Rock. We had lunch at an Irish Pub to celebrate our meeting in England, over 40 years ago. We had dinner with Stuart's family to celebrate with them before the new grandbaby arrives. It was a joyous day and we got to spend it together. That was the best part. Of course we had a chance to celebrate with our whole family and church family in April for our Renewal of Vows. We still remember that occassion fondly and thank all the church folks for sharing that time with us.
We were sad to learn that one of our church family, Hal Porter, died this past week. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bobbie and the Porter family during this very difficult time. I thank God for the opportunity to get to know Hal and for the passion and faith he brought to Covenant. I was reading Jurgen Moltman's "The Trinity and the Kingdom" and I was struck by Moltman's way of articulating the God who loves us and who suffers with us. "If a person once feels the infinite passion of God's love which finds expression here, then he understands the mystery of the triune God. God suffers with us- God suffers from us- God suffers for us: it is the experience of God that reverals the triune God." I know that the triune God is with Bobbie and her family right how and that God is welcoming Hal into the kingdom right now. Blessings in Christ.

Long Journey Home

2009-06-24T13:05:00.001-07:00

Our journey back was long but it was a time to continue learning. We went past the Arch in St. Louis even as we were listening to Craig Mortenson's book, "Three Cups of Tea". It is a must read for anyone interested in cross cultural dialogue. The protagonist, Craig Mortenson is a mountain climber/nurse who falls in love with the Pakistani people who nurse him back to health after a mishap climbing K2 Mountain. He decides to build a school for the people who helped him and the one school project grows into many. It is a great book about a person with a dream learning to adjust and adapt his dream to the culture and people and needs around him and discovering that as he does, that the dream is bigger and more wonderful than he could have imagined. It sounds a lot like ministry to me! He also learns to interact with another culture and to slow down and appreciate the people more than the task or project. Sounds like a good lesson for me as well. As we are listening to this book on tape, I continued reading Miroslav Volf's compilation of articles, "God's Life in Trinity". The article I read by Ronald Thiemann, "Beyond Exclusivism and Absolutism" talked about how we can be firmly rooted in the Christ centered, trinitarian understanding of the Christian faith and still not enter into the kind of religious paranoia and exclusivism that seems to start wars and fuel fear. He challenges us to read the gospels with eye open to the "other" (ie. the Canaanite woman, Samaritan worman, Roman centurion, the Magi, Gerasene demoniac) who are outside the tradition and still seem to have an understanding of who this Jesus is. He challenges us not only, not to fear other traditions but also to learn from other traditions. I was reminded of the story of the Canaanite women who asked Jesus for the bread crumbs that fell under the table and how Jesus, even Jesus, graciously accepted her contribution to his teaching. If Jesus can learn and grow from another, then I am sure that I should be able to. It's fascianting, in "Three Cups of Tea", Mortenson (a child of missionaries) is the "Infidel" and yet several of the Muslims he encounters learn from him even as he learns from them. We can all learn from each other if we can get past the fear and arrogance that get in the way.

Last Day in Philly/ Remembering the Graduation

2009-06-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

So the graduations are over for Josh and his cousin Miles. The party and the games are also done. Today we spent loading furniture from Joan's Mom's house to take back to Kansas. One piece is an end table that Joan's dad made and will remind us of him on Father's Day. Another is a four post bed that Joan's parents got in England that reminds us of our time in England. And lastly, I got a book at the Drexel bookstore that was written by the graduation speaker Matthew Emmens, "Zenobia-The Curious Book of Business: A Tale of Triumph Over Yes-Men, Cynics, Hedgers, and Other Corporate Killjoys". As you an tell from the title, it is not serious book. It is a parable about business. It is a challenge to be creative, imaginative and daring in business. It is a cautionary tale about what happens when a business becomes too serious, stuck in its ways and fearful of failure. It is a fascinating book and only 100 pages long. Yet it sets out a profound truth in a playful way. I am hopeful that when I finally get around to writing that my book might be as interesting and accessible.

Day at the Shore after Josh's Graduation

2009-06-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

We went down the Ocean City on Monday after graduation to remember the traditions of our "childhood" and to introduce Brooke to the Atlantic Ocean. We ate at the Chatterbox, built sand castles, romped in the waves, played football, walked the board walk, bought souvenirs, and played Skee Ball and X-Men video games, ate funnel cake and seafood. We packed a weekend worth of activities into 7 hours and survived without sunburn or sports injury. A good time was had by all.
On the reading front, I did get a new book from Joshua for Father's Day, "A Post American World" by Fareed Zakaria. It describes the world moving from an American driven economy to a world economy where the U.S. is just one of many econmic and technolgy and military powers in play. It is a positive book that takes a serious look at the economic and military struggles of the current day and the shift in economic power without despair or disillusion. It's a good, thought provoking book.

Graduation

2009-06-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Josh's graduation on June 13th in the middle of a rainstorm. It was a good day. Six of us were able to see the graduation live and the rest of the family was able to see it on a video screen from Drexel. We enjoyed meeting Josh's friends from the Media, Art and Design Program. We celebrated Josh's graduation from college and his cousin, Miles' graduation from high school on the following Sunday with a party. The weather was great, food was terrific and we played a whole lot of badminton. Nephew Doug and I were the badminton champs! We went to the shore to Ocean City the next day and relived some of our growing up traditions with Adam and Josh and their grandmother- skee ball, board walk, funnel cake, sand castle building, but that's another blog.
My niece Margaret taught me how to add pictures to my blog sight so it should be more fun and more interesting.

Discerning together in the City of Brotherly Love

2009-06-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to Philly! We had a great trip through Washington D.C. and visited an old buddy from the energy consulting days who curiously is also a pastor now. She is pastor of the United Methodist Church right over a gas station in Rosslyn, Virginia about two blocks from where I worked when I was an energy consultant. I guess we both decided that we could make a bigger and better impact in the world working for God's kingdom rather that for either one of the administrations in Washington D.C. We got into Philly and went to the book store where Josh works and bought two audio books from him: Friedman's, "Hot, Flat and Overcrowded" and "Three Cups of Tea" by Mortensen and Relin. We will have plenty to listen to on the trip back.

While I've been here I have reconnected with a great book "Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership" by Ruth Haley Barton. This morning I read her chapter on discernment entitled "Finding God's Will Together". It is an apporpriate book since we are gathering the family from all parts of the U.S. to celebrate together but no one person has the gathering figured out. We are celebrating both Josh and nephew Miles' graduations from College and High School, respectively. We are discerning as we go along what we want to do together. No one voice dominates. Nobody gets to dictate. We discover and discern togeher what to do in this time of celebration. Our goal is to build up the whole community as we celebrate Josh and Miles.
It is a good model for the church. Barton in her book on spiritual leadership makes the point that discernment is "selecting an option that seems consistent with what God is doing among you". She makes the point that we have to let our own desires die to be open to what God want's and what is best for the whole community. I am hopeful that we can do some of this communal discernemnt with our church and with our Presbytery. Hope you are having a good June. Blessings in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

