More Vacation Reading

My good friend Jen Austin has her first book out and vacation finally gave me the time to give it the attention it deserved. I read it before it came out, but read it in bits and chunks and missed the flow. Jen has asked me to write some things for the promo material for the book. I thought I would use the blog as a place to try out some of my thoughts.

If you are interested in the book, you can purchase it here:

Jen Austin - Coming Out Christian - Finding Wholeness in Faith and Sexuality

Here is the rough draft of my review:

As a pastor, I spend a lot of time trying to help people to read the Bible. I try to get them to understand that the Bible is a story of the history of God'’s people and their struggle to be God'’s people. If we read it that way instead of as a list of legalistic and contradictory codes of conduct we start to truly see who God is and who we are.

I believe that the Bible is perfect the way it is, but I don'’t think that we are done telling stories. In order to continue to grow we must continue our struggle to be God'’s people. In order to do that, we need to share our stories, our stories of our own struggle to be faithful to God and to each other.

I try to be patient with the intolerance of others, but I try to help people understand our need to hear each other's stories. Before one can even begin to understand how someone else lives in relationship to God, one must hear their story. One can not proclaim someone as sinful or Godless or anything else unless they truly know them.

JenÂ’s story of her struggle to understand herself and her creator shows us what can happen when we truly put our faith and trust in God and the struggles that can occur when anyone, gay or straight turns their back and fails to accept the unconditional love that God offers us all.

Jen truly helps us to see the broader understanding of sin as she leads us through her struggle from seeing her homosexuality as a sin to seeing her failure to accept God'’s unconditional love as the sin. In not accepting God'’s acceptance, Jen had separated herself from God much more than any violation of some misconstrued law from Leviticus could. It was only by starting to realize that God had made her and loves her as she is that she was able to fully embrace God'’s love.

When you read this book, sexuality gains such a deeper definition. It is far more than our impulses toward the opposite or same sex, it is something that exists at the depth of our soul, something given to us as a gift from God. Jen seems to understand this and treats her sexuality accordingly with a much better sense of the presence of God than most heterosexuals Christians I know.

We should consider it a great gift the Jen has felt obliged to share her story with us. In it, we can find ourselves, God, and love that surpasses the rules and boundaries that humanity has placed on it.

A little time off... a little reading

I feel like the "What Will is Reading Now" section on my weblog has remained static quite a while. For me, I actually find it helpful to have those books sitting there for everybody to see. It hold me accountable to always be reading and it removes the temptation to just put a book back on the shelf (unless it is really bad, in which case I will put it back on the shelf and then write about how bad it was.)

Last night, I finally finished Marilynne Robinson's Gilead. Gilead won the Pulitzer prize, which I totally understood when I finished it but not always when I started reading it. The book is written from the perspective of a elderly pastor writing to his young son before his death. The pastor was remarried to a much younger woman late in life and regrets that he will not watch his son grow up, so he leaves him with these words.

As I was reading the book, I thought it was really slow, but then I realized that it was sort of my fault. I was trying to read the book in little snippets, mostly before bed. The book has no chapters, although it is broken into some short sections, but I guess I really like chapters for pre-bed reading.

Once I got away and was able to read in larger chunks, I realized what a fantastic book it is. It contains a very deep theology and an clear glimpse into the life and mind of a rural pastor. In this fictional account of a father's last words to his son we get an amazing look at some pretty heavy theological concepts like sin, grace and forgiveness.


Off I go. More reading to do.

peace,

will

Greetings From South Padre Island

Alisha, Joshua, Bodhi, Violet and I send our greetings from South Padre Island. In this pictures Alisha is behind me taking the picture and Bodhi is in the surf somewhere. See y'all soon.

peace,

will

Making Up Stuff to Worry About

I get a lot of emails and I actually try to read them all. I am still amazed at the number of forwarded emails I get warning me about things that are just not true. There are so many things in this world to worry about (apparently even spinach) that is amazes me that people find pleasure in making more things up and then spreading them around the internet. In a way, these warning are a form of computer virus in that they are designed to be spread eating up bandwidth and, in effect, slowing down the world wide web.

Here is one of the latest making its way around the web:

Southern California law enforcement professionals assigned to detect new threats to personal security issues, recently discovered what type of information is embedded in the credit card type hotel room keys used through-out the industry.

Although room keys differ from hotel to hotel, a key obtained from the Double Tree chain that was being used for a regional Identity Theft Presentation was found to contain the following the information:

• Customers (your) name
• Customers partial home address
• Hotel room number
• Check in date and check out date
• Customers (your) credit card number and expiration date!

---

This would be a very important warning, except that it just isn't true! Check out this article about the issue on snopes.com:

Claim: Hotel room keycards are routinely encoded with personal information which can be easily harvested by thieves. - snopes.com

Just doing my part to help you worry less.

peace,

will

One More Sermon, Then a Nap

I am on vacation next week and things are a little different here at Grace this morning. The choir from Oak Hill UMC in Austin, where I last served is singing this morning in worship. The will present Robert Ray's Gospel Mass during 9:45 and 11:00 worship. It is going to be fantastic.

As to not ask them to perform three times in a row, I will be preaching at 8:30. Today is World Communion Sunday, so I will be preaching about our oneness in Christ across the globe. Since most of you won't get to hear this sermon, I will try to post the audio version on the weblog before I leave for vacation. If not, it will be there when I get back.

peace,

will

Blogger's Block - A Trip through Randomville

I certainly don't have writers block, because I have written quite a bit in the last couple weeks, but the blog has not seen much of the fruits. Here are some things that are going on in Will's world:

• I just turned 35. I don't feel any different.
• Boston Legal is back on. I can't count on an hour of intelligent TV every week.
• Alisha and I are going on vacation. Soon and very soon.
• My family bought me an iPod for my birthday. One of my friends from college got the same gift for his 35th birthday. It must be the thing. I really love it because I am very lazy about music. I have A LOT of cds, many from my radio dj days, but they just sit in a cabinet. Now they are slowly being loaded into my iPod so I can listen to them again. I spent 11 years on the radio, I don't need to listen to it anymore.
• I am trying to figure out what to do about our cars. Yes we have a child, but we are dog family. The dogs go with us places. The dogs go on vacation. You can't get two adults, one baby, and Labrador retriever and one slightly hyper cattle dog in a Honda Accord. (Unless I lie in the trunk - which isn't very comfortable - or really legal)
  
• In case you were wondering, as far as I can tell, Randomville is not really a place unless you count web addresses as places.

peace,

will

An update on Val

I just receive a link the electronic version of an article that will be in the forthcoming Witness (the newspaper produced by the Southwest Texas Conference) about our very own US2 Missionary Val Borhauer

Corpus Christi UM Continues Life of Mission Service

peace,

will

Lord, I was born a traveling man

I am not traveling far this week, but I will have a change of scenery on Sunday. I agreed a while back to be a guest preacher for worship at Sinton UMC this Sunday. The nice part about being an associate is that I can actually be away on Sunday every so often and see how the rest of the planet works. It is fun to just go to another church and worship, but it can also be a lot of fun to preach at someone else's church once in a while.

