Preparing for Sunday -- I Believe in . . . Jesus Christ, His Only Son, Our Lord

1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:1-11

This week, we are exploring what it means to believe in “Jesus Christ, his only son our Lord, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.” As such, we are contemplating that amazing event called “incarnation” where God took on flesh and dwelt among us. For Paul talking to the Philippians, who were apparently having a bit of congregational infighting, this declaration was more than just a theological statement, this is an ethical statement. If they truly believe then they will have the “same mind” that was in Jesus Christ.
1. According to Paul, Jesus “humbled himself” by taking on human likeness? What does it mean to say Jesus humbled himself? Is that different from Jesus humiliating himself?
2. What does glory look like when seen through the example of Christ?
3. What would our individual lives look like if we had “the same mind as that was in Christ Jesus”? What changes would you have to make in your life if you followed the example of Christ in taking on flesh and being obedient unto death?
4. Paul is not talking necessarily to individual Christians but to a congregation in turmoil. What do his words have to say to us as a congregation? If we were in full accord and of one mind (and that the mind of Christ!) how would we operate differently? Worship differently? Serve differently?
See you on Sunday!

I'm a Quiet Critic? What are you?

I took the Church and Politics quiz over at Leadership Journal and I am firmly (right smack in the middle) of the Quiet Critic quadrant. When I first read that I was not happy--surely I'm not as political disengaged as that! But then I read their definition of Quiet Critic: Quiet Critics steer away from a direct role for the church in politics, instead emphasizing the church's purity by maintaining a separation from the state. Quite honestly, that is what I believe--so a quiet critic I am--someone who believes the church is called to be prophetic but not entangled with the state.

I'm curious---what are you? You can take the quiz here.

Happy Women's Suffrage Day! So Go Out and Vote!

Living neither in Grant nor technically in Huntsville, I do not have the option to vote today. However, I do think it is a wonderful coincidence that the 88th anniversary of the passing of the 19th amendment giving women the vote falls on an election day.

I confess I have taken the right to vote for granted. After all the 19th Amendment was passed a few months before my grandmother was born! On the other hand that means we have only had the right for two generations! When I think of the women who fought for our right to vote, for people of all races who stood up for the right for blacks, women, Indians and even the poor to have the right to vote, and for the men and women who have died so we could have this right, I am absolutely amazed at how lightly we take this wonderful privilege!

So for those of you with local elections today, pray, put on your raincoat and go to your polling place and exercise your right to vote that others suffered and died to give you!

I Believe in God . . . Maker of Heaven and Earth

Today, we continued exploring the Apostle's creed by reflecting on what it means to believe in God, maker of heaven and earth.

One more in honor of the Olympics

and because I can't quit laughing! (Thanks to Bill Brunson and Dave Barnhart for sharing on Facebook!)


and speaking of Dave Barnhart, another thanks to Dave for introducing me to the Heavy Metal Monk!


and to Eddie Kennamer for introducing me to the preaching toddler!

Here, there and yonder -- August 24

First, a shout-out to Shane Kennedy and the Trinity Singers for sharing their gifts with the New Life congregation this morning! It was wonderful to have Brandon Shapiro accompany us on the hymns, Matthew Shapiro played a wonderful composition of his own for the postlude, and the Singers themselves almost made me cry when they sang "Walk Along Beside Me." Music--good music--is such a part of Trinity that I'm sure the youth have no idea how much their gift added to our worship today!

The past few weeks have been very busy! I'm behind on many things so naturally updating my weekly internet discoveries has not been the highest priority. But on this rainy Sunday afternoon, I thought I'd take some time to share some of what I have been reading midst all the running around!

Due to the nature of my current sermon series on the Apostle's Creed, I've been very aware of news related to beliefs and the impact they have on people. So check out what "flat-earthers" really believe; the mindset of the Class of 2012; the impact of the belief in "do-overs"; one young woman's belief in the power of logic; the power of belief in a good God midst a world of pain; and do we truly believe in a gospel in which there is not Greek nor Jew?

Is conflict inevitable between Christians and Muslims?

What will it mean for the U.S. if minorities becomes the majority?

How to avoid common Power Point mistakes! (Be sure and check this one out!)

Living together--the new "norm"

Naming the Elephants: Words from Young Adults in Ministry

Beer and the Bible? Theology on Tap? What will folks think of next?

Unusual places to find Jesus.