From Isolation to Leadership Community

2009-06-10T07:24:00.000-07:00

I am writing this blog as Joan drives along Highway 64 to Charlottesville, Virginia on route to Washington D.C. and ultimately Phladelphia for Josh's graduation. I am writing partially because I am so amazed that I can be in a car and on the internet at the same time but also because I discovered in my reading this morning an incredible gem written by Ruth Haley Barton, "Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership". In chapter 11 she writes "From Isolation to Leadership Community". She uses the model of Moses to describe how leaders who are so busy trying to mold and shape and create community often feel isolated from the very communities that they are trying to create for others. This is an idea I am exploring in my work on "Trinitarian Leadership". As leaders in the church it is not enough to create comunity but we must be part of a leadership community. And this community is not simply a task community but a spiritual community formed around Jesus Christ. Barton shares a Bonhoeffer quote that I will also share with you from Life Together: "Christian community is founded solely on Jesus Christ, and in fact, it already exists in Christ. It is not an ideal we must realize, it is rather a reality created by God in Christ; in which we may participate. It is a spiritual and not a psychic reality in that it is created by the Holy Spirit." WOW! I will want to include that in my discussion on "Trinitarian leadership" and explore ways in which leadership teams can become leadership communities around Christ, created by God in the power of the Holy Spirit. Barton (Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership) even gives some good advice about how to maintain the distinction of human verses God when try to model our leadership after the TRINITY. She urges us to remember our limitations. Only God is limitless. We are limited, created beings. However, within that limitedness we can participate in a community that is none other that the Triune Community of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Well we are approaching the nation's capital, Washington D. C. Talk about Trinitarian leadership- Executive branch, Legislative Branch, and Judicial Branch. Wouldn't it be great if they could be a leadership community that demonstrated the attributes that Barton writes about: community, spiritual transformation, discernment, truth telling, celebration, kindness, acknowledging brokeness, listening to our fears, transforming conflict. But that's really the role of church leadership isn't it? Talk to you soon.

Second week of sabbatical- Encountering God

2009-06-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

Sunday was different this week. Instead of preparing for worship and preaching, I was getting up at 5:45 am with my grandkids to watch their father, my son run a Triathalon. We had a great time but I must admit thinking that I was sad to miss church, especially on Trinity Sunday, since I am researching and writing on the Trinity in my sabbatical. Lucky for me, Joan had an ordination service to attend at 3 pm so I got a chance to worship in the afternoon. I heard a great sermon on Proverbs 31:1-9 entitled "Be a voice for those who have no voice". It was a good ordination sermon and a good sermon for me to hear as I thought about the outreach and advocacy ministry we do at Covenant. It was also a good sermon to remind me of the advocacy of Jesus for us in our lives even as he calls us to advocate for each other. I must admit my mind shifted to "Trinitarian Leadership" as I thought about the role of Christian leaders- first of all encountering the God who stands as advocate for us and then becoming an advocate for each other. I read Joseph Girzone's book "Trinity" as was impressed by a similar line of thought that he offered in the we must encounter the Triune God, be in community with God and each other, before we can presume to lead anyone else into community with God.
On a lighter side, I have a movie recommendation, "The Soloist", for anyone who is interested in "abiding witness". "The Soloist" is the story of a newspaper reporter who befriends a homeless virtuoso in an effort to write an article and raise awareness of the homeless situation in Los Angeles. he htinks he is doing the homeless person a favor and that he might be able to "fix" him. In the end (spoiler alert***don't read any further if you don't want the ending spoiled) it is the reporter who is changed and grows as a result of his encounter with the homeless man. He discovers that all people, including and especially the homeless, are children of God. He discovers that grace is messy and sometimes ambiguous.

We Are the World but we still need God

2009-06-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's reading in "God's Life in Trinity" was an article on the Triune God in creation by David Kelsey: "The plot of Christian canonical stories of God's relating to reconcile estranged humankind is moved by a brokeness only God can heal and a problem only God can solve." Kelsey is saying that we can do as much as we can but in the end we are still broken. We need the reconciling presence of the Triune God in Jesus Christ to effect any real difference. This is not a case for despair but hope.
After I finished my reading and reflection for the day, I went to the grand opening of Heifer International Education Center and was excited by the efforts of Heiffer International to provide livestock for hungry people all over the world and for their effort right in Little Rock to build an office building that was energy efficient and environmentally friendly. I was also excited to see that the grand opening was begun with prayer by a group of international, interfaith youth from four different traditions. It was good to see that even a do-gooder organization like Heiffer International understood this dependance on God.
Later in the afternoon I started reading a book by Catherine Lowry LaCugna, "God for Us". She makes the point in her introduction that there is a unity in the person and the work of the Triune God. God's activity in the world is evidence of and consistent with God's loving, communal nature. The church bears witness to this Triune God who is for us.
I was inspired by my reading and reflection that I went back to the Heiffer Opening on Saturday and was impressed with the joy of the gathering as children from different cultures gathered and sang and danced together. On a day when I was celebrating my middle son, Adam's birthday, it was good to see just a glimpse of the Garden of Eden and the community of the Triune God alive and well.

Friends in Theological Conversation

2009-06-04T11:54:00.000-07:00

One of the foundational books for me in my sabbatical time has been "God's Life in Trinity" editted by Miroslav Volf & Michael Welker. Today I read an article from the book entitled, "Speak, 'Friend' and Enter" by Nancy Bedford in which she lifted up the value of conversation among friends as a crucial part of our theological enterprise: "I propose to probe the matter of conversation in friendship as an intergral part of a theological method born out of faith in the triune God." (page 34)
I realized as I was reading this that two of my many theological conversation partners were meeting today in Wichita without me- the Men's prayer breakfast (Studying Genesis) and the John Calvin Study group (reading the Institutes together). When I had lunch today with my lifetime theological conversation partner, Joan, she could tell by my endless talking that I was missing my other theological partners. Nancy Bedford noted in her article that when we engage in theological conversation with each other out of a shared friendship in Christ, that we are able to probe more deeply and broadly than we might explore alone. We don't always agree but in the diversity and discussion we discover a deeper and more abiding truth than if we had simply read or wondered by ourselves.
I have many theological partners in the writings of Miroslav Volf, Shirley Guthrie, Timothy Keel, Ray Anderson, Nancy Bedford, Alan Torrance, Shane Claiborne and others during my sabbatical but I am missing my normal theological conversation partners.
I am trying to become more web conversant during the time away so feel free to write me on facebook or the blog. Your friend in Christ, Rob

First Days of Sabbatical

2009-06-03T19:16:00.000-07:00

Where to start a Sabbatical on Trinitarian Leadership?
In the vein of the author who claimed he learned everything about life in Kindergarten, I started my sabbatical time seeing the graduation of my grandson from Kindergarten. It was exciting to hear the Principal exclaim that this group would be the class of 2021. And it was great to connect with family.
In addition to kindergarteners, I have also been reading Miroslav Volf's book "God's Life in Trinity", Shirley Guthrie's "Always Being Reformed" and Alan Torrance's "Persons in Communion". I have even started to put some ideas into the computer. Some key ideas about leadership that are emerging are integrity, community, and unity.
Also, check out the new Presbyterian leadership web resource- The Presbyterian Leader.com.
In the continuing spirit of family and Trinity, I will be going to see my son run a Triathalon on Sunday.

International Contemporary Worship Service at Brotherhood

2008-09-12T08:15:00.000-07:00

Reflections from the College/Young Adult Outreach Service
Faith Connection
at Brotherhood Presbyterian Church on September 7th at 5 pm

As the beat of the African Drum gave way to the Island beat of the Congo Drums and finally the Rock beat of the American Drum set, the first monthly outreach worship service at Brotherhood Presbyterian Church was called to worship. They were 50-60 people from America, Africa and Asia gathered to worship the Triune God together. The service was specifically an outreach to college age students and there were 11 students from WSU and Friends as part of the worshipping congregation that ranged in age from 7 to 70 years old. The service was a joint effort by Brotherhood and Covenant Presbyterian Churches but also included people from Grace Presbyterian and First Presbyterian in Wichita in the praise and projection team. The Praise team set the tone for a lively and interactive and upbeat worship with contemporary songs like “Cover the Earth”, “All Around”, “Because of Your Love”, “Better than Life” and “Sweeter”. The worship leadership team, Rob Erickson (Covenant), Eric Williams (Brotherhood), Daisy Karagaram (WSU Chaplain) and Laura Frazey (Covenant) acted out the story of Jesus feet being washed by a women at the Pharisee’s house in Luke 7:36-50. Rob Erickson preached on “The Call of Christ to Conversation, Community and Compassion”. There was a real sense of community in the worship service as participants entered into conversation with God and with each other around the compassion of Christ.