There is something radically different between preaching to one's own congregation and preaching to someone else's. When I stand up at Grace, I look at and see people that I really know. I see people I have studies with and prayed with. I see people I have gotten to know through a time of grief or great joy. I see people I have struggled with over important decisions in the life of the church. I see their faces as I preach and I see their faces as I prepare. As I am writing each sermon I see faces and think, "how will _______ hear these words after what she has just been through?" "How will these words of Jesus sound to ___________ who has just come back to church?" There is a whole new level of depth to preaching when the faces and voices of the congregation become part of how a read and relate to scripture.

So, on Sunday, I will be preaching blind, which will be interesting in its own way. It does take some pressure off.

peace,

will

Sermon - Listen and Read

This Sunday's sermon is now posted:

Sermon #29 - Passion and Compassion - Text
Sermon #29 - Passion and Compassion - Audio

peace,

will

And.... go!

I am getting started on an active week that will take me to Kerrville and back and then back to San Antonio. After taking the summer off, my covenant connection group starts meeting again this week. Later in the week, we will be in San Antonio for a hearing about Joshua.

It is weeks like this that my laptop and cell phone are especially valuable. They will enable me to get my sermon and the bulletin done for Sunday.

This morning, before I leave for Kerrville, John and I will be meeting with Rev. Don Nations who is in Corpus Christi to get the district started on the Congregational Transformation Process. This is an attempt to jump-start our dying churches and revitalize the churches that are simply in maintaining mode. I am looking forward to sharing his energy and ideas.


Have a great week. I will send some cool Kerrville air your way.

peace,

will

Take Me Out to the Ballgame... and give me box seats

Like most kids, Joshua's first baseball game was in the luxury box about 15 feet from Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. Thanks to some wonderful hospitality, (Thanks Tom and Nora!) Joshua got to spend the evening in comfort and style. And thanks to lots of loving arms who wanted to hold him, Alisha I got to watch a lot of the game. (Thanks Lisa and Nora and Jim and Kathy and Mike and everybody else who took a turn.)

Big thanks to the Corpus Christi Hooks for giving us a win too! 6-3 against the Midland Rockhounds. Excellent!

peace,

will

By request... more randomness

Here are some things that are going on in my life, in no particular order.

1. It seems that there is a giant water leak under the house we live in. Here in Texas, water pipes are often built right into the slab that the house is built on. This is really cool except when they break. Fortunately we have a really great plumber who is going to fix it without actually tearing the house down, or even kicking us out. I first noticed the leak because as I walked out of the bedroom into the hall, the floor was hot. Not being a structural engineer, I had no idea what that meant, but I had to figure the floor is not supposed to be hot. Indeed, there was hot water leaking in the floor.

2. Our foster child, Joshua is very cool. He is at a wonderful age where he learns something spectacular every day.

3. Joshua, Alisha and I are going to a Corpus Christi Hooks game tonight. (That's baseball for you out of towners.) Fortunately, for our first game with a little one, we will be in the Whataburger box. So, go get a whatachicken or something to say thanks.

4. We have a new back yard. The church trustees came by a couple weeks back and put a bunch of new dirt back there and Ed, one of our members has been making flower beds and a new terrace. He brought sod this week and it is starting to look lovely.

5. Today is not horribly hot here and I am thankful for that.

6. The new season of House started last night. I am totally hooked on that show and I am really thankful for my DVR so I can actually watch it.


That's enough randomness for now.

peace,

will

When there is no news to cover, why not cover the news?

With wars and rumors of wars, pandemics, genocides and poverty of staggering proportions around the world, it is good to know the journalists are on top of the truly important news: other journalists. It seems that Katie Couric's debut on the CBS Evening News is more than just news, its breaking news, reported on before the show was even over:

Couric Makes `CBS Evening News' Debut

I hope this doesn't take any time away from coverage of the Ramsey case.

peace,

will

Getting Excited

Tonight is the first night of this year's class of Disciple Bible Study. I have to tell you, this class is one of the best parts of my job. Something absolutely amazing happens when people meet together to study the Bible. I always enjoy Bible study, but it is especially powerful with such a diverse group many of whom have never really studied the Bible. The transformation that takes place in just a few months is mind boggling.

I also love what I learn each time. Disciple is such a well designed program that even after going through it five times and despite the fact I have a masters degree from seminary, I still learn new ways of understanding scripture each time through. Some of that comes through the curriculum itself, but most of it comes through the power of reading scripture in a group.

Off I go to sharpen pencils and stuff!

peace,

will

I'm Official

The following either proves that I am now a reputable, official blogger, or that a long Labor Day weekend has given me too much free time:




















peace,

will

You've Got Mail... But No Job

As a pastor at a large church, I think a lot about communications. I am often considering which communication is best done face to face, and what can be done on the phone, through a printed letter, through a hand-written card, through a mass e-mail, through a personal e-mail, etc. Doing what is best is a complicated matter that is sometimes influenced by time constraints and the person I am communicating with. Sometimes it is hard to catch up with people face to face. For me, the phone sometimes feels more impersonal than a letter. Some people think e-mail is terribly impersonal but others think it is the next best thing to talking in person.

However, sometimes the boundaries seem more clear. Check out this article:

You've got mail, about your layoff - Houston Chronicle

At least it is not as bad as breaking up with someone via text message.

peace,

will

Take a Deep Breath... Fall is Here

I have often claimed that fall is the busiest time of year at the church. However, I have made a similar claim about just about every other time of the year. Life in a large, active congregation is always busy. Different times of year just bring different kinds of busy.

Fall means new beginnings for classes and programs including confirmation and Disciple. It also means our annual Charge Conference. It also seems to be the time when people become most interested in creating new ministries or reviving existing programs. I am always excited by that and looking for ways to help people achieve their dreams. (With God's help)

For me my attention is divided between the church and my family. I know it gets even more complicated for folks with demanding jobs and kids who have school and football and band and livestock show, etc. Add to that, church events, PTA, and perhaps just a little time for recreation. When we get too busy, the first thing that gets pushed out is the thing we need most. No matter how busy we are, we need to find some amount of time to be in God's presence. Otherwise we will get busier and busier and busier until we can't sense God's presence in our lives at all. That doesn't mean God isn't there, it just means we have piled up so much "stuff" around us that we can't tell.

It only takes a few minutes to clear away the clutter and invite God to order the chaos of our lives.

I hope you can find some time!

peace,

will

This Week's Sermon - Text and Audio

This Sunday's sermon has been posted in both text and audio form and can be found here.

Sermon #28 - "Fever Pitch"
Sermon #28 - "Fever Pitch" - Audio

Thoughts and comments are always welcome.

peace,

will

Now I need to repeat elementary school science

If I forgot to list Pluto as a planet on my test in fifth grade, can I go back and challenge my grade?

