Sermons

I have posted my sermon from the third Sunday of Advent:

Will Rice - Sermon #54 - "Patience"

I have also just posted my sermon from Christmas Eve:

Will Rice - Sermon #55 - "Christmas Light"

peace,

will

Exorcism Squads

I think I will leave the comments up to you on this one.

Pope Benedict XVI setting up exorcism squads to fight rising Satanism


will

Whew!

I feel like I just finished a marathon. The Christmas season has been wonderfully exhausting so far. Things don't really slow down after Christmas Eve either. I am back in the office today preparing for this Sunday and starting to make plans for all the ministries that begin after the first.

I hope you had a Merry Christmas!

peace,

will

Looking for a last minute gift?

Whether you are a last minute shopper or you forgot someone or maybe just decided there was someone else in your life that you want to give something to, I have a suggestion. At this late date, it is pretty easy to buy something that nobody really needs or wants. The store shelves are getting a little bare and patience is wearing thin. So how about this:

Go to the Heifer International website at www.heifer.org and buy someone a flock of ducks or some honeybees or rabbits. They won't actually get them, they will be sent to someone who can begin the journey from hunger to self-sufficiency. You can print out a card online or send an email to your gift-recipient so that they know you thought of them at Christmas.

peace,

will

Catching Up

I am posting a sermon from way back in November. This one sat on my desk for a while because it was a double duty sermon. This one had to be mailed to the Board of Ordained Ministry for review for my ordination so it went through some extra proofreading.

Will Rice - Sermon #54 - "A Revolution of Love and Grace"

peace,

will

Driving

I have a lot a respect for people who drive a lot for a living. I had to drive to San Antonio for a meeting yesterday and, I tell you, that seems to always drain the life out of me. It doesn't seem to matter if I listen to sermons on my iPod or talk on the phone or just sit in silence at the end of the day, I am beat. I did hear some good sermons though and I had a really good meeting in San Antonio.

Blessings on your Christmas preparations!

peace,

will

Back at it

I was off for a little vacation last week and it has taken me pretty much until today to get caught back up. I say a little vacation because I worked a bit of it. My final draft of all my materials for the Board of Ordained Ministry was due last Friday so I had to get them finished and mailed. Much thanks to Alisha and Lisa for reading all that stuff and finding my typos. I am done with all the writing portions of the ordainment process, now I just have to wait for the interviews!

peace,

will

The Gospel of Judas - Another Look

If you follow the news of religion and biblical scholarship you probably remember the big news over the last couple of years about the Gospel of Judas. If you don't remember, I found and article on it on NPR.org:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5327692

Well the story isn't over. Scholars are still at work on translating the piece and there was a much different view of the manuscript in this morning's New York Times. This is a really fascinating piece and you should definitely read it if you have ever been in one of my classes where we have discussed the difficulties of translating old texts and the drastically different meaning that can come out depending on translation.

Op-Ed Contributor

Gospel Truth

By APRIL D. DECONICK

Published: December 1, 2007

While the National Geographic Society’s translation supported the interpretation of Judas Iscariot as a hero, a more careful reading makes clear that he is a demon.

peace,

will

The Best of Looking Back and Counting Down in Review

I forgot that along with Christmas decorations comes the beginning of the season of looking back. I have already read various versions of the "Best Books of 2007" and the "Best Movies of 2007." I think this is actually a good thing. If we don't stop at the end of the year and look back a lot of stuff just fades away without another look. I enjoy this on a personal level. As a pastor, I have a number of end of the year things that cause me to look back. I just filled out my required annual continuing education form and it reminded me of some of the stuff I learned this year. I always include a section on some of the books that I have read. I am always pleased that I have read a lot, but always a little displeased that I don't remember more of what I have read. I am sure it is in my brain somewhere.

So, as we make the mad dash toward Christmas and New Years, think about this:

What did you learn this year?
What was the coolest thing you experienced?
What did you really want to do that you didn't?
Who are you really glad that you now know that you didn't know last year?