“People will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat at table in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 13:29)

After the worship service we gathered in the Fellowship Hall of Brotherhood for a shared meal. We had planned for 25 people and Christ helped us multiply the Loaves and Fish (actually sandwiches, brownies, chips and apple sauce) to feed the 40 people who were gathered for supper at 6 pm. It was a great time to find out about major areas of study, home countries and family as we gathered as one faith family. We had people from Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya and Newton and Wichita all sharing their stories together as we ate in community with Christ.

Around this table alone we had students who were majoring in sociology, electrical engineering, medicine, dance, special elementary education and music. Our next service and shared meal will be on World Communion Sunday, October 5th at Brotherhood. We would invite all youth and young adults and people of all ages who would like to be part of a growing, exciting, international and contemporary worship experience in Wichita to join us at 5 pm on October 5th for worship and a meal together in the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord.

International Trinity Conference in Wichita, Oct 17-19 at Covenant Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church

2008-09-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

If you are interested in further study and reflection on the Trinity and how the Triune God comes in contact with our life and guides us in mission, worship, ethics, Christian community, and the church then please come to our Trinity Conference on October 17-19, 2008 at Covenant Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church in Wichita. We are bringing in three amazing theologians from around the world: Dr. Daniel Migliore from Princeton Theological Seminary; Dr. Cynthia Rigby from Austin Theological Seminary and Dr. Alan Torrance from St. Marys College in St. Andrews, Scotland. All three have written and taught extensively on the Trinity and will bring a clarity and insight into this mystery that will allow us to fully appreciate what it means to call ourselves disciples who believe in a Triune God revealed in Jesus Christ. You can find out more information on the conference if you visit our web site www.covenantwichita.org

Good books and essays to read to prepare for the conference are:
"Faith Seeking Understanding" by Daniel Migliore
"The Power of God and the gods of Power" by Daniel Migliore
"Blessed One" editted by Cynthia Rigby
"More than a Mystery" essay by Cynthia Rigby (teaching the Trinity to youth, available at the ptsem.edu website)
"The Doctrine of God and Theological Ethics" editted by Alan Torrance
"Persons in Communion: An Essay on Trinitarian Descriptions and Human Participation" by Alan Torrance

Study Session for the William Young Book "The Shack"

2008-09-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

I am publishing the whole study guide that we used for s summer book study of the William Young book "The Shack" so that people who might want to read the book and reflect on their own without having to join a class would have that opportunity. Attached with this blog is the syllabus for the class and the following blogs present each class in order. I hope that you will find this study useful.

Study sessions for “The Shack”
August 3 The Great Sadness (pages 1-66)

August 10 Our Images and Understanding of the Triune God (pages 67-103)
Chapter 5 Guess who’s coming to dinner What do we call God? How do we image God? Who is the Trinity?
Chapter 6 A Piece of Pie What about human freedom and God’s sovereignty and goodness?

August 17 Conversing with the Triune God (pages 104-150)
Chapter 7 God on the Dock Conversations, devotions and relationship with the triune God.
Chapter 8 Breakfast of Champions Hierarchy in the Trinity, reality of evil and the difference between Justification and redemption.
Chapter 9 A Long Time Ago, In a Garden Far, Far Away The difference between good and evil, and messy garden of our soul.
Chapter 10 Wade in the Water How does fear get in the way of faith and the future?

August 24 Judgment and Jesus and Grace (pages 151-208)
Chapter 11 Here Come Da Judge An expose on how we judge others and assume God judges us.
Chapter 12 In the Belly of the Beast The presence of Jesus with us in tribulation and our blindness.
Chapter 13 A Meeting of Hearts The Princess story revisited
Chapter 14 Verbs and Other Freedoms

August 31 Concluding Conversation (pages 209-247)

Conversations around the book"The Shack" Session 1

2008-09-01T08:31:00.001-07:00

Conversation around the book “The Shack”

Read pages 1-66 “The Great Sadness”

Forward: Type of story- Parable written for his children.

“Mack is not very religious. He seems to have a love/hate relationship with Religion, and maybe even with the God that he suspects is brooding distant, and aloof” (page 10) What words would you use to describe God?

“He wanted a narrative to help him express to them (his wife and children) understand what has been going on in his inside world. You know that place: where there is just you alone- and maybe God, if you believe in him. Of course, God might be there even if you don’t believe in him. That would be just like him. He hasn’t been called the Grand Interferer for nothing.” (page 12) What are names that you use to describe God? What are names or images that are comfortable for you in expressing who God is? Have you ever heard of or thought of God as the “Grand Interferer”? What are the implications of that name for God?

Chapter 1 A Confluence of Paths

“There is something joyful about storms that interrupt routine. Snow or freezing rain suddenly releases you from expectations, performance demands, and the tyranny of appointments and schedules.” (page 15) What about interruptions in your life? Mack receives a note signed Papa (God) but he doesn’t tell anyone. Why not? Have you ever received a message that you suspected might be from God and not told anyone?

Chapter 2 The Gathering Dark

Context of the story- Oregon’s Gorge and Multnoma Falls, Columbia River Gorge. What about the redemption story of the Indian princess? How do you think the exchange between Missy and Mack anticipates Mack’s conversations with Jesus? “Daddy, how come she had to die?...Honey, she didn’t have to die. She chose to die to save her people. They were very sick and she wanted them to be healed.” (page 30)
”Is the Great Spirit another name for God- you know Jesus’ papa?...Then how come he is so mean…making the princess jump off the cliff and Jesus die on the cross.” …”Sweetheart, Jesus didn’t think his daddy was mean. He thought his daddy was full of love and loved him very much. His daddy didn’t make him die. Jesus chose to die because he and his daddy loved you and me and everyone in the world. He saved us from our sickness, just like the princess.” Mack is offering an explanation for the atonement here. What do you think of this explanation? Does Mack really believe it?

“Will God ever ask me to jump off a cliff? No, Missy. He would never ask you to do anything like that.” Here Mack is talking about the reality of evil and the sovereignty of God.

Chapter 3 The Tipping Point

Mack describes Nan’s job “She helps people think through their relationship with God in the face of their own death…Nan’s a lot better than I am. I guess she thinks about God differently than most folks. She even calls him Papa because of the closeness of their relationship, if that makes sense….I’m not comfortable with it (referring to God as Papa). It’s just seems a little too familiar for me. Anyway, Nan has a wonderful father, so I think it’s easier for her”. This statement foreshadows Mack’s conversation with God later in the parable and his struggle with language for God and openness to God.

In the incident with the canoe tipping how many people felt guilty? Mack’s words to Emil “This wasn’t your fault and everyone’s ok”. What about Mack guilt when he discovers that everyone wasn’t ok?

Chapter 4 The Great Sadness

“It is so easy to get sucked into the if-only game and playing it is a short slippery slide into despair. If only he had decided not to take the kids on that trip; if only he had said no when they asked to use the canoe; if only he had left the day before; , if only, if only, if only.” And then to have it all end with nothing. The fact that he was unable to bury Missy’s body magnified his failure as her daddy.” (page 65) Have you ever played the “if only game”? What are other options

The Shack Session 2 "Our Images and Understanding of the Triune God"

2008-09-01T08:20:00.001-07:00

Conversation around the book “The Shack” Session #2

August 10, 2008 Read pages 67-103 Our Images and Understanding of the Triune God

Chapter 5 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross described 5 stages of grief in her 1969 book “On Death and Dying”: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. Which of these stages do you see in Mack. Is he stuck in any one stage or is he moving through the stages of grief? (page 78/79)

“’I’m tired of trying to find you in all this.’ And with that, he walked out the door. Mack determined that this was the last time he would go looking for God. If God wanted him, God would have to come find him.” (page 80) Who finds who? Do we find God or does God find us? Remember the story of Zaccheus (“Hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today. Luke” 19:5) or the story of Jesus intrusion into the disciple’s life, “Follow, I will make you fishers of men.” In chapter 6 Mackenzie says “I feel totally lost” and Papa says “Then let’s see if we can find you in this mess.” (page 97) Notice hwo God finds Mack in the chaos and not the other way around.