BREAKING NEWS: Pluto Demoted, No Longer a Planet

They have been talking about this for some time, but now it is official. If you have a Pluto mailing address, please make the appropriate changes immediately.

peace,

will

Val has been posting

In case you are following the adventures of Val, a member of our church who has gone to California as a US-2 Missionary, she has posted a few new entries on her weblog. Check it out:

Val's Weblog

peace,

will

Taking Things a Bit Literally

When we read the Bible too literally, making the entire thing one long directive from God, this sort of thing happens:

CNN.COM - Sunday School Teacher Dumped for Being Female

peace,

will

Life with Joshua Part I

I have written very little on the weblog about life with a baby in the house. I will start by sharing the column that will appear in this week's church newsletter:

I thought it sort of poetic that on the day after Pastor John had returned to Austin to finalize plans for his first daughter’s wedding that some people from Methodist Children’s Home arrived at our home to deliver to Alisha and me an 11 month old baby boy. Joshua arrived Friday, August 11^th, entering our lives at a whopping 25 pounds.

Joshua is a foster child placed through Methodist Children’s Home’s new outreach office here in Corpus Christi. MCH normally takes foster children voluntarily from parents who can’t currently cope with the demands of parenting or whose circumstances make being a good parent impossible. The goal of MCH is to return children to a loving and secure environment with their birth parents whenever possible. This may not be possible with Joshua and he may remain with us.

I am sure you will hear me reflect on how life has changed for Alisha and I since Joshua joined us. However, I want to take this opportunity to talk about how important foster parenting is. Jesus says in Mark’s Gospel:

“Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”

I hear a lot of talk lately about the value of a life. Many of my Christian brothers and sisters are quite passionate about abortion and stem-cell research, and those are important topics to discuss, but very little attention is paid to the children among us who have very little hope of having a full and abundant life. There are more children than you can imagine who live in situations of abuse or neglect and children who have no one at all to love them. There are children who begin their fragile lives addicted to drugs and alcohol. Some can recover with a lot of love and attention and some spend their entire lives suffering from something that happened to them before they were even born.

I have mentioned in a sermon that often with problems this large we are overwhelmed and do nothing. The words of Jesus I mentioned before are just a little different in Matthew’s Gospel where he says:

Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Not all the children, just one. When and where just one child is safe and warm, when and where just one child is told, “I love you and I am going to take care of you,” then and there we are welcoming God.

Alisha and I are responding to God by opening our hearts and home to share God’s unconditional love with Joshua. We thank you for all the love and support you have already poured out upon us that we may feel loved as we are loving him.

peace,

will

This Week's Sermon - Text and Audio

Sunday's sermon has been posted in both audio and text forms:

Sermon #27 - Obey Your Thirst
Sermon #27 - Obey Your Thirst (Audio)

peace,

will

Some thoughts on welcoming

Luke 9:46-48

46 An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. ⁴⁷But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, ⁴⁸and said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.’

You may think that since I have little baby at my house that in reflecting on this scripture, I would be writing about babies, but I am not. This is a scripture that is very relevant to our task as Christians and I shared it as such the other night at our Welcoming Team meeting.

I think that we are limiting this scripture a bit when we take “child” too literally. Replace the word children with “someone new to the faith” Let read that again.

46 An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. ⁴⁷But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took “someone new to the faith” and put them by his side, ⁴⁸and said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes this person new to the faith in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.’

I don’t think a church has to work all that hard to be welcoming to other church people. I mean church people kind of know what is going on. They know we worship in the sanctuary, they know what a fellowship hall is; they know that the bulletin is the thing we use to guide us through the service; they know what a narthex is. If they are really spiritual grown ups they should be excited if they have trouble finding a place to park, if the church is crowded or they stumble over all the little kids running around. If there are mature spiritually, they shouldn’t care one tiny bit if the parking lot is cracked or the ceiling leaks or the bathroom smells funny.

Honestly, I don’t have a lot of patience for lifelong Christians who visit and have complaints about practical things. If they are lifelong Christians, they should, by now get that it isn’t about their comfort. If a lifelong Christian comes to worship here, and I call them later in the day to see how it went and they say, “I didn’t feel very welcome; the person next to me didn’t even speak to me.” I want to say, didn’t occur to you that perhaps that was there first time in any church, why didn’t you welcome them?

But what about someone new to the faith, someone who is truly seeking to fill that God shaped hole in their hearts, what if they come here? They may not know words like narthex and fellowship hall, they may not understand all those “churchy” words we use. What’s more, they may have spent their whole life living solely by the standards of the world. Think about this for a moment, do you judge your church differently than you would a nice restaurant? Say someone took you out for a nice dinner and while you were there, you were checking the place out to see if it would be a good place to invite your spouse for an anniversary or a new acquaintance you really wanted to impress.

What would you look at?

You would look at the appearance, the service, every little detail. Before you even got inside you would take note of the building and the parking lot. If you were ignored when you walked in, you would notice, if you had to wait an hour for your table, you would take note. If there was a stain on a table cloth, spots on the silverware you would see that. If the waiter seemed confused or dropped your plate, points would be deducted.

But we wouldn’t judge our church that way, because as Christians, we know that this stuff is not important. Right?

‘Whoever welcomes this person new to the faith in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.’

Think about it, those new to the faith have no other way to judge our church except by the standards of the world. Remember the effort we would put in checking out a restaurant? They are thinking about trusting their life in our hands. They are thinking in one way or another about surrendering their life to God, they don’t know what that looks like yet and they are using whatever criteria they can think of to see if we are a safe place to do that.

In the church we do a lot that it “good enough for church.” We do that because we are trying to be good stewards of the church’s money and we do it because we realize that the gospel calls us to something more than appearances. But, I think that there is a theological problem with that in that we should really give our best to God. More importantly though, there is an evangelistic problem with that.

‘Whoever welcomes this person new to the faith in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.’

We need to look critically at every single thing we do. Are we doing "good enough for church" work? Or, are we doing good enough that someone may trust us with being part of the most important decision of their life?

Something to think about.

This Week's Sermon

This week's sermon is posted and ready to be read:

Sermon #26 - Read the Instructions

The audio version is not up yet. I will try to post it tomorrow. The studio I use to record the sermons is at the house and there is now a little extra activity at the house!

peace,

will

New Addition, This One is Not a Pet

I have been a bit off my blogging game, but for good reason. After fostering and adopting dogs, turtles and even a one-eyed cat, we stepped up this week and began caring for our first foster child. I have been busy with the transition and thinking about how I would handle all this on the weblog. Sometimes technology is pretty far ahead of our ability to best use it. I like the use the weblog as a way for people to get a little inside glimpse at the life of a pastor (be it their own pastor or not.) I also use it to talk about God and theology in ways I don't have time for on Sunday morning. More often than not, that includes personal stuff.

My wife Alisha ends up living a little bit in a fishbowl too, but I try to give her some privacy. So, I was thinking about how to deal with this new little person living in my house. I am going to play it by ear. For now, the weblog won't have pictures or even his name. If you are a member of the church or know me in other ways, you will get plenty of that. Otherwise, you get to learn about this new addition to our household the way scientists study things they can't see, by observing their effect on things around them. It would be hard to not notice that my life is being radically altered by the little boy living in my home. It is quite difficult to operate the same as usual in the midst of poopie diapers, endless snuggles and paddycake.


peace,

will

Sunday Preview - You Get it First Because You Read the Weblog!

