Wireless in Austin

I have been out of town for a few days. I flew up to Buffalo to get my father and drive him to Austin. He is in poor health and he can get better care down here. So, I flew out Friday morning to Buffalo, left Friday night by car from Buffalo and got into Austin last night. Now I am waiting on a plane to fly back to Corpus and hopefully take a nap.

Just in case you keep track of these things, Austin's airport is probably the best place to wait for a plane. They have gourmet coffee, world class bbq and wireless internet. If it weren't for the security screening, it would be a pleasant place to hang out.

See ya back in Corpus.

peace,

will

Easily Offended? Some More Reading

I think people who are easily offended miss out on a lot of stuff. We all have certain areas that we are a little touchy about. In those areas of my life, I miss opportunities to broaden my perspective because I am too sensitive about the issue. For a lot of folks, religion is just such an area. There are certain boundaries that once people cross, our defense mechanisms kick in and we stop listening. What we miss out on in the realm of religion is the opportunity to see our faith from another point of view and perhaps deepen and strengthen our beliefs.

This is all a long way to get to talk about the latest book I have read Lamb, The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore. It was a Christmas gift from my wife Alisha and it was recommended to her by a close friend. Let me start with this: based on what I started this entry with, if you are easily offended about issues related to religion, Christianity or anything faith related, perhaps this book is not for you. Christopher Moore is not a religious writer, nor is he trying to write about religion. He says clearly in his "afterword",

The book you have just read is a story. I made it up. It is not designed to change anyone’s beliefs or worldview, unless after reading it you’ve decided to be kinder to your fellow human beings (which is okay), or you decide you would like to try to teach yoga to an elephant, in which case, please get videotape.[1]

That aside, this is one of the funniest books I have read in a long time. However, it isn’t just humor at the expense of Jesus or Christianity. Moore takes a lighthearted guess at what Jesus younger years might have been like. He did some great research to try and make an educated guess based on what we do know about that time in that part of the world (he does a really great job with the different factions of Judaism present during Jesus’ time), but from there he just makes stuff up. Whether he intended to or not, he ends up doing some great theology. If you can read this book through non-sensitive eyes you might start to see some truth about Jesus in a new way. If nothing else, you will probably laugh out loud quite a bit.

If you have read or do read the book, I would love to hear your thoughts.

peace,

will

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[1] Christopher Moore, Lamb, The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, (New York: Harper Perennial, 2002-2004) 438

Updating the Profile

A couple people have pointed out that our new pup Violet was left out of my weblog profile on the right. It has been corrected. Thank you for noticing and no, I am still not going to change my picture.

peace,

will

A Day Off, Sort of...

Thank you to the United Methodist Women for leading worship in honor of United Methodist Women's Sunday. It was nice to sit back and participate in worship (mostly - I did have a few small parts.)

As a pastor, my opportunities to be in worship that I am not leading are limited, but there are some. When I go on retreat to Mt. Wesley for Covenant Connection, we have two worship services, each led by another member of my commissioning class. (I have to lead in a couple of months.) I also get worship at the monthly District Professionals Meetings. Pastors are very aware of their limited worship opportunities, so almost every gathering we have, administrative meetings, continuing education, etc. has a worship component. It is always very refreshing and it also opens my eyes and ears to new possibilities of worship.

I hope you are having a great week!

peace,

will

Will there be plenty of parking in the Kingdom of God?

Someone told me today that she had met a woman who had tried to come to church at Grace once. The woman said that she pulled into the parking lot but there was just nowhere to park, so she left. She hasn't come back and hasn't found another church yet. Often when I share stories like that, church people say, "What a great problem to have!" I understand where that comment comes from. With many churches and denominations shrinking, it is encouraging that we are dealing with not enough space. However, I do not think that this is a great problem to have. In fact, it is a really bad problem to have.

I feel like I say it all the time, but I did not find God in my life until I was 27. God reached out to me before I even knew it, but it was within the life and walls of the church that I truly began to allow God into my life. I choose my first church because I saw their sign on the street. I stayed because I felt welcomed and accepted. There was a place for me to park (a visitor spot right up front, which I didn't use because I didn't wanted anyone to know I was a visitor). There were plenty of seats in the back. There was room for me. Had there not been, I may have just gone home.