How would you explain the Trinity if someone asked you to? A black women named Elousia (“God is salvation”) or Papa who smelled like Mack’s mother, a Middle Eastern Jewish man dressed like a laborer and an Asian women named Sarayu (Hindi for common wind) who tended the garden. “Since there were three of them, maybe this was a Trinity sort of thing…Which one of you is God?... ‘I am,’ said all three in unison.” How does this “Trinity” force or allow or challenge you to think about the triune God?

Chapter 6 A Piece of Pi

“Calling you Papa is a bit of a stretch for me” (page 91)…I am neither male nor female, even though both genders are derived from my nature…To reveal myself to you as a very large white grandfatherly figure with flowing beard, like Gandalf, would simply reinforce your religious stereotypes, and this weekend is not about reinforcing your religious stereotypes.” What are your religious stereotypes for God? What are the good things about those ways of imaging God and what are the difficulties? Jesus called God “Abba”. What was the purpose of this personal name for God? Genesis 1:26,27 says: “Then God (Elohim) said, ‘Let us create humankind in our image, according to our likeness….so God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” What do you think of this passage in light of the parable we are reading? Did you know that in the Old Testament there are several names for God including Elohim, Yahweh, El Shaddai, Adonai?

“If you couldn’t take care of Missy, how can I trust you to take care of me?” (page 92) When Mack asks this question he is entering into the question of “theodicy”- questioning the righteousness of God. If God is all powerful and all good and yet bad things happen how can all this fit together? This is the question that Rabbi Harold Kushner asks in “When Bad Things Happen to Good People”. Kushner’s conclusion in a nutshell is that God isn’t as all powerful as we think. What is the answer or conversation that is offered in “The Shack”. A couple other books to read on this subject are by two Christian authors C.S. Lewis’ “A Grief Observed”, Philip Yancey’s “Where is God When it Hurts” or another Jewish author Mitch Albom’s “Tuesdays with Morrie”.

“You knew I would come, didn’t you?” Mack finally spoke quietly. “Of course I did.” She (Papa) was busy again with her back to him. “Then, was I free not to come? Did I have a choice in the matter?” …”Good question- how deep would you like to go?...”Do you believe you are free to leave?” “I suppose I am. Am I?” “Of course you are! I’m not interested in prisoners” “Or if you want to go a wee bit deeper, we could talk about the nature of freedom itself. Does freedom mean that you are allowed to do whatever you want to do? Or we could talk about all the limiting influences in your life.” (And Papa goes on to talk about genetic heritage; your souls sickness that inhibits and binds you (ie. sin); and the cultural influences of advertising, propaganda and paradigms.) What is freedom really? “Only I can set you free, Mackenzie, but freedom can never be forced.” How does this passage affect your understanding of human freedom? How do these readings on freedom resonate with what Papa says in the parable? “Now the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3:17); “For freedom, Christ has set you free” (Galatians 5:1); “We have heard with our ears, O God (Elohim) our ancestor have told us…you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but you set them free.” (Psalm 44:1,2)

“Mackenzie, the Truth shall set you free and the Truth has a name; he’s over in the woodshop right now covered in sawdust. Everything is about him. And freedom is a process that happens inside a relationship with him. Then all the stuff you find churning around inside will start to work its way out….Mack noticed the scars in her wrists, like those he now assumed Jesus also had on his. She allowed him to tenderly touch the scars.” (page 95) What do you make of the fact that God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all part of our redemption on the cross?

“You were created to be loved. So for your to live as if you were unloved is a limitation, not the other way around.” (page 97) God uses the image of a bird not flying as an image of human living as if we are unloved. “Pain has a way of clipping our wings and keeping us from being able to fly.” (page 95) “Love and relationship. All love and relationship is possible for you only because it already exisits within Me. Within God myself. Love is not a limitation; love is the flying. I am love.” (page 101) This statement by Papa is from 1 John 4:8 “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

The Shack Session 3 "Conversing with the Triune God"

2008-09-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

Conversations around the Shack, Session 3 “Conversing with a Triune God”

Chapter 7 “God on the Dock”

“So this was God in relationship? It was beautiful and so appealing.” (p.105) These are Mack’s thoughts on the relationship within the triune God. Have you ever thought about the relationship of God with Godself? How does this idea square with the idea presented in Chapter 6 “All love and relationship is possible for you only because it already exists within me…I am love.” (p. 101) or the idea later in Chapter 7 “Relationships are never about power, and one way to avoid the will to power us to choose to limit oneself- to serve.” (p. 106)

What do you think about the idea of devotion as “affirming and celebrating God” described in page 107?

Mack speaks about the “real indwelling” of God with Godself and with humanity in page 112. The theological name for this “perichorisis”. What does this mean about the intimacy of God is relationship with God and us?

Chapter 8 “A Breakfast of Champions”

Hierarchy of the Trinity? “I have always thought of God the Father as sort of being the boss and Jesus as the one following orders, you know, being obedient. I’m not sure how the Holy Spirit fits in exactly.” (page 121) How have you usually thought of the hierarchy of the trinity? What do you think of God’s response “We have no concept of final authority among us, only unity. We are a circle of relationship, not a chain of command. (page 122) What do you think of this response? If we are created in the image of this kind of God, what are the implications for us?

Mack challenges God with these words: “You may not cause these things, but you certainly don’t stop them.” (page 125) Again, Mack is judging God in what we call theodicy. God’s ultimate response to Mack is “The real underlying flaw in your life, Mackenzie, is that you don’t think that I am good. If you knew I was good and the everything- the menas, the ends and all the processes of individual lives- is all covered by my goodness, then while you might not always understand what I’m doing, you would trust me. But you don’t.” (page 126) What do you think of this as a possible definition of original sin- not trusting God, believing God is good.

Chapter 9 “A Long Time Ago in a Garden Far, Far Away”

Chapter 9 provides another insight into theodicy from Sarayu: “Humans have a great capacity for declaring something good or evil, without truly knowing”. (page 133) Mack responds like most of us: “I would say that something is good when I like it- when it makes me feel good or gives me a sense of security. Conversely, I’d call something evil if it causes me pan or costs me something I want.” (page 134) Do you agree with Sarayu’s assessment that for humans, good and evil is highly subjective and our decided good and evil is in itself divisive and destructive? What about Sarayu’s reframing of the idea of evil to describe it as “the absence of Good” and since the triune God is good and light and love and life, then evil is when we are separated from God. Sarayu even goes farther to say that independence from God is evil.

What do you think about the image of a messy but beautiful garden of flowers as a representation of our soul- a mess but incredible and wonderful at the same time.

Chapter 10 “Wade in the Water”

Jesus asks Mack a good question for all of us to answer: “Where do you spend most of your time in your mind, in your imagination, in the present, in the past, or in the future?” Jesus correctly anticipates Mack’s answer that he spend most of his time worrying about the future and rarely is Jesus in that picture. What about you?

Jesus forces Mack to think about the difference between coercive power and mutual submission in page 145. The triune God exists in mutual submission to each other and even to created human beings?!! (page 145) When Mack confesses his relational failures, Jesus invites him into a process of repentance and change that we call metanioa. “It is so simple, but never easy for you. By returning . By returning back to me. By giving up your ways of power and manipulation and just come back to me.” (page 147) What are some of the practical implication of this for us?