It feels like a while since I have preached. I am back up this weekend and here is what is going on:

Sunday Preview
Sunday, August 13^th (10^th Sunday after Pentecost)
Scripture: Matthew 7:24-28
Sermon Title: “Read the Instructions”

Have you read the Bible much lately? Most of us answer that with something like, “Not as much as I would like.” We are going to talk about that in worship and think about how we can see scripture as the foundation of our faith.

This Sunday is Rally Sunday, the day our children and youth move to their new classes for the new Sunday school year. It is a great day for us, as adults, to think about how we are growing in our faith.

I hope to see you in worship!

peace,

will

They seem to be getting along

It has been a few months since we got Violet (the one on the right) and she seems to have settled right in. Bodhi, who spent nearly 10 years as an only dog has settled into resigned annoyance, but he is willing to share the bathroom rug.

peace,

will

More Light Reading

I am always trying to balance out my reading by reading one fiction and one non-fiction book most of the time. Last time I was in Austin, I picked up a few books at the really great Goodwill store Alisha and I used to live near. You can usually find recent titles for $2.50 and our latest visit was no exception. (I also found a popcorn popper that I have transformed into a new coffee roaster, but that is for another entry).

I picked up Ken Follet's latest, Whiteout. If you read the blog much, you know that I am somewhat finicky about what I read, even fiction. (See my entry on Michael Crichton's Prey.) Follet's latest was pretty good though. It was a quick, fun, adventure thriller, more like watching a movie than reading a book. It had a bit too much romance for my tastes, but that might just be me.

The weblog is always a great place for you to post what you are reading. I like to know what people are into. Plus, my stack of books to read is getting a little low and I need to know what to get next.

peace,

will

Making Safe Sanctuaries

Thank you to everyone who came out last night for our first session of training and reflection on Safe Sanctuaries. Safe Sanctuaries is a program developed by Joy Thornburg Melton in her books Safe Sanctuaries, Reducing the Risk of Child Abuse in the Church and Safe Sanctuaries for Youth, Reducing the Risk of Abuse in Youth Ministries.

I cannot stress enough the importance of this program. This isn't just another state of church mandated program to cover ourselves from lawsuits. This is a comprehensive undertaking, an effort to do everything we can to protect the children and youth of our church for abuse and neglect.

As the body of Christ, we are called to be responsible for the most vulnerable members of the body. That means not just having good intentions, but being intentional about doing every thing we can to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the children who seek and expect sanctuary in our presence.

The training last night and this Sunday is only mandatory for people involved with children and/or youth at the church. However, everyone is welcome. Whether you attend the training or not, I hope everyone will embrace these programs and policies and see them as part of the ministry of the church.

peace,

will

Such a nice name for a tropical storm

It is that time of year. Time to keep an eye out over the water. Tropical Storm Chris is churning around in the Atlantic. We don't think much about the technology that allows us to track these storms. I realize that it is not always accurate, but think about the days before hurricane hunter aircraft, radar and computer modeling. Your only real warning of a killer storm was when the surf started really kicking up. If you knew it was coming, the barometer might give you a clue as to whether it might head right for you or veer off. The only way to know how big the storm was was to look at the damage after it was over.

There is always a point, however, when technology goes from lifesaving to just plain silly. It won't be long now before we get to watch cable news anchor people trying to keep their hair looking good while standing in 60 mile an hour winds letting us know exactly how bad the storm is.

peace,

will

Betraying My Reading List - Reading About Disciple

In case you haven't noticed it, there is a panel on the right side of my weblog that lists the books that I am currently reading. Occasionally I ignore it and pick up another book. As we are coming upon that time of year to register for Disciple Bible Study, I picked up a book that has been on my shelf for a while, Nancy Kruh's The Disciple Story, The Transforming Power of Scripture, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003)

Kruh tells the story of the origins of Disciple and then goes on to tell a number of stories of personal and church transformation brought about by the study. I actually know some of the students she spoke about, but what was amazing was how similar the stories were to the many stories of transformation I have witnessed in classes I have been involved in.

This book says what I am always saying, Disciple is was more than just a great Bible study, it actually changes lives.

Feel free to ask me about Disciple and don't forget to sign up. If you don't have a form, just send me an email.

Disciple Redux or Remedial Disciple

I have yet to say this or write it anywhere publicly but I am considering filling a couple of slots in my Disciple I class this year with people who have taken the course already. I don't mean to make this available just as a refresher. I have talked to a number of people who, for a number of reasons, don't really feel like they had a positive Disciple experience. I find that when people don't really have a quality experience with Disciple I they sometimes don't get as much out of the rest of the offerings or just never bother to sign up for them.

So, if you have taken Disciple I already, and really feel like you should take another shot, send me a note or email, and I will try to make a spot for you in this year's class.

peace,

will

Valerie's Weblog

As you may have heard or read in the newsletter, one of our member's Valerie Borhauer has just been commissioned as a US-2 Missionary of the United Methodist Church. Good news for us, she has a weblog and we can follow her adventures. You can find it here:

http://valerieborhauerus2-2006.blogspot.com/

peace,

will

Wonderful Book - Unfortunate Subtitle

I just finished the latest book from Rabbi Michael Lerner, The Left Hand of God, Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right (New York: HarperCollins, 2006)

The thing that I like least about this book is the title. There are some that might be intrigued by such a title, but there are also some who will never pick up this book simply because of the title. This seems to ago against the open-minded political sensitivity and warning against liberal elitism that Rabbi Lerner expresses in the book.

Wherever you find yourself on the political spectrum there is a well spring of deep insight in this book that will get you thinking theologically and politically. The title may mislead you. Lerner has some harsh insight for everyone. He speaks of a deep spiritual yearning within the American people and how the political right has exploited it and how the political left has ignored it.

The book does a wonderful job of looking historically at where the political and religious right and left have come from. This sort of writing can help people better understand each other so that they may engage in meaningful dialogue instead of partisan bickering.

Lerner calls for an embrace of the left hand of a God. This is not a political hand, but a hand that is rooted in compassion, love, generosity of spirit, kindness, peace, social justice, environmental sanity, and nonviolence.

The Rabbi has a vision and a plan as well. He wants to make the world a better, safer, more loving place and has some ideas of how to make it happen. He may sound a little idealistic, but then so did Jesus.

If you read the book, I would love to talk to you about it, whether you love it or hate it.

peace,

will

Peace Vigil

WHAT: Peace Vigil, Stop the violence in Lebanon Israel and Gaza

WHEN: Thursday, July 27, 2006, 7:30 PM

WHERE: 900 North Shoreline on the sidewalk by the statueof Jesus, Buford and Shoreline

BRING: Flashlights, water, signs urging peace (some signs will be provided

Email me for more info.

peace,

will

Where's My Camera? Wait, Where's My Paddle?!?