Sinners in the hand of a really cool God?

Britain is Repossessing America!!!

Eric Bagwell is starting a sermon series: The Gospel According to U-2! Sounds great!

Over at Theoblog, they are asking for people's memories of The Late Great Planet Earth. My memory is of my first "real" date when I was sixteen and the only movie my parents would let me see (read less than an R rating) showing was The Late Great Planet Earth -- the relationship lasted about as long as the movie.

What should we do about Biblical ignorance?

A beautiful blessing for students

Larry reflects on journaling (not one of my strongest spiritual disciplines!)

Coffeepastor reflects on the roller coaster ride of ministry which he calls pastoral bi-polar.

I want to join with Joshilyn Jackson in her Monday resolution to be more like Jesus and less like a hun! (By the way, if you haven't read any of her books I highly recommend you check them out!)

Would you buy fire insurance from this man?

Before Google, there was Foy Union! As all AU students know, if you have a question you call Foy Union. But Foy Union is going the way of all worn out ugly buildings and so the Student Desk is moving but you can still get your answers!

24 hours of Christian Television. This hour: Joel Olsteen.

And in honor of the Olympics, a reflection on that great Olympian, Eric Liddle. (I need to pull out my copy of Chariots of Fire!)

Preparing for Sunday--God Maker of Heaven and Earth

This week, our worship will focus on praising God who is the maker of both heaven and earth! Or to borrow from another creed (United Church of Canada) that really resonates with me: “We believe in God who has created, is creating and has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new.” Here are the scriptures we will focus on this week:

In the beginning when God created . . . God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2 And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.
Genesis 1:1a, 31-2:3
O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 8

Stephen Hawking once said, “Even if there is only one possible unified theory [of creation], it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?”

The psalmist and the writer of our passage in Genesis are not concerned with answering the question of how heaven and earth were created but with the bigger question, “Why?” To say we believe in God maker of heaven and earth is to say that we have some idea of why the universe goes to all the “bother of existing.” Furthermore, it tells us something about why humans exist and for what purpose. And perhaps the greatest insight comes from reflecting on the character of this God who creates.

• Hawking asks why the universe bothers to exist. Christians might ask why God bothered to create the universe. Why did God go to all that bother?
o What does God’s desire to create something say about God?
o What does God’s desire to create humanity say about God?
o If you did not have access to a Bible, what could you learn about God from looking at creation? Is there anything you would assume about God from looking at creation that you find not to be true of the God revealed in the Bible or in Jesus Christ?
• If God is the author—creator—or all we can see and in the words of the Nicene creed—of all things visible and invisible, what does that say to us about our relationship with God’s creation?
o What does it mean to say that humankind has “dominion” over God’s creation?
o What does that mean in our daily lives?
• The Old Testament indicates that the Sabbath was not established as a day to go to church but as a day of rest in remembrance of God’s creation. Laying aside debates on when the Sabbath should be observed, what does this say to us about the need and practice of Sabbath keeping?

Just a few of the things I’m pondering this Wednesday morning.

Image "The Hand of God" by Rodin

Confession time

. . . okay so that was how the beautiful worship setting looked before I managed to know over the fiscus tree hiding the speaker. Now the congregation knows just how clumsy I am!

I Believe What I Believe is what makes me what I am!

This Sunday, we continued exploring the Apostle's Creed by focusing on the phrase, "God, the Father Almighty." Our worship was really enhanced by our new worship setting. And I wish everyone could have heard the band leading the contemporary congregation singing Rich Mullin's Creed as well as the passion in which both congregations said the creed this Sunday!

And next week, the Trinity singers will bless us with their presence!

(Thanks to Wendy for the wonderful worship setting!)

Preparing for Sunday -- I Believe in God the Father Almighty

This week, we will continue our exploration of the Apostle’s Creed by focusing on the phrase, “I believe in God the Father Almighty.”
• What does it mean to you to say that you believe (put your trust in!) God the Father?
o Is the image of God as father helpful to you?
o Could the image have a meaning beyond comparing God to our earthly fathers?
• What does it mean to you to say that you believe in God Almighty?
o Is it a comforting thought or a scary thought?
• The Bible contains many images for God: rock, stronghold, shepherd, mother, husband just to start. Why do you believe the image of Father was so important to Jesus and to the writers of the New Testament?

Our scripture this week is a very familiar story. Usually we read it from the perspective of the younger or elder son. This week let’s read it to learn more about the Father.