Finally Jesus talks about being a disciple. “Being my follower is not trying to be like Jesus, it means for your independence to be killed. I came to give you life, real life, my life…but we will never force that union on you.” How radical is this demand “for your independence to be killed”? Why does Jesus say that our independence is what gets in the way of our relationship with God and with each other? How can we, square this challenge, with the culture which asserts with every breath that we must be independent?

The Shack Session 4 "Judgement, Jesus and Grace

2008-09-01T08:06:00.000-07:00

Session 4 The Shack Chapters 11-14 “Judgment and Jesus and Grace

Chapter 11 “Here Come da Judge

The chapter starts with a quote from Einstein “Whoever undertakes to set himself up as judge of truth and knowledge is ship wrecked by the laughter of the gods.” When Mack is asked to say which of his children he loves the most, his response is that he loves each one of them differently. What do you think of Sophia’s challenge “You don’t believe that the Father loves his children very well, do you? You don’t truly believe God is good, do you?” (page 156) What about Sophia’s challenge to Mack to judge his own children? “I’m only asking you to do something that you believe God does.” (page 162) And what do you think of Mack’s response “Could I go instead? If you need someone to torture for all eternity, I’ll go in their place.” (page 163) While he still doesn’t seem to understand God’s motivation, he at least understands God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ. What insight does this dialogue give you about God’s judgment? How is your understanding of judgment changing? How about your understanding of sovereignty “This was no plan of Papa’s. Papa has never needed evil to accomplish his good purposes. It is you humans who have embraced evil and Papa has responded with goodness. What happened to Missy was the work of evil and no one in your world is immune from it.” (page 165)

What do you think of the vision of Missy and Mack’s other children does for Mack? What does it say about God?

Chapter 12 In the Belly of the Beast

Jesus also tells Mack a difficult truth when he says “Because you are so lost and independent you bring to her (Sophia) many complications, and as a result you find even her simplicity profound.” (page 172) This statement anticipates the words of Paul “God chose what is simple to shame the wise.”

Jesus also tells Mack a comforting truth about Missy. “Mack, she was never alone. I never left her; we never left her for one instant. I could no more abandon her, or you, than I could abandon myself” (page 173) Do you think Mack could have heard or accepted this statement if he had not seen Missy in the cave with Jesus? Jesus’ promised presence is not just for Missy but also with Mack. Mack responds by saying “Thank you for being with me, for talking to me about Missy. I haven’t really talked about it with anyone. It just felt so huge and terrifying. It doesn’t seem to hold the same power now.” (page 174) How do you talk to God? What gets in the way of going to God with those huge terrifying problems?

Jesus speaks again about the sovereignty of God. “And out of what seems to be a huge mess, Papa weaves a magnificent tapestry. Only Papa can work all this out, and she does it with grace” “So I guess all I can do is follow her” Mack concluded. “Yep, that’s the point. Now you’re beginning to understand what it is to be truly human.” (page 177) Theologian Paul Lehman once said “In Jesus Christ, God reveal what it is to be truly human”. Contrast the difference between thinking of real humanity as independence verses real humanity as following God completely and fully.

What do you think of Jesus description of the church “It is a picture of my bride, the Church; individuals who together form a spiritual city with a living river flowing through the middle and on both shores trees growing with fruit that will heal the sorrow and the hurt of the nations.” (page 177) Bill Hybels of Willow Creek calls the church the “Hope of the world”. How can we square these lofty images of the church with Mack’s critique that “She’s not the place I go on Sundays” (page 177) How about Jesus response “What I see are people and their lives, a living breathing community of all those who love me, not buildings and programs.” (page 178)

Chapter 13 “A Meeting of the Hearts”

Mack revisits the legend of the Indian Princess and asks “Did she have die so that you could change me?” This is one of the common explanations of tragedy ‘to teach us something’. Papa refutes that common understanding when he says, “Mack , just because I work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn’t mean that I orchestrate the tragedies…grace does not depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering you will find grace in many facets and colors.” (page 185) Notice how Papa refocuses Mack’s question about atoning death from Missy back to Jesus. Why is that so important?

What do you think of Papa’s critique of guilt? “Guilt will never help you find freedom in me. The best it can do is make you try harder to conform to some ethic on the outside. I’m about the inside.” (page 187) This statement echoes what Jesus said to the Pharisees in Scripture when he tells them that it’s not what is on the outside of the cup but what is on the inside that matters.( Matt. 2325,26) Alan Torrance in his book, The Doctrine of God and Theological Ethics, makes the point that ethics is not “heroic obedience to impersonal laws’ but rather participating in communion with God through Jesus . What do you think is the difference between ethical behavior that grows out of guilt and fear versus ethical behavior that grows out of communion with the Triune God of love and mercy and righteousness. Does it look or taste or feel different?

Chapter 14 “Verbs and Other Freedoms”

What did you think of the exchange between Mack and Sarayu when Mack says: “Somehow it seemed easier to live with God when I thought of him as the demanding taskmaster…at least I seemed to have things under control.” And Sarayu replies “Seemed is the right word. What did it get you? The Great Sadness and more pain than you could bear, pain that spilled over even on those you care for the most.” (page 196) It is so tempting to think of God as a demanding task master and our job simply to fulfill the tasks. That propels us into a works righteousness which the Reformers tried to steer us away from.

Papa uses the analogy of parent to child to help Mack understand that God’s love is not dependent on what the child does and does well. However the analogy falls down when Mack says: “But I do feel more fulfilled because they are in my life- do you? “ “No,” said Papa. “We are already fully fulfilled within ourself. You are designed to be in community as well, made as you are in our image. So for you to feel that way about your children …is perfectly natural and right. Keep in mind Mackenzie, that I am not a human being…” (page 201) This part of the book lifts us how we are created in the image of God as relational beings so that community is part of that image of God and yet God doesn’t need us.

Concluding Conversation around "The Shack"

2008-09-01T07:58:00.000-07:00

August 31 Concluding Conversations in and about The Shack
Chapter 15 A Festival of Friends

Chapter 15 begins with a cascade of colors to describe the uniqueness of each person and each relationship. Why does the author use the symbolism of colors? What do they mean and how does this image move us forward in understanding God and each other? What do you make of Saranyu opening Mack’s eyes in light of the Gospel of Matthew (13:14-17) quoting Isaiah 6:9-10: “You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and understand with their heart and turn- and I would heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.” It is an interesting passage to read in light of Sarayu’s statement “Just imagine, Mackenzie, if I had touched not only your eyes, but also your tongue and nose and ears.” (page 217)

Think about Jesus appearance on page 216 in light of the song “At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, every tongue in heaven shall confess him now.”

Chapter 16 A Morning of Sorrows

Did you notice how Papa’s response to Mack’s desire to do everything the same from worship to eating is “Nothing is ritual”. What is the author trying to tell us with this exchange?

Why was Papa able to appear to Mack as a father in this chapter?

Page 222 is such a different exchange between Mack and Papa than before. Papa says: “Could I have prevented what happened to Missy? The answer is yes …you cannot possibly understand now. At this point all I have to offer you as an answer is my love and goodness, and my relationship with you. I did not purpose Missy’s death, but that doesn’t mean I can’t use it for good”. And Mack responds “You’re right. I don’t grasp it very well. I think I see a glimpse for a second and then all the longing and loss that I feel seems to rise up and tell me that what I thought I saw just couldn’t be true. But I do trust you…Papa I do trust you.” Has God changed? How has Mack’s understanding of God changed? How would Mack answer the question “Do you really trust me…do you really think I’m good” from earlier in the story?