I didn't take this picture, it is stock footage. I was busy paddling. Alisha and I took a nice, leisurely evening paddle on the Nueces River last evening. We put in at Hazel Bazemore Park and paddled up to the salt water break at Labonte Park. On our way back, we were paddling along, enjoying the evening as the sun set when all of a sudden things got interesting. Suddenly, the water on the right side of the kayak was all frothy. Then the boat started lifting up out of the water. I looked down to see the back of a friendly south texas alligator. It was hard to tell how big it was since it was underwater, and surrounded by splashing water, not to mention the fact that it scared the _____ out of me. It was over in an instant and we went back to paddling. All the splashing soaked us both to the skin.

As scary as big teethy alligators can be, seeing one is actually a rare blessed moment. Despite what scary movies make you think creatures in the wild know better than to hang around with humans. The chances of actually having that close of an encounter with a gator is probably somewhat like getting struck by lightening. They do have more problems with them in Florida because humans have made the mistake of feeding them so they have lost their fear.

Have a blessed week and keep you feet out of the water.

peace,

will

The Power of Technology

In my short time in ministry, I have always believed in trying to use technology to help spread the gospel message. Here are a couple of ways I have seen that at work this week:

First, a man in Indonesia found the weblog and noticed that I was posting audio sermons. He emailed me to ask me a technical question about how I was posting the audio. He wanted to find a way to distribute audio via weblog for his ministry there.

Second, a woman found my page on myspace and sent me an email asking about the church. I don't know if she will ever come, but at least I got to make an invitation that I probably wouldn't have made otherwise.

Be sure and tell people about the weblog. You never know what other connections might be made.

peace,

will

Praying and Reading

I began teaching Prayer 101 this week so I decided to do a little reading about prayer. Roberta Bondi’s To Pray and to Love, Conversations of Prayer with the Early Church has been on my shelf for a while. I started reading it in seminary and only got through a couple of chapters. That happens a lot in seminary. Any book that is not required reading has a pretty good chance of being shelved in favor of something that from a current class.

Bondi’s work is very interesting in its appeal. Some people I know find it very light and uplifting, some find it a little hard to get through. I don’t know why that is, but I am somewhere in between. I love what she has to say, but sometimes I get a little bogged down in it.

In To Pray and to Love does a wonderful job of placing the early writings on prayer from Christian monastics in a more contemporary context. Bondi helped me see how similar my modern struggle with prayer is to the struggles that the earliest Christians had. As in all her work, she also reminds us of the depth and far-reaching nature of life of prayer. She says it in rich, deep ways, but also says it simply with the words, “prayer is a shared life with God.”[1] If that was all this book offered, a reminder that prayer is more than simply something we do, but rather a way that we live, than the book would be worth reading.

---

[1] Roberta Bondi, To Pray and to Love, Conversations of Prayer with the Early Church, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991) 27

This Week's Sermon - Text and Audio

I have worked most of the bugs out of the audio version of the sermon. The sermon from Sunday is now posted in a text version and in an audio version. For the audio version, you now have three ways of listening. You can listen using the little built in player. You can download the MP3 file or you can subscribe to the podcast. If you are technically inclined, feel free to email me and let me know how it is all working.

Sermon #25 - When Rejection is a Good Thing
Sermon #25 - Audio Version
Subscribe to the Podcast(note this link may look like gibberish to you if you are not into podcasting)

All this technology is a bit of an experiment. I am hoping that it will help some people stay connected when they can't be in church. I am also hoping that it may help some people get a chance to "check out" Grace. Sometimes people are searching but not quite ready to come through the doors. I hope this may be a way for them to see what we are about. I also hope that it may be a way to extend our reach and bring the message to people who are geographically far away. If you listen to or read the sermons, I would love to hear your comments about how they are helpful to you.

peace,

will

Just for Fun

Every one in a while, I read a book just for fun. I found Michael Crichton's Prey on a sale rack and picked it up. Crichton is always good for a fun adventure. What always drives me batty about his writing though is the odd little factual problems in the books. Sometimes it is like the editor just isn't paying attention. They are never a big deal, but telling a story is about suspending disbelief and when you have an unnecessary inconstancy, it pulls me out of the story. If the author needs to bend truth to make the story work, fine, but when the facts get fuzzy for no good reason it bothers me.

I was going to give an example, but frankly it would take me a while to set it up. If you have Prey, check out the sequence involving the dirt bike on page 228 (hardcover edition). Have you ever seen a motorized dirt-bike in the back of a Land Cruiser? This isn't a mini-bike, he uses it haul people through the desert later on.

Anyway, despite that a fun read.

peace,

will

my space at Myspace

I am always trying to find new ways to communicate both with members of the congregation and with anyone who might be interested in the world changing message of grace. So, I now have my own space on Myspace.

If you are a Myspace person, check me out at:

http://www.myspace.com/pastorwillrice

And add me as a friend. I don't have many yet.

peace,

will

Ask and Ye Shall Receive - Podcasting

Someone requested a podcast of my sermons and I love making people happy. If you don't know what a podcast is, don't worry, they will soon take over the world. There is a link to subscribe on the sermons website:

Pastor Will's Sermons

Just scroll down and you will see the XML link on the left sidebar. I just tried it out in iTunes and it seems to work well. Let me know if you have any problems. I will move the link to a more obvious place once I am sure it is all working well.

peace,

will

Methodist Children's Home

I want to thank Astria Smith from the Methodist Children's Home in Waco, along with Jessica, one of the residents who shared so a powerful witness in worship today!

If you want to learn about Methodist Children's Home, you can check out their website.

Methodist Children's Home, Waco, Texas


peace,

will

Audio Sermon

I have finally worked out most of the kinks and posted the first audio sermon. I get a lot better sound quality recording it at home rather than relying on a cassette tape recorded during worship. That still leaves some questions about how to post Pastor John's sermons.

The link will take you to my sermon page. You can listen to the sermon using the little embedded player or you can download it using the MP3File link. Let me know if you run into any technical glitches.

Sermon #24 - Audio Version

I also now have the capability of setting up a podcast of the sermons. Let me know if that would be helpful. (If you don't know what a podcast is, don't worry.)

peace,

will

Prayer 101

When we join the church, we promise to support it with our prayers, our presence, our gifts and our service. We tend to talk quite a bit about presence, gifts and service. However, the church doesnÂ’t do enough to help people to develop a deep and meaningful prayer life.

Join me for a two week class that covers some of the obstacles to prayer, takes a biblical look at prayer and offers practical models and methods to help you begin or deepen your conversation with God.

The classes will be held Tuesday, July 18th and 25th from 6:30-9p.m. Everything is free. Please register by Monday, July 17th. We can provide childcare if you register in advance. You can register by email: pastorwillrice@gmail.com. Let me know in the e-mail if you will need childcare.

peace,

will

New Feature

In my endless quest to make this blog more interesting for you the reader, I have added a new feature. If you scroll down a bit and keep your eye on the right column, you will see "What Will is Reading Now." I regularly post about books I have recently read, but sometimes there is large gap between those posts, especially when I am reading more than one, or two or three books at once.

Hopefully the audio sermons will start appearing later this week.

peace,

will

Happy Holiday

I hope you are enjoying your celebration of our nation's independence. I have been putting the time off to constructive use, cleaning up and fixing up things around the house, running errands, etc.