I am sure there are more questions to think about. But start with those.

peace,

will

I Just Love Stuff that Makes My Brain Hurt

It seems it possible that we can affect the Universe, including how long it will exist, simply by observing it. I realize that my child may act differently depending on whether or not he thinks I am watching but that fact subatomic particles and quantum systems may exist in different states depending on whether or not they are being observes is really difficult to swallow. I love it though since it reminds me that I am not nearly as smart as I think I am.

Check out the article:

Mankind 'shortening the universe's life'

"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened."
-Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

peace,

will

Back on the blog

For my regular readers, you may have noticed that I have been a little lean in posting lately. I could list a million excuses but I realized the other day in an email exchange with a friend that blogging is really just a matter of discipline like anything else. It is sort of like exercise. If you are on a program and you miss a day and you don't get back to it the next day it becomes more and more likely that you are off for good (or at least until you commit to starting again.) The weblog is the same sort of thing. It is most fruitful when I post something every day. If more than two days go by, the next post seems exceedingly difficult.

Anyway. Happy Thanksgiving. I hope everyone had a chance to relax and spend time with family. And I hope you aren't suffering at the mall today.

peace,

will

This Sunday's Sermon

I had some free time this morning so here is this week's sermon online before you can even hear it live. (No guarantees it will actually sound like it reads, but you should get the point.)

Sermon #52 - "Never Enough... Always Enough"

peace,

will

Where did the week go?

I just looked at the weblog and realized I had not posted since last Sunday. This week was a blur. I was at Mount Wesley on Monday and Tuesday for my next to last Covenant Connection retreat. I usually try to get ahead before I go away for two days but I think I went away a little behind. The rest of the week was spent just trying to catch back up. Or at least trying.

peace,

will

Time Change

If we set the clocks back one hour this morning, why did I wake up at 3 a.m.? I got a free hour of sleep and wasted it. Does that mean I won't have an hour to give up in the spring?

peace,

will

I am pretty sure there is no silence left.

Some people are wired to crave some amount of silence in their lives. There are others who do whatever they can to fill every moment with sound. I am the silent type.

Of course, we have a two year old at home, so I don't expect and awful lot of silence in my home, but I am noticing that anything resembling silence is become harder and harder to find. Even after the boy goes to bed, silence is hard to find at home. Especially when it is cooler and we can open the windows, the sounds are endless. My neighbor's dogs bark 24/7. People tend to mow and trim from about 7 a.m. until about 9 p.m. It seems more and more people have large diesel trucks with sound levels that rattle the windows.

My office is not a whole lot better. If you are ever in the church during the day, stand near my office and be still for a moment. Unless it is lunch hour and nap time for the childcare center kids, you will be surprised at the sound level. There is a small fan in my office which has nothing to do with circulation. The sound drowns out the other sounds when I am looking for something resembling silence. Our sanctuary is probably one of the quietest places I have found. However the peace is easily broken by a down shifting truck, a loud motorcycle or a police of fire siren.

Probably the quietest place I can find is in the cab of my truck. If I turn off my iPod... and my phone.

peace,

will

I Don't Read Everything

As much as I like to keep up with things, I can't read every newspaper and magazine on the planet. Fortunately some tools on the web do a great job of leading me to the cool stuff. There are websites like Drudge Report that collect stories from across the web. The problem with sites like that is that what gets posted is up to the one who runs the site. Much cooler are sights like Technorati which collect data on the most linked to sites, weblogs, stories and topics. Basically, if a weblog like mine posts a link like the ones I just posted for Drudge Report and Technorati, sites are able to take notice and compile the data. So what you end up with is a sort of collective intelligence pointing you to the cool stuff on the web.

All that is a long way of getting to something cool that I missed in the New York Times that I found at the top of the most popular news list at Technorati. This is a really long article from the New York Times Magazine, but it is totally worth the read. (Especially if you took my suggestion and read American Gospel.) It talks about the changing relationship of Christian Evangelicals and politics, particularly a change in their lockstep endorsement of the Republican party, which , the article reminds us, is still a fairly recent development. It is a really well researched and written article and gives a lot of insight into the current state of the odd relationship between the Gospel and politics.