What do you think about the discussion of forgiveness? “Forgiveness is for you the forgiver, to release you from something that will eat you alive; that will destroy your joy and your ability to love fully and openly. So you think this man cares about the pain and torment you have gone through? If anything, he feeds on that knowledge…forgiveness in no way requires you to trust the one your forgive…forgiveness does not excuse anything…but don’t let the anger and pain and loss you feel prevent you from forgiving him and removing your hands from around is neck.” (page 225-227)

What about the healing power of tears? Remember when Papa said to Mack on the beginning of the trip “You will need a father today”. What do you think about the fact that even with God by his side Mack had to go through the incredible pain of discovering his little girl’s body? What comfort was there in God’s presence for Mack?

Chapter 17 Choices of the Heart

What do you think of the choice that God gave Mack to stay with the Triune God and with Missy or to go back to be with Nan and the children? Do you hear the words of the apostle Paul in the choice “Whether I live or whether I die I am the Lord’s.” Why do you suppose Mack chose to go back? Was he really going “back” or was he finally going forward.

What did you think of the meal that Mack ate with God on page 236 “”Without any ritual, without any ceremony, they savored the warm bread and shared the wine and laughed about the stranger moments of the weekend.” How did this communion meal punctuate the weekend together and what does this scene say to you about the meaning of communion?

Chapter 18 Outbound Ripples

Three words are pivotal in this chapter: the words Mack speaks to Willie from God “Tell Willie that I’m especially fond of him”; the word Mack tells Kate “It wasn’t your fault. Nobody blames you for what happened”; and the words Nan says to Mack “I believe you”. Why are these words so pivotal and emotional and what do they tell us about our faith walk with God and each other?
After Words

What do you think about the transformation of Mack? “He’s a human being that continues through a process of change like the rest of us. Only he welcomes it while I tend to resist it. I have noticed that he loves larger than most, is quick to forgive, and even quicker to ask for forgiveness. The transformations in him have causes quite a ripple through his community of relationships- and not all of them easy. But I have to tell you I’ve never been around an adult who lives life with such simplicity and joy. Somehow he has become a child again. ” (page 247) What does this say in light of scriptures calling: “Unless we become like little children we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.”

What do you think about the revolution Mack hopes for: “that revolves around Jesus and what he did for us all and what he continues to do in anyone who has a hunger for reconciliation and a place to call home.” (page 248) Think about this in light of the beatitude “Blessed or those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
Read the last Trinitarian ascription again: “And one day, when all is revealed, every one of us will bow our knee and confess in the power of Sarayu that Jesus is Lord of all Creation, to the glory of Papa.” (page 248) How do those words speak to you differently than before you had read this book?

Last Session of Intuitive Leadership Study

2008-08-16T15:57:00.000-07:00

Session Study of “Intuitive Leadership” by Tim Keel
Section 3: Embracing the Possibility
Study notes prepared by Rob Erickson
“I do not believe great organizations have ever been built by trying to emulate another, any more that individual greatness is achieved by trying to copy another “great person.” In this quote from Peter Senge (The Fifth Discpline), Tim Keel is encouraging us to be ourselves in ministry and not try to be someone else. Keel critiques the “cutting-edge ministry tour that began in the 1980s with the contemporary worship movement, went on to the small group movement, continued into the 1990s with the seeker targeted church movement, and later evolved into packaged ministry expressions such as Alpha evangelism ministry and Purpose Driven Life curriculums like the ’40 Days of Purpose’” (page 216) Whereas the original ministries grew out of individual churches and church leaders assessing there gifts and calling and applying those gifts to ministry, the copy cat ministries grow out of an expressed need to reach some target group that is not being reached.

Keel goes on to say “My experience tells me that when you try to reach someone or some group or something, you end up chasing not just a nonexistent caricature but he wrong thing altogether.” (page 215) Whereas we at Covenant are often suspicious of the latest ministry fad, we are also guilty of “targeting certain groups” and borrowing programs that “reach out” to those groups in the hope of establishing a ministry for and with that group. Our efforts at Contemporary Sunday night worship, Alpha outreach to Young Adults, “47 Days of Preparation (Lenten Study in 2005) are examples of our efforts to reach out to certain populations with programs similar to ones that other churches had pioneered.

Tim Keel sets a new challenge before churches: figure out what it means for our community to abide in Christ. He suggests that “the ability to reach people, is a natural by-product and sign of a healthy church ecosystem functioning as it should.” (page 220) “We have to “intuit what is going on and learn to respond in ways that have integrity to who we are, where we are, and who we have been.” 9page 222) What is unique about us? How is God using us? Where is God here?

Tim Keel offers a proposal to us and anyone who reads his book. “God is alive and at work in you, your community, and your context. Our world is filled with possibility because of who God is and what he is doing in creation. God longs for our participation with him, and at the same time God is on the move. Jesus said ‘Follow me’ and he meant it. He is going somewhere and if we are to keep pace, we must follow. That means we must move. I can’t give you any answers. All I can do is propose some posture- ways of positioning our selves that allow us a greater chance of catching God at work among us.” (page 223) At the Willow Creek Leadership Summit last week at Westlink, I was challenged to think of what ministry are we uniquely positioned to do, by our temperament, our passion, our position in the community and our relationships with God and each other. I would extend that same challenge to you in this study. What ministries are we being called to do and who are we being called to be by God? What is it that we do as part of the Kingdom of God, that if our church we not here would be terribly missed?

Tim Keel asks a series of questions in his last chapter about leadership posturing:
1) What if leaders refused to take the posture of expert and took the posture of humble and engaged learner? (page 230)
2) What is leaders assumed a posture of vulnerability that allowed them to access their heart and make them available to God and their people? (pg 232)
3) What if leaders began to invite their people with them into these kinds of spaces in order to engage with God on agenda free grounds and discern the still small voice of God? (pg 237)
4) What if leaders sought to stay present in the midst of chaos in order to discern the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit hovering in love and creativity over a new act of creation? (pg 240)
5) What if leaders assumed a posture of cultivation, of kneeling and digging in the earth, of planting and watering, of weeding and culling and ultimately harvesting? 9pg 242)
In each of these postures these is a basic assumption of trust in God, our faith and our communities. Keel suggests that the by product of trust is deep joy, knowing we are loved.

Study Notes for "The Shack" Chapters 2, 3, 4

2008-08-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

Chapter 2 The Gathering Dark
Context of the story- Oregon’s Gorge and Multnoma Falls, Columbia River Gorge. What about the redemption story of the Indian princess? How do you think the exchange between Missy and Mack anticipates Mack’s conversations with Jesus? “Daddy, how come she had to die?...Honey, she didn’t have to die. She chose to die to save her people. They were very sick and she wanted them to be healed.” (page 30)
”Is the Great Spirit another name for God- you know Jesus’ papa?...Then how come he is so mean…making the princess jump off the cliff and Jesus die on the cross.” …”Sweetheart, Jesus didn’t think his daddy was mean. He thought his daddy was full of love and loved him very much. His daddy didn’t make him die. Jesus chose to die because he and his daddy loved you and me and everyone in the world. He saved us from our sickness, just like the princess.” Mack is offering an explanation for the atonement here. What do you think of this explanation? Does Mack really believe it?
“Will God ever ask me to jump off a cliff? No, Missy. He would never ask you to do anything like that.” Here Mack is talking about the reality of evil and the sovereignty of God.

Chapter 3 The Tipping Point
Mack describes Nan’s job “She helps people think through their relationship with God in the face of their own death…Nan’s a lot better than I am. I guess she thinks about God differently than most folks. She even calls him Papa because of the closeness of their relationship, if that makes sense….I’m not comfortable with it (referring to God as Papa). It’s just seems a little too familiar for me. Anyway, Nan has a wonderful father, so I think it’s easier for her”. This statement foreshadows Mack’s conversation with God later in the parable and his struggle with language for God and openness to God.
In the incident with the canoe tipping how many people felt guilty? Mack’s words to Emil “This wasn’t your fault and everyone’s ok”. What about Mack guilt when he discovers that everyone wasn’t ok?