I believe God wants a relationship with every person on the planet. The church can be a vehicle for that relationship. For that to happen, the church must truly say, in word and deed, "Welcome, we have a place for you." No place to park sends the opposite message.

This post is a spontaneous reaction to the story I heard today. I don't know what we need to do to make more parking. (Though I am sure that could be figured out with some money.) What I am wondering at this moment is, even without more parking spots, what could we as individuals do if we really embraced how important it is that no one be turned away by a lack of place to park? I imagine we would be creative. I imagine more of us would park on the grass lot in the back. I bet some of us would carpool or ask our neighbors for a ride. I bet we would make some room.

Just a thought.

peace,

will

Busy Season

I realize that when asked, I tend to refer to the weeks following Christmas as sort of a down-time. I think I have told a number of people that it is a time to refresh and regroup after the busy Christmas season. I realize that there is actually very little truth to that. January is always busy.

The first few weeks of the year are actually some of the most important weeks in the life of a large church like Grace. Now is the time when we set the momentum for the whole year. If, in January, we fail to make plans and help others embrace those plans, the momentum of the year just catches up with us and we have trouble making new things happen

It is not that there is anything wrong with the old things. It is just that there is always more to do. There are always opportunities for people to train and inspire others to start new ministries, or hand off current ministries to new hands so that we can start new ones.

Our next big emphasis at Grace, starting in just a couple of weeks will be a focus on getting every member of the church involved in ministry. I say it over and over, Christianity is not a spectator sport. However, as a pastor, I never do a good enough job of helping people get connected to ministries that connect their gifts and passions to true human needs. When that connection gets made, ministry happens. I hope you can get connected, or reconnected this year!

Personally, I am taking seriously a challenge from one of my colleagues. He reminded me the other day to lead from my strengths. One of my greatest strengths is in the area of teaching, so starting in February, I am offering a four week course called, "The Bible from Scratch - The New Testament for Beginners." This is one of my favorite short-courses to teach because it is specifically designed for people who haven't done adult Bible study before. Watch this space and the church's newsletter for the details.

I am really excited about this new year and all the ministry possibilities at Grace. I hope you will be too!

peace,

will

Monday Greetings

Today is officially Martin Luther King day. I am out of the office today, but not properly celebrating the holiday, but rather just catching up on some stuff I haven't had time to get done over the last few weeks. You know, the stuff we all look forward to: straightening the garage, running errands, etc. Fun, fun, fun.

Whatever you are doing today, I hope we all have a chance to, at least briefly, consider the dream of peace, justice and equality Dr. King had.

peace,

will

My Job Workshop

I am spending most of today getting ready for the Corpus Christi District "My Job Workshop" this Saturday here at Grace. This is an annual training event for church leaders. It is set at the time of the year when committee leaders and members are moving into their new roles. Some of the sessions are directed toward specific committee functions, such as worship or trustees, some are more general, such as the session on conflict resolution.

I am leading a session called "The Ministry of Worship – How To Be in Partnership With Your Pastor.” The basic idea of the session is to look at what lay people can do to help their pastor create excellent worship.

You don't have to be on any committees to come to the event. Everyone is welcome this Saturday morning at 8:45. It is all free. Here are some of the other topics of some of the sessions: Becoming a Church of Irresitible Influence, Conflict Resolution for the Enlightened Amateur, PPRC/SPRC, Trustees, Disaster Preperation, Response and Recovery, Youth Ministry, Older Adult Ministry, Finance, Godly Play (Children's Ministry), Starting an Endowment Fund and two session offered by Conference Board of Church and Society: In Search of Security and Hot Topics in the Social Principles.

I hope to see you Saturday!

peace,

will

This Week's Sermon

I am back from Mt. Wesley and finally had time to make to text version of my sermon more like the one I actually said aloud. Sometimes there are very few differences. Others, like this week different words come out. For some reason (hopefully a Spirit led reason) I added a section in the middle and dropped what had been the end. Anyway, here it is:

Sermon #14 - Broken Glass and Wisemen

Your comments are always welcome.

peace,

will

Is it time already?