I also took some time to get things set up so that I can finally start posting audio versions of the Sunday sermons again. I think I am going to go back and post my last sermon just to try the process out and then start posting them each week that I preach. It may take a little longer to start getting John's posted, but I will see what I can do.

Happy 4th!

peace,

will

On the Road Again

It still surprises me how much I drive now that I live in Texas. My colleague John got married today in San Antonio. (Not our Pastor John, he already got married some years back.) Alisha and I got up this morning, drove to San Antonio, went to the wedding, got something to eat and drove back.

I don't mind so much, but that stretch from the outside of San Antonio to the outside of Corpus makes me sleepy.

For those readers who live in Corpus, I hope you are enjoying the rain. My grass certainly is.

peace,

will

A Little History

I have been a bit out of my reading routine lately. I have been getting through plenty of magazines, reading the newspaper and plenty of online stuff, I haven't finished a book in a while. Today, I finished, My Brother Lyndon by Sam Houston Johnson.

The book is out of print, but amazon.com can set you up with a used copy.

I picked up my copy at used book store in New Mexico. Somewhere in my father's house is an autographed copy. It seems my grandfather used to run with Sam Johnson (and a little bit with Lyndon) in Texas political circles. It is said the Sam used to babysit my aunts.

This is probably one of the most candid books on historical politics ever done. Johnson wrote it the year after his brother left office. It is a bit jarring in its literary style, the storyline jumps around, a lot. But it is rare and different perspective of LBJ, Texas politics, the Kennedys and even a bit about Vietnam.

One of the most interesting parts of the whole book is Johnson's nearly prophetic view of the changing face of politics in the light of the new media:

More than ever before, the 1960 campaign emphasized the crucial importance of big money in politics. Television had become the most effective (sometimes the only) contact between the voters and the candidates, on local as well as national elections; and that's a medium that gobbles up money like a dollar slot machine in Vegas. Inevitably, this need for bigger and bigger money will taint the political process. When a candidate has to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars from a single fat cat, can anyone seriously believe those big contributors are merely interested in good government.

Sam Houston Johnson died in 1978 so he never knew how right on he was.

peace,

will

You Would Be Crabby Too...

...if someone had just picked up your house. We found this hermit crab wandering the beach on our last kayaking journey.

They are pretty amazing creatures. This one is just about to grow out of his shell and will soon go looking for a new shell to live in.

peace,

will

This Week's Sermon

This week's sermon is posted:

Sermon #24 - Two Stories about Seeds and a Really Big Tree

It took me a while this morning to sort out what I intended to say from what I really said. The written copy is somewhere in between.

As always, your thoughts, questions and comments are always welcome!

peace,

will

A different view of Corpus Christi

Alisha and I enjoy occasionally seeing Corpus Christi from a different angle. We try to get out as often as we can in the kayak and enjoy the view from the water.

We got a chance to get out for a couple hours Friday and launch off North Beach. We got to cruise around the Lex, which looks especially large when you are actually floating next to it.

will

She has a home

I am glad to announce that the dog (who had been temporarily named Snowball II) has been reuninted with her family. We were just starting to get used to her!

will

Is this your dog?

If you live in my neighborhood, perhaps you recognize this dog. I hope that you might help me reuninte her with her family. She has had a bath and is doing quite well, but she belongs somewhere else. Call or email if you have any ideas.

peace,

will

She is Not Staying!

Two dogs, two turtles and two people are enough. The little dog that followed Alisha home this morning is not staying! She is a cute little grey and white dog, but we are hoping her owners claim her soon.

peace,

will

Statement by Episcopal Church Bishop

I just caught this in the Reuters news site:

Episcopal Church Says Homosexuality Not a Sin


peace,

will

Working Hard

This past week was Sea City Work Camp week here at Grace. It is an amazing experience to have 100 youth living at the church for a week while they spend their days out working on homes. I got to go out to the sites a bit this year. I filled in on Tuesday and Thursday running supplies to the work sites.

The photo is of Mike Boggs and me working hard. We were either figuring out what part I needed to run and get him or deciding if it was time for lunch.

peace,

will

Genomes and God

Since I was talking about particle spin and the Trinity this past Sunday, I thought you might find the following article of interest.

I’ve found God, says man who cracked the genome

peace,

will

This Week's Sermon

This Sunday's sermon is posted:

Of Particle Spin and Other Things Beyond Comprehension

peace,

will

Greeting from Annual Conference

Greetings from the American Bank Center on the water in Corpus Christi. I am on the floor of the annual meeting of the Southwest Texas Annual Conference. As a clergy person, I am required to be here, along with our lay delegates every year.

There are a couple of improvements this year. First we are meeting in the new arena, where the Hammerheads play and where the circus performs. It is a little roomier and a little better ambiance than the old convention center. The other nice thing is the municipal wifi system Corpus Christi has installed. I can now email and blog from the conference floor.

Oh yeah, there is also the jumbotron. It is neat to see the bishop twenty feet high on the same screen I watch the Hammerheads replays.

peace,

will

There is a Fox in the Hen House or is that a Possum in the Turtle House?

The church parsonage is teeming with wildlife. Alisha spotted a pair of baby possums in the turtle habitat last night. Baby possums are cute, but adult possums, in my experience, are quite nasty. After a couple of picture they got a gentle incentive to move on via the garden hose. It is not that I don't love all of God's creatures, it is just that these two will need a new place to hang out.

peace,

will

Aliens? These would make a horribly boring movie

A physicist believes he has found alien life. However, it doesn't walk, talk, shoot a laser pistol or even phone home.

Check it out at cnn.com:
Mysterious red cells might be aliens

peace,

will

Da Vinci Discussed

Thanks to everyone who came out for "Da Vinci Discussed" Tuesday evening. We have about 35 people join in the discussion.

I said I would post some of the resources I mentioned. The links will take you to the book on Amazon.com.

Bart D. Ehrman - Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code: A Historian Reveals What We Really Know About Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Constantine.

This is a really great overview of the problems with the book and a really readable explanation of the issues involved. This book is really readable. It is actually a fun read that will enlighten you about a lot of issues of historic Christianity. I highly recommend it.

Bart. D. Ehrman - Lost Scriptures, Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament

This is a compilation of some of the other gospels and other Christian writing that did not make it into the Bible. Ehrman's introductions give really great background.

Bart D. Ehrman - Lost Christianities: The Battle for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew

This one is a little denser than the others. Ehrman does a great job of showing what went into the formation of Christianity the way we now know it. The book reads a little academically, but for good reason. He is covering a lot of history and a lot of complicated theological issues. You don't need a seminary degree to read it, just a little more interest than the average person.

If you have read or do read any of these, I would love to hear your comments.

peace,

will

This week's sermon

Here is the link to this past Sunday's sermon:

Sermon 22 - Truthiness is a Word, Really

It is a little later than normal since I was busy getting ready for the Da Vinci Code class. I will write about that more later.

peace,

will

Which Came First, The Chicken or the Egg?

It is good to know scientists are working on this question.