Chapter 4 The Great Sadness
“It is so easy to get sucked into the if-only game and playing it is a short slippery slide into despair. If only he had decided not to take the kids on that trip; if only he had said no when they asked to use the canoe; if only he had left the day before; , if only, if only, if only.” And then to have it all end with nothing. The fact that he was unable to bury Missy’s body magnified his failure as her daddy.” (page 65) Have you ever played the “if only game”? What are other options?

Study Notes for the Shack

2008-08-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

About a month ago a couple people from Covenant suggested that I read the Shack. As I mentioned on an earlier blog, I happened to read "The Shack" while I was on vacation in Oregon, which just happens to be the setting for the story. I was struck by the story as a way to start to discuss the mystery of the Trinity and the value of understanding the Triune God at work in our lives. After I got back from Vacation several people asked that we have a conversation around this book. We started the conversation on August 3rd and would like to invite you into the conversation as well. The following are study notes from our class that provide the conversation starters. We would love for you to be internet partners in the conversation around this parable of faith.

Conversation around the book “The Shack”August 3, 2008 Read pages 1-66 “The Great Sadness”
Forward: Type of story- Parable written for his children.
“Mack is not very religious. He seems to have a love/hate relationship with Religion, and maybe even with the God that he suspects is brooding distant, and aloof” (page 10) What words would you use to describe God?
“He wanted a narrative to help him express to them (his wife and children) understand what has been going on in his inside world. You know that place: where there is just you alone- and maybe God, if you believe in him. Of course, God might be there even if you don’t believe in him. That would be just like him. He hasn’t been called the Grand Interferer for nothing.” (page 12) What are names that you use to describe God? What are names or images that are comfortable for you in expressing who God is? Have you ever heard of or thought of God as the “Grand Interferer”? What are the implications of that name for God?
Chapter 1 A Confluence of Paths
“There is something joyful about storms that interrupt routine. Snow or freezing rain suddenly releases you from expectations, performance demands, and the tyranny of appointments and schedules.” (page 15) What about interruptions in your life? Mack receives a note signed Papa (God) but he doesn’t tell anyone. Why not? Have you ever received a message that you suspected might be from God and not told anyone?

Second Journey Down the Intuitive Leadership Path

2008-07-18T14:05:00.000-07:00

Study Notes for Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor & Chaos Section 2: Engaging Context pages 103-213

The first part of Tim Keels Book invited us to look at our own story or narrative and to start to understand how our story and narrative relate to God’s story and narrative. The second section of Intuitive Leadership looks at the context of our ministry and how we engage the context. Keel describes the “Postmodern” culture as “living in a time that is simply past modernity” (pg. 104). He goes on to say “Postmodern culture is a culture with porous boundaries and loose definitions. Postmodernity is about the collapse of the rigidly defined categories of modernity and of the blending of previously untainted essences…it is the culture of the remix…mixing of ideas, images, values, and words”. (pg. 113) How do you describe this post modern time? What are some of the challenges and some of the opportunities offered by such a context for ministry?

Keel talks about the “Graphic Revolution that begins to move communication increasingly away from mere word conveyed through text into the world of images..” (pg. 127) Keel says that “If we want to be transformed to live, serve, and love in the way of Jesus, we must creatively and faithfully cultivate space (physical, emotional, intellectual, relational, artistic) where the whole person (body, soul, mind and spirit) can encounter God, others and themselves in the context of creation.” (pg. 130) This sounds in harmony with our VBS curriculum and the Shema “Love the Lord your God with all you heart and soul and might” (Deuteronomy 6 :4,5) How do we at Covenant cultivate space for the whole person to encounter God? Do we provide opportunities for left AND right brained people in worship, education and mission?

Keel offers some suggestions to help us rekindle our imagination. “We need to begin to engage the Scripture to fire our imagination…We need every kind of intelligence fully engaged and playfully and creatively leveraged for the kingdom of God. We need women and men who have previously been on the margins…we need mystics… poets…prophets… apostles… artists. We need all these types of people to reclaim or discover faith in new ways.” Would this really be a good thing? What might this look like in our church?

“Former congressional chaplain, Dr. Richard Halverson once said, ‘Christianity was birthed in Galilee as a relationship. It spread to Greece and became a philosophy. It spread to Rome and became an empire. It spread to Britain and became a culture. It spread to America and became an enterprise.” (pg. 142) What do you think of Halverson’s characterization of Christianity and its evolution? What are the implications for us today in our “postmodern world.” Keel observes that “Willow Creek represents the final creative response of the modern church in America grasping for identity, impact, and influence as Christendom gasps and breathes its last breath in the West.” (pg. 151)

Keel finally argues that the church must become missional. “In a culture that has moved out of Christendom and into a marginal identity, the whole context of the life of the community becomes mission… The church is that community of people gathered around Jesus Christ in order to participate in his life and incarnate it into the context where he has placed them. The invitation from God is for us to start right here, not just the exotic out there.” (pg. 155) Keel is arguing that every local church is in fact a mission in the culture in which we find ourselves. HE argues that “the work of Jesus was not a new set of ideals or principles for reforming or even revolutionizing society, but he establishment of a new community, a people that embodied forgiveness, sharing and self-sacrificing love in its rituals and disciplines…it is an alternate reality based on the person of Jesus Christ.” What do you think about this? This sounds like the radical Jesus Bill Brewer used to talk about. What are the implications for this type of understanding in the church?

Keel says “we cannot approach God acontextually. We always experience and know God provisionally within a context.” In other words our understanding of God is always influenced by our context. Keel also says that “Communities engaging with the missional context of our age must be aware of the fact that they are theology-generating communities….Theology is always the by-product of an implicit or explicit dialogue that churches (personally and communally) are having with the tradition from which they arise and the living culture in which they reside.” What is the embedded theology of Covenant? “The missional context of our culture is one that increasingly demands creativity…It requires a different kind of organization that empowers and unleashes creativity.” (pg. 200)

Three Journeys to Jerusalem

2008-07-16T08:09:00.000-07:00

When I started in ministry 22 years ago I never thought I would have the opportunity, or take the opportunity to go to Jerusalem. Now twenty-two years later I have been to Jerusalem three times and each time I have discovered something new in this embattled city which still carries a "vision of peace" for the world.

The first trip Joan and I took was nearly 20 years ago with the Presbytery of Philadelphia as we were trying to understand the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. It was during the Intifada (the uprising) and we spoke with politicians on both sides. We toured a Middle Council of Churches school in the Gaza Strip, a settlement in the West Bank, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem, a School in Nazareth, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, a hospital in Ramalla, and the Holocaust Museum. It was a heart wrenching trip as we heard the pain and fears of Palestinians and Israelis alike. I came away understanding that the issues were more complext than I could imagine or fully understanding. It was a once in a lifetime experience that I didn't think I would ever do again.