I am back off to Kerrville this morning for another Covenant Connection retreat. (If you missed the post about what that it, you can find it here.) I haven't finished editing my sermon from Sunday yet. It turned out quite a bit different from my original manuscript. I will try to post it when I get back tomorrow.

peace,

will

Italian court to decide, about Jesus?

Don't worry, no matter what the Italian court decides, God has the final say. This is an interesting article:

Did Jesus exist? Italian court to decide

peace,

will

Worship This Sunday

Here is what is going on this Sunday

Scripture: Isaiah 60:1-6
Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon Title: Broken Lights and Wise Men

Are you still celebrating Christmas? As I walk through my neighborhood, I see a lot of Christmas trees out at the curb. Some people take down their decorations early because they just like to get them put away. For others, the celebration of Christmas is cut short by the realities of life. However, Christmas is not over. This Sunday, we rejoice in the final Sunday of the Church’s celebration of Christmas, The Epiphany of the Lord.

The celebration of Epiphany is actually older than Christmas. It originally focused on the nativity, incarnation and Baptism of Christ. In the modern church, it mostly focuses on the coming of the three wise men or magi who brought gifts to the Christ child. The story of the wise men is fairly well known, but there is more to it than most of us know. I believe that in it, is a word of hope that holds true even when the joy of Christmas is interrupted by the harsh realities of life.

I hope you will join us as we celebrate one last day of Christmas together.

peace,

will

Happy New Year Part II

So, did you make any New Year's resolutions? People who survey these sorts of things say that losing weight and getting in shape top the list of resolutions this year. Quitting smoking has been on the top of the list for years, but since the prevalence of smoking has gone down 47 percent between 1965 and 2002, the number of people to make that resolution has gone down significantly.

Statistically, people have a lot of trouble keeping resolutions, but that is no reason not to try, as long as your expectations are realistic. I have fallen into a pattern of making the same resolution every year. For the last few years I have resolved to work on deepening my relationship with God. How much success I have with that varies from year to year, but I still think it is a good resolution. If you think about it scripturally and theologically, it is a resolution that encompasses almost any other good resolution you might make. If I am truly working to deepen my relationship with God, even without resolving to, I will think about my health since I will remember that my very life is a gift from God. I will probably lose weight, because I will remember, from time to time, that my joy comes from God, not from donuts. (Though I do love a good donut.) I will find time to volunteer to help others, since love of neighbor is a natural extension of love of God. I will spend time trying to improve my finances, because stewardship of my own money makes it easier for me to give money for God's purposes. I will recycle, because I will remember what a unique gift from God this planet is and I will want it to last.

I imagine, if you think about it, whatever resolution you have made will fall under deepening your relationship with God. So, where to start? Coming to church can help, although it isn't the only way, nor is it enough. You can read scripture. The Upper Room has some ways to help you with that. You can take time, every day to pray. There are lots of ways to get at that, one of my favorites is Sacred Space. If you like their website, they also have a book out. If none of that works for you, go outside and spend some time just being in God's presence of stay inside, find a quiet place and just practice being quiet. You be surprised what God might have to say to you if you could just be quiet long enough.

I wish you much success on all your New Year's resolutions and peace and joy for a new year.

will

Happy New Year

It occurs to me that I haven't posted to wish everyone a Happy New Year. It is all the rage in the blogosphere (I didn't make that word up, yet it isn't in the dictionary yet. It refers to the global collection of weblogs.) to post some year ending or year beginning thoughts. My friend Jen listed all the things she was thankful for in 2005. Many have written about their resolutions for 2006. I am not going to do either. It is not that I am not thankful or that I don't have any thoughts about the coming year. It is just that as I look back over the postings for the last few months, I see I have already done my share of philosophizing and if you go to the sermon page, you can find plenty of preaching. Therefore, I will just wish you a very happy and blessed New Year full of the knowledge and love of God.

peace,

will