I never know what to title a post but think this may be appropriate. The season of Easter is rapidly ending. As next Sunday is Ascension Sunday and the following is Pentecost I must begin to change the vision and content of worship.
I get caught in betwixt this liturgical and the open ended unstructured non bulletined worship so many tout these days. I like the liturgical as it gives us a reason to move from one place to another, it offers us a discipline of worship and a journey through scripture that otherwise may get misdirected.
In the church where I serve I am constantly reminded of the faith that ungirds everything these people do. In the last 4 or so weeks there has been hell abounding with illness and accidents. There are those who are the old guard finding themselves in the hospital, sometimes with answers and hope and other times without either.
As one elder recovers from abdominal anurism another enters for a minor heart check resulting in both carodids cleaned and a 4 way bipass. All the while one more is in yet another hospital trying to find out why the kidneys are not removing the toxins from the blood.
These are all on the way to recovery, home and getting better when an accident claims the life of a 45 year old man, and the organist of one church is life flighted out with a severe heart condition.
Not to bad for about 100 signed on members.
Today they reassure me of who's they are as we lift in prayer yet others and proclaim to God the glory of healing (no mention of the Dr. just God) and restoring of much devestation.
I am amazed once again, then wonder why ever would I doubt that the people who would give the shirt off their back to one in need would ever not proclaim their God and Savior.
We are missional and we are liturgical and we are a church. Praise the Lord for these saints who keep the faith from failing. Praise the Lord for these saints who teach a young minimally trained pastor what it means to serve a risen Lord.
Amen and praise to all in the name of Jesus the Christ.
WaynO
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Gettin Crazy
Wow what a week and it is only Tues. If you have been reading my blog a while you may remember the newsletter I posted that seemed to get some of the ladies in the church I service a bit upset.
I asked a question -- "does the church need a building to be the church?" I found out later some thought I was selling the building owned by the church!!!! I simply wanted to make a point and create some thought that might create some activity.
Then I dropped a giant bomb shell and suggested that the fairly traded coffee we sell become a mission. Explaination --- we purchase coffee because we believe it is a good thing, then we offer it free will donation and use those funds for anothe mission project.
Goal -- we support two missions and do a bunch of educaiton in the process.
Well this morning on the hospice chaplain call in our thought for the day is --- "Only those who risk going to far can possibly find out how far one can go" this followed by the administration comment that "we are here to keep you from going to far".
To bring this back to original thought, I can't say what at this point but one of the session members said he wanted to get a little crazy??????? Wow did he ever have an idea, silent discussion then a little more then some real thinking going on.
I am pumped today and have to go get a CPR card blek.
I checked blogs and found this linked to and thought it fit into the same pericope, the challenge is to the current church to get up, get crazy, go the limit, see what we can do with Jesus!!!!!!!!
I think the link got put up on my last post all by itself. Man if I ever get this thing figured out it will amazing.
Grace adn Peace WaynO
I asked a question -- "does the church need a building to be the church?" I found out later some thought I was selling the building owned by the church!!!! I simply wanted to make a point and create some thought that might create some activity.
Then I dropped a giant bomb shell and suggested that the fairly traded coffee we sell become a mission. Explaination --- we purchase coffee because we believe it is a good thing, then we offer it free will donation and use those funds for anothe mission project.
Goal -- we support two missions and do a bunch of educaiton in the process.
Well this morning on the hospice chaplain call in our thought for the day is --- "Only those who risk going to far can possibly find out how far one can go" this followed by the administration comment that "we are here to keep you from going to far".
To bring this back to original thought, I can't say what at this point but one of the session members said he wanted to get a little crazy??????? Wow did he ever have an idea, silent discussion then a little more then some real thinking going on.
I am pumped today and have to go get a CPR card blek.
I checked blogs and found this linked to and thought it fit into the same pericope, the challenge is to the current church to get up, get crazy, go the limit, see what we can do with Jesus!!!!!!!!
I think the link got put up on my last post all by itself. Man if I ever get this thing figured out it will amazing.
Grace adn Peace WaynO
Friday, April 11, 2008
A B e a u tiful Day
Snow, snow, snow, wind and rain dark of night and I wonder if the post office is really even open. Got up this morning to 8 or 10 in. of snow, elec out, wind howling. There is a God and he is good.
But seriously folks how we muddle through life here in the good ole USA not even thinking about what works and what don't work. I realized that we had only one radio that we had batteries for. I grind fresh beans each morning so no coffee. No TV, no microwave, no furnace, no lights. Then I had a flash about a place called Muldova that a couple of my friends do mission work in. They don't even have windows to close on most houses, little or no fire wood, not much food, elec is just a luxury (when it is on). Life there would be a terror for most of us. I filled my belly with hash browns, eggs and pepper jack cheese. (my stove is gas and I just had to light the burner) I went out and started my wife's pickup so she could go to work (elec back on) left it running so it would be warm for her. Now the furnace won't seem to stop running and I got coffee ground and my interenet is up.
I think I should apologize to someone.
Then I went to this blog called Jesus Creed http://www.jesuscreed.org/?p=3686 and read a real interesting little parable. Go read enjoy, but think about it, why would it be important to discuss how seeds are planted and how they grow. In that time most if not everyone understood how these things worked or I would imagine that they would. In a world that causes you to live with the land and the dust and bugs there are a lot of things one would be familiar with that many today don't have a clue about and for that matter don't really care about.
Careful, I am beginning to sound a bit judgemental and I don't like that so better stop. Have a great day where ever you are. Enjoy the power of the earth as it lives and breathes. Yes, enjoy even if your house blew away in a tornado, you almost washed away in a flood, crashed on the icy road, are parched in a drought. Enjoy and rejoice.....you have an awesome God who is with you no matter what.
WaynO
But seriously folks how we muddle through life here in the good ole USA not even thinking about what works and what don't work. I realized that we had only one radio that we had batteries for. I grind fresh beans each morning so no coffee. No TV, no microwave, no furnace, no lights. Then I had a flash about a place called Muldova that a couple of my friends do mission work in. They don't even have windows to close on most houses, little or no fire wood, not much food, elec is just a luxury (when it is on). Life there would be a terror for most of us. I filled my belly with hash browns, eggs and pepper jack cheese. (my stove is gas and I just had to light the burner) I went out and started my wife's pickup so she could go to work (elec back on) left it running so it would be warm for her. Now the furnace won't seem to stop running and I got coffee ground and my interenet is up.
I think I should apologize to someone.
Then I went to this blog called Jesus Creed http://www.jesuscreed.org/?p=3686 and read a real interesting little parable. Go read enjoy, but think about it, why would it be important to discuss how seeds are planted and how they grow. In that time most if not everyone understood how these things worked or I would imagine that they would. In a world that causes you to live with the land and the dust and bugs there are a lot of things one would be familiar with that many today don't have a clue about and for that matter don't really care about.
Careful, I am beginning to sound a bit judgemental and I don't like that so better stop. Have a great day where ever you are. Enjoy the power of the earth as it lives and breathes. Yes, enjoy even if your house blew away in a tornado, you almost washed away in a flood, crashed on the icy road, are parched in a drought. Enjoy and rejoice.....you have an awesome God who is with you no matter what.
WaynO
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