The second trip caught me by surprise. Our denomination passed an Overture at the 2004 General Assembly to consider divesting in companies who were involved in bulldozing Palestian houses or building the security fence (wall) seperating Palestinian and Israeli territory. After this GA action, I received a call from Sam Muyskens at Interfaith Ministry who said there were several area rabbis who wanted to talk to Presbyterian pastors about this GA action. Joan and I were two of a group of several Presbyterian and Jewish clergy and leaders that started to meet regularly to talk about why the security fence was being built and the issues around it. We discovered that we had very different perspectives on this issue and in an effort to try to understand each other we decided to engage our churches and synagogues in a shared study of Genesis. We discovered that even when we look at the same scripture that we interpret that scripture differently. So we decided that perhaps we needed to go to Israel together to see through each others eyes, and to hear with each other's ears to better understand each other around this issue. We also decided that the trip must include not only Christian and Jewish representatives but also Muslim representatives and include a visit to Jordan as well as Israel and the Palestinian territories. When we left for the Holy Land in the winter of 2008, we were a group of twelve: 7 Christians, 3 Jews and 2 Muslims. I hadn't planned on going back to Jerusalem but I couldn't resist this opportunity to see the Holy Land through different eyes and to share my faith with other colleagues and friends. It was a powerful experience and very different from the first trip. Several of our Jewish colleagues had lived or extended stays in Israel. Our Muslim brothers reflected Suni and Shiite faith and were originally from Syria and Iran so we had an opportunity to learn about these distinctions and perspectives as we toured each others religious sites together and processed what we saw and heard each night. Again we worshipped at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre but it was different as our Jewish and Muslim friends looked on. Again we visited the Western Wall but it was different as we heard the whole history of the Wall and worshipped at the site with our Jewish and Mslim friends We all woshipped toether at a synagoge, we spent time in prayer with a Suffi Shiek and we went to a Lutheran Church and worshipped in Arabic and English. We studied the Koran, Torah and the New Testament together in the origianl langauges and in English. We discovered that indeed our faiths are different, our stories are different and yet we could appreciate each other's perspective, story and faith. We went on our journey as travellers together and we came back as friends and colleages. And we met Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders during our trip who were working on the ground, every day for peace. We were an encouragement for them and they were an encouragement for us. And our trip to Jordan bore fruit as we met with a wonderful Palestinian family who had realtives in Wichita and a heart warming sory to share. As we shared dessert in this home we knew that we had been blessed with a life changing experience. On the way back to Israel we stopped at Mt. Nebo, where Moses had seen the promised land that he would never get to inhabit. In some ways we felt like Moses. We had a vision for peace, but it was unclear that we would see peace in our lifetimes.

And that gets me to the last trip to Jerusalem. This trip I took without leaving Wichita. It was our Vacation Bible School curriculum this year: Jerusalem Market place. Our VBS planners transformed our church and Great Room into a Jerusalem market place. We has potters, spice mearchants, weavers, bakers, carpenters, basket weavers, beggars, prophets, rabbis. The kids were put into the twelve tribes of Israel and we learned about the last week of Jesus life even as we learned about Jerusalem life and culture. And the kids taught me not just to learn with my mind but to learn with my heart and soul and srength. They taught me to use all my senses: touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing to discover the Gospel. And in the closing ceremony, as I was talking about the concept of "shalom" as peace, wholeness, health, welcome; a little boy raised his hand. He said, you forgot "chevarim" the Hebrew word for "friend". The song we sang was "Shalom chevarim". He was right. He was reminding me of what I had learned on my last trip to Israel. It is not so much what you learn about peace but who you learn from and with. It is about the God who loves us so much that he entered into Jeruslaem even at risk to his own life so that he could save our lives. It is about Christ's commandment to "love each other that all will know we are his disciples." It is about loving the stranger, the alien and even our enemy. My latest trip taught me that the peace we seek in Jerusalem is for our children and the Israeli children and the Palestinian children and it will come as we get to know each other and care for each other the way I now know and care for my travel companions. I thank God for my three trips to Jerusalem and for my partners in each journey.

An Adventure in Leadership

2008-07-01T14:07:00.000-07:00

I teach a class on "Leadership & Discpleship" in the Friends University Master of Arts in Christian Ministry program and I am always looking for good resources on Leadership. I was looking for a resource that would speak to leadership in the church today that is reformed and always being reformed according to God's word. I was not interested in another formulaic resource, "Do as I do and your church will thrive and grow like mine" but rather a resource that spoke to the ever changing, growing, and organic church systems that I have come to know and love in my 22 years of ministry. My friend and colleague Dr. Chris Kettler introduced me to such a book, Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor and Chaos, written by Tim Keel of Jacob's Well in Kansas City, Missouri. I was so impressed with the book that I introduced it to our Session (elders in our church) and we are studying it over the summer. Included in this blog is the study session for the first section of the book. You are invited to read it along with us and use these study notes to explore leadership in the real, messy and wonderful churches you serve.

Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor and Chaos
Written by Tim Keel of Jacob’s Well in Kansas City, Missouri

Three parts to the book
-Entering the Story- June reading pages 1-100
-Engaging Context- July reading pages 101-209
-Embracing Possibility- August reading pages 210-266
Keel argues that our stories shape us and that we need to understand our stories in order to better understand where we are on our faith journey. How did you first learn about your faith? Who was your mentor or guide? How did you live out your faith?

“Stories shape and create identity- not just for individuals. They shape identity for families, communities, and cultures. We are awash in stories, and when they are good and well told, they can locate us in the world even when that world seems chaotic and without purpose. Throughout history people have told stories and been shaped by them and in doing so they have discovered and constructed ways of understanding who they are and what is happening in the world around them.” (page 33 )

“Following Christ and seeking to be faithful has hijacked my life in a way that I could never have anticipated. That part of being faithful to Christ has led me to participate in the growing of a church plant.” (page 49)

Tim Keel argues that rather than accepting what other churches are doing and jumping into the latest theological or evangelical fad, that we pay attention to our own story, embrace our own story and let our story, our strengths and our unique character and faith guide us. If we were to look at our church, what story would we tell? How did we start? Where did we come from? Where have we traveled in the past 27 years?

“Our faith became domesticated, made in our own image, deprived of its wildness. In our pursuit of the systematic, rational, objective, and universal, we lost the particular, imaginative, poetic, and creative. I am afraid that we lost the ability to discern and follow the Spirit of God, especially as he leads us un places unfamiliar and unknown to our domesticated faith” (page 43)

“We have been called to freedom and courage. We are called to story; to remember; to live; to tell.” (page 43)

Keel argues that our individual stories and our corporate story intersect with God’s story as revealed in Scripture. What are the stories that shape our lives in the Bible? What are the stories that we go back to as our organizing principal in work, parenting, faith, community, church? Who are the theologians who help us interpret scripture and our own faith? Karl Barth wrote a book called The Strange New World of the Bible.

“The Bible as the story about the confusing presence of a personal deity engaging bizarrely unpredictable people in astounding and mudane wasys over a long period of time.” (page 36)

“God revealed himself in a specific time, in a specific place, among a specific people. God did not create a divine subculture and then wait for humanity to wise up and join in. God joined the story. God got dirty. God entered. God engaged. And this is the calling of the church as well- to join in and participate in God’s story at work in the world.” ( page 70)

Tim Keel’s critique of twentieth century suburban Christianity: “They lost their way of life. They entered a way of life that was compartmentalized, disintegrated, individualistic, subcultured, ghettoized, programmed, and purpose driven.” (page 72)

Keel’s recommendation: “Is there an alternative? I believe there is, and I am beginning to hint at it with the concepts of story, community and experimentation. When we think about creating an environment that might give rise to life in response to the Holy Spirit and the world we live in today, we must cherish and engage our context.” (page 77)

Keel's own experience with Jacob’s Well: "We wanted to be a place where people who were searching could join us, ask real and probing questions, and together with us seek God in spirit and truth. We wanted to create a space that would allow us to form a community what would be hospitable to the people in our lives whom we wanted to bring to the Messiah. And to do this we experimented our way into finding the kingdom that Jesus declared in our midst." (page 88)

What are the main ideas we can take with us as leaders at Covenant? What ideas do we not accept as we explore Keel’s writings in the context of our church and culture? Where do we already connect with the concepts he is lifting up in our living our faith and being the church?