Check out the story on cnn.com:

Chicken and egg debate unscrambled

peace,

will

Sunday Preview

Sunday Preview

Sunday, May 28, 2006 (Seventh Sunday of Easter)

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

John 8:30-33

Sermon: “Truthiness is a Word, Really”

Have you seen The Da Vinci Code yet? Have you read the book? Do you have questions? Have any of your friends of family members asked you about it? Do you have answers? Join us in worship Sunday at we talk about the book and movie everyone is talking about.

Don’t worry if the book and movie are not on your “must read” or “must see” list. The sermon will not simply be a review of Dan Brown’s work. It will address the issue of truth and how and why we believe what we believe. If you have friends or family members with questions, bring them along.

Don’t forget, on Tuesday evening from 6:30-9, Grace will present “Da Vinci Discussed” an evening of learning and conversation. We will cover some of the issues raised in the book and movie including: other gospels not included in the New Testament, how the New Testament came to be, and what we know about the “historical” Jesus.

peace,

will

God's Reaching

I want to post a message from an old and dear friend of mine. He has given me permission to post it on the blog. Two pieces of background: First of all, I have known Blake since before I found my way to Christianity and eventually the ministry. Second, Blake references an online audio sermon. He stumbled upon an experiment from last year where I posted an audio version of the Sunday sermon. I didn't get much response to I stopped doing it, but I guess God put it work anyway.

Here is Blake's message and my reply:

Just listened to the 8.14.05 sermon on the website and I should have listened a LONG time ago. I was engrossed. I’ve been thinking about going back to church after having been absent from it for years. It would really be the FIRST time I’m going in many ways. Yes, I used to go because my “mom made me.” Yes, I enjoyed the community, but no, I didn’t really grasp it. This would be me CHOOSING to go, along with my wife and my 4 year old daughter. I’m 35 years old now, so this is HUGE to me….and although my daughter is very loving and sweet, this would be a more concrete way to introduce her to the source of that love and really educate her about God. She doesn’t really know about God and I haven’t been comfortable with that fact for a while.

It’s easy for me to sit here many miles away from you and type this into an email, but this is something that’s been in my head and weighing on my heart for a while. The 1st part of that sermon appealed to the reader in me…the 2^nd part appealed to the believer buried inside me, and the 3^rd part appealed to the “Will’s distant friend” part in me and the part of me that’s feeling ready to live it more concretely

This isn’t the result of some specific, intense enlightenment or tragedy or moment in my life, which I always assumed would have to happen…and I’m not talking about wanting to become a monk or go to seminary…it’s just been…building…and that’s kinda odd to me. Without being melodramatic, words are falling short here. But I think if there’s anybody in this world that I personally know who would understand, it’s you….and probably my mom. J I actually brought it up casually with my wife the other day, and she said, “Do you want to start going to church? We can do that.” Absolute support from someone who is a sel-proclaimed “non-religious” person. Amazing.

I’m typing this and getting choked up. What’s going on with me? ( I say in half bewilderment and half joy.)

Wow…just thought I’d share. J There is a church right on my corner. I have no idea what kind of church, but I’m gonna start there.

I wanna post this on your blog so others can read it and comment on it (that would actually be very helpful to *me*), but it’s not like a message board where I can just POST something…and it wouldn’t really fit as a posted response to your DaVinci Code discussion…LOL. Feel free to post it on your blog somewhere if you feel inclined and please let me know your thoughts on all of this.

Blake

my reply:

Blake,

Thank you so much for sharing all of that. I am really glad you felt you could open up and lay that all out.

Let me start by speaking theologically. For me, the central point of the Christian message is grace. Grace is the unconditional love that God has for us no matter what. It is a thing that we can’t earn and that we can’t lose. No matter how far away we go from God, God is always there waiting for us. There is a really good parable about this in Luke 15:11-32. (You can read it in a good translation at this link: http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=15391769) Theologically, we have realized that God’s grace is presented in many ways. The one you are most likely encountering is what we call prevenient grace. That is God’s reaching out for us. It is happening all the time, but there are times in our life when we especially feel it. I can tell you from talking to lots of people, there is something about children that opens us up to God’s reaching. I don’t know if children lower our defenses or if the absolute miracle of their existence makes us ask questions that God is ready to answer.

A little more practically speaking, God is reaching out to you and you are listening. And for that I am glad. I love your words that it has been “in my head and weighing on my heart for a while.” That is how it felt with me. I didn’t know what was going on but I eventually figured out it had to do with God. We often think these things only happen dramatically, but usually they just sort of slowly happen.

Church is a great place to start. Remind me what part of the city you live in now and I will send you some suggestions for places to try. I really think you might want to try the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ (make sure the United is in there, it is a big difference) or even the Presbyterian Church. There are a lot of good denominations out there, but I know enough about you to guess that you want to be around open minded, thinking, seeking people. I think you will want to be around people who don’t think they have all the answers, but are asking the same questions you are.

I am excited for you. You are about to start (or resume) a wonderful journey. Please let me know how it is going.

peace,

will

Da Vinci Discussed (con't)

I am currently working on this Sunday's sermon which is going to look at the book and movie version of The Da Vinci Code. At the same time, I am outlining the program John and I will be presenting on the 30th. (See Da Vinci Discussed)

While I am working on this, I invite you to post of e-mail me any questions or issues the book or movie has raised for you. I may or may not be able to work them into the sermon of the class, but I may and it will really help me to know what people are wondering about.

peace,

will

This week's sermon

This week's sermon is posted. Some folks who came to church on Sunday may not have heard it. We had the blessing of confirming 15 youth on Sunday at the 11:00 service. Instead of one of the pastors preaching, we let four youth talk about what confirmation meant to them. It was a wonderful service and we were blessed to also have a number of members of the confirmand's families join the church. The Grace family is growing!

So in case you were at the 11:00 service or read the weblog from out of town or just want to see it in print, here is this week's sermon:

Sermon #21 - The One About Grapes

peace,

will

Sunday Preview

In case you don't get it by email, here is what is going on Sunday at Grace:

Sunday Preview

Sunday, May 21, 2006 (Fifth Sunday of Easter)

8:30 & 9:45:

Scripture: John 15:1-8

Sermon: “The One About Grapes”

11:00:

Confirmation

Things will be a little different this Sunday at Grace. During the 11 service, we will celebrate as 15 young people publicly profess their faith in Jesus Christ and be confirmed as full members of Christ’s Universal Church, The United Methodist Church and Grace United Methodist Church. Join us as we celebrate what God is doing in the lives of these young people.

During the 8:30 and 9:45 services, I will be talking about grapes. I grew up across the street from a grape vineyard, so I knew about grapes long before I knew about Jesus. Come, as we contemplate together what is means to be connected to the one true vine.

peace,

will

p.s. Off to see the Da Vinci Code this weekend? Pastor John has published an excellent piece “Decoding the Da Vinci Code” in this week’s newsletter. Give it a read before you head off to the theatre.

Reading about a book that became a movie

Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code has spawned not only a movie, but more books about the book than you can imagine. Some of the books try to debunk Brown's book (even though fiction usually doesn't need to be debunked), some try to support the theories presented in Brown's fiction, and some try to take the case even further.