The Evangelical Crackup
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: October 28, 2007
After the 2004 election, evangelical Christians looked like one of the most powerful and cohesive voting blocs in America. Three years later their leadership is split along generational and theological lines. How did it all come apart?

peace,

will

Christ and Coffee

Ok… I am a coffee junkie and a coffee snob. I drink a ton of coffee and I consider it bad day if any of it comes out of can. I am often saddened by the lack of Starbucks within reasonable driving distance of my home and office. But these are not the reasons I read The Gospel According to Starbucks by Leonard Sweet. It had been in my cart on Amazon.com for some time but I didn’t buy it until someone recommended to me. (Someone other than Amazon.com who always tells me what I should be reading and is usually right.) One of our newest District Superintendents (the United Methodist equivalent of a regional manager, sort of) recommended to me. I think United Methodist District Superintendents have one of the hardest, sometimes most soul-crushing jobs in the world of religion. So, when one of them is really excited about something, I take a lot of notice.

People in my present community may not totally get the idea behind this book because they don’t experience Starbucks unless they work in town. But Starbucks raises an amazing question that church people should be asking, “Why are young people perfectly willing to spend four dollars for a cup of coffee?” The answer has more to do with church than you would think. Leonard Sweet uses Starbucks as both a allegory and a practical example to show what people are searching for that the church used to provide: a spiritual experience that is experiential, participatory, image-rich and connecting (EPIC).

This book is so rich that I can’t write any more about it without feeling like I am doing it a disservice. If you are truly interested in how the church can regain its role of being a relevant force in society and how it can reach a new generation of human beings with the critical message of the Gospel, read this book. Read it, give it to someone else to read, start a study group around it. In other words, I recommend it.

peace,

will

Finally... and well worth it

I just don't know why this book took me so long to read, but it was definitely worth reading. Last night I finished Jon Meacham's American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation. This is a fantastic book and it should be required reading for anyone who wants to enter into the debate about the "separation of church and state." Whenever discussions arise around the issues of prayer in schools (or at football games), Ten Commandment displays on courthouse lawns and nativity scenes in public parks, the arguments are usually most loudly stated by those on the extremes, those extreme secularists who insist on a complete absence of any god from any public arena and the extreme religionists who insist that America is a Christian nation and that there should be no barrier at all to religion in the public sphere. This book helps us to understand the complexity and history of the argument. As with most modern arguments of this scale, this one is much more nuanced and much less black and white than some would suggest.

Meachum is a news guy, the managing editor of Newsweek and a historian, he also wrote Franklin and Winston: an Intimate Portrait of an Epic Relationship. His news and historical background make his take on the issue just detached enough that it would probably annoy people on either extreme end of the debate. But for those who are interested in understanding the history of this issue, his insight is fascinating.

I want to share one quote from the book that captures the importance of the entire work.

A grasp of history is essential for Americans of the center who struggle to decide how much weight to assign religious consideration in a public matter. To fail to consult the past consigns us to what might be called the tyranny of the present - the mistaken idea that the crises of our own time are unprecedented and that we have to solve them without experience to guide us. Subject to such a tyranny, we are likely to take a narrow or simplistic view, or to let our passions get the better of our reason. If we know, however, how those who came before us found the ways and means to surmount the difficulties of their age, we stand a far better chance of acting in the moment with perspective and measured judgement. Light can neither enter into nor emanate from a closed mind. (p. 232)

peace,

will

Welcome Newsletter Readers

In the Grace UMC newsletter this week, I printed a pastor's column that was originally posted here on the weblog. I invited people to come here and read the comments and post their own. If you are looking for that original post, you can find it here:

Can You See Through the Eyes of a Seeker?

If you are new to the weblog, you are welcome to post comments. Just click the comments link at the bottom of the post. You don't need a blogger I.D. to post, you can post anonymously.

peace,

will

Another Busy Week

I always forget exactly how busy fall is. Last night it was my turn to teach the confirmation class. I teach two sessions each year. Last night was on worship and later in the year I will teach on the United Methodist Social Principles. Tonight is the first night of Bible 101. This has taken a lot of energy to prepare for because I have completely rewritten the course. I always spend a little time updating courses I teach, but I rewrote this one from scratch and I am still playing with it. I also have a team helping me for the first time. This should be fun.

peace,

will