I have stayed away from most of these books. However, when I saw that Bart Ehrman had release a book on the topic, I couldn't pass it up. Ehrman is an actual biblical scholar. He chairs the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina and Chapel Hill.

Sometimes biblical scholars produce books that only other biblical scholars can understand, but this book is really accessible. Closer to the release of the book, Ehrman released a list of ten historical errors in The Da Vinci Code. The author continues Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code in this same vein. He is not arguing theologically and he is not critiquing the value of the work as a work of fiction. What seems to bother Ehrman is related to two things. First, Brown writes on page one of the book, "All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate." Ehrman takes issues especially with the issue of documents. He finds critical factual errors in the author's description of documents. Had the author of this fiction book not made the statement as to their accuracy, this might not be a problem. What also seems to bother Ehrman is that some of the factual errors in the book didn't relate directly to the plot and could have been corrected with the tiniest bit of research.

What is really great about this book is that it addresses some really important issues of early Christianity in really understandable terms. If you are interested in learning a bit about Constantine in early Christianity, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nag Hammadi Library, other non-canonical gospels, the formation of the New Testament canon and the historical Jesus, this book covers it all in a really entertaining way.

I am off to see the movie tomorrow. Don't forget, if you want to learn more, come to the class!

peace,

will

Da Vinci Discussed

Although it is getting panned by critics, I am off to see The Da Vinci Code on Friday. I am going in the spirit of preperation. Below is an article about my upcoming program on the book and movie.

The Da Vinci Code opens in theatres this weekend. Just like the novel, the film is raising questions and even controversy. While Dan Brown’s work is fiction, its basis in the reality of our faith can cause many to consider their own beliefs. Whether or not you have read the book, seen the movie or intend to see it, you are invited to join Pastors John and Will for a time of learning, questions and answers.

They will cover some of the issues raised by the book and movie, including:

• Other gospels not included in the New Testament
• How the New Testament came to be
• What we know about the “historical” Jesus

They will also talk about the movie itself including some factual inaccuracies and inconsistencies as well as its possible positive and negative impact on Christians and non-Christians.

The session will be held Tuesday, May 30^th from 6:30-9pm. It is totally free and open to all. If possible, please let us know that you will be coming so that we may have plenty of room and materials for all. To RSVP, call the church office or e-mail Will Rice at pastorwillrice@gmail.com.

Crowding Out Jesus

Sometimes you hear sermons on Sunday morning and sometimes they appear on your desk. On my desk sits a bobble-head Jesus that was given to me as a gift. I noticed yesterday in my hectic, busy day, Jesus had been knocked over and trapped under a binder. He was about to be pushed right off the back of the desk.

This is a wonderful metaphor for how life goes sometimes. We get so busy that our relationship with God gets shoved right off the desk. This can even happen when were are doing things that we think are God related.

Busyness seems to be our human condition, but not what God wants of us. I was just reading this morning in Exodus, chapter 16 about the Israelites in the wilderness. They were hungry and God provided the mysterious manna from heaven. God told them that there would be plenty of this bread-like food every morning to last the whole day. On the sixth day, they were told they could gather two days worth for there would be none on the seventh for it was a day of rest. On the sixth day everyone collected enough for two days.

Guess what happened on day seven? Some of the Israelites got up and went to gather some more manna. There was none and God was a little annoyed (to say the least). (You can read the story for yourself in Exodus 16:22-30)

God is pretty clear that we need to take time to rest and to worship and to just enjoy what God has already given us. The world tells us if we are not working, we are lazy. The world tells us if we are not working hard, we better be playing hard. God tells us to just settle down.

I am going to go find some room for my bobble-head Jesus.

peace,

will

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! Pt. II Hungry, Hungry Hippo

My sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew are in the U.S. visiting from France. We met them yesterday in San Antonio and spent the day with the kids at the zoo. It was a wonderful day to spend with the animals, although it was a bit muggy since it had rained the night before. It would have been neat so see since here in Corpus it hasn't rained since I moved here.

It is always fun for me to see the amazing variety of God's creatures. I always like the big animals, the cats and the rhinos and the bears. But I had the most fun taking my niece into Lory Landing where she got to feed nectar to the lorikeets while they sat on my shoulder.

See you in worship!

will

Wilderness

Some of you know that I was on vacation the week after Easter. My wife Alisha and I packed Bodhi our Labrador Retriever and our Katrina surviving mutt, Violet, into the car and took off for a week in Ruidoso, New Mexico. Some people head off to Ruidoso to ski, some to take in the horse races, and some to shop. I go for the wilderness.

For me, every step deeper into the woods, every step farther away from the hustle and bustle and complexity of life in the world is a step closer to God. Wilderness is the context in which I can best sense GodÂ’s presence and truly begin to hear the stirring of the spirit. I love to walk alone in the solitude of the forest with nothing but the trees, birds and other wild things. If I get far enough into the backcountry and allow myself to be truly present in the moment I begin to feel simultaneously small and insignificant in comparison to the totality of creation and overwhelming loved as a child of God.

The gospels are full of accounts of Jesus stepping away into the desert or the wilderness. In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus got up early, while it was still dark and went out to a deserted place to pray. (Mark 1:35) Knowing that the disciples needed some time away, Jesus invited them to "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” (Mark 6:31) It was in the wilderness that Jesus truly faced his call and struggled with temptation. (Mark 1:12)

I know not all of us are adventurous outdoor types, but we can all find our own “deserted places” where we can be still enough to sense God’s presence. I found a place the other morning on my back porch watching a solitary hummingbird who has found our feeder after a winter away.

With summer approaching, thoughts are turning to vacations, reunions and lots of busy recreation. I hope in the midst of it all, you will find some time and space to be quiet and alone with God.

peace,

will

This week's sermon

It has been a while since I posted a sermon. That is not because I failed to post, it is because it has been a month since last I preached (not counting the short meditation I gave on Maundy Thursday.) I didn't intentionally take a month of from preaching. It was just how it worked out between Easter and my vacation.

Anyway, here is the link the Sunday's sermon:

Sermon 20 - Doubting, Faithless, Believing Thomas

As always, feel free to return to the weblog for to post thoughts and comments.

peace,

will

Sunday Preview

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Sunday, April 30, 2006 (Third Sunday of Easter)
Scripture: John 20:19-31
Sermon: "Doubting, Faithless, Believing Thomas"

It is so easy these days to get stuck with a bad reputation. You slip up once, the media picks up on it and you are branded forever. This is not solely a function of our modern, media-crazed society. This sort of thing also happened to disciples in Jesus' day.

Due to a couple of lines in John's Gospel and perhaps an unfortunate translation, Thomas, also called Didymus, one of the twelve disciples, one who had shown some amount of bravery and conviction earlier in John's Gospel, is now forever branded "Doubting Thomas."

I think this may be an unfortunate title. If we just see this week's reading as the "doubting Thomas" story we may miss a lot of what Thomas and Jesus are trying to teach us here. Join us in worship this Sunday as we dig into this text together.

peace,

will