Then Jesus said, "There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, "Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, "How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands." ‘So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, "Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate.
Luke 15:11-24

• The word “prodigal” can also be defined as “spendthrift” or “extravagant.” Many people have pointed out that the person acting the most extravagant and reckless is the father. What does this parable teach us about God as Father?
• How is this father like our earthly fathers?
• How is this father unlike our earthly fathers?
• What can we learn about what it means to trust in God the Father Almighty from this scripture?

Back to the Basics --The Apostle's Creed

I Believe . . . We Believe

Preparing for Sunday

As mentioned before, this Sunday we will begin exploring the Apostle’s Creed. This week we will concentrate on what it means to say we believe and the role of the Apostle’s Creed in shaping a community of faith. Here are the Scriptures we will explore:

1 Peter 3:15b Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you;

Mark 9:23-24 Jesus said to him, "If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out, "I believe; help my unbelief!"

The scripture from Mark is part of a larger miracle story found in Mark 9:14-29 that you might want to read and reflect on.
Here are some questions as we prepare for Sunday:

What does it mean to believe in something? Is it intellectual assent? Can doubt be a part or is it the opposite of belief?

Not only church’s have creeds. One of the highlights of watching an Auburn football game on TV for me is the wonderful, heart stirring commercial with different people reciting the lines of the Auburn creed. What is the value of a creed in creating a community? If you recite the creed, must you personally believe each line unequivocally?

Church is not the only place in contemporary life that we stand and recite or sing things written by previous generations as if it makes a claim on us. We recite the pledge of allegiance at football games. We sing the National Anthem and school fight songs and alma maters as if they mean something. Church is also not the only place where symbols carry important meaning. We wave flags. We wear wedding rings. What is the value of reciting or singing an ancient creed or song of faith? What is the value of symbols expressing our beliefs?
Just some questions to ponder this week.

I Believe Therefore I Am

This week, I’ll begin series of sermons examining the Apostle’s Creed. My intention was to reflect each week on one of the phrases of the creed, what it means and what difference it makes to our daily lives. But as I started putting the series together, I realized that I needed to start at the very basic level of the creed: what does it mean to say, “I believe.” What’s more, what does it mean to stand with a group of people and say “I believe” a long list of somewhat unbelievable things that I sometimes doubt and often struggle to understand? For that matter, what difference does it make that I believe in a virgin birth or a holy catholic church?

Furthermore, we live in a culture that is skeptical of creeds. It is not uncommon to hear people dismiss the idea of creeds as outdated, rote, and boring. Most contemporary services skip them entirely and I currently serve a church that doesn’t use the creed in the traditional service let alone the contemporary!
Descartes famously said, “I think therefore I am.” But to merely think is to go no where. Thinking requires belief and belief requires content. I am who I am. I live a particular lifestyle. I hold particular values. I spend my time in particular ways not simply because I believe but because I believe in something.

What we believe impacts how we live and who we choose to be.

The word creed comes from the Latin “credo” which means I believe. We all have a creed perhaps not written or recited but we all have one. And I am continually amazed by the power those creeds have on our lives.
The church has long held that Christians need a shared creed to remind us of the story we believe, the God we believe in and the life we are called to live. And almost all of the history of the church, the Apostle’s Creed has served this purpose. Even Christian traditions that consider themselves non-creedal believe the claims of the Apostle’s Creed.

Interestingly, during the past week several things have come to my attention dealing with the importance of belief. One is the weekly segment on NPR called “This I believe.” This week’s segment featured a young Hispanic woman discussing her belief that equality can be found in logic. Rather than believing “dogmatic religion,” she believes that “logic makes equals of us all.” She is obviously an extremely intelligent young lady, but I think a bit naïve because doesn’t logic favor the intellectual? And isn’t logic highly dependent on sources within ourselves? And if so, how can we logically assume that our logic is not somehow biased by our own prejudices, fears, and experiences.

Then there was an article in Salon magazine about Science as religion which brought up some concerns of the author that some are created a theology based on science that is just as dogmatic and judgmental as some claim the church to be!

And if that wasn’t enough to stimulate thoughts on what it means to believe, there is a new book out by an NPR journalist called, “Why We Hate Us,” in which he claims that the major problem in America today is an enslavement (my word not his) to the idea of personal choice. In fact, he points out that is somehow considered weak and foolish to follow a traditional route whether one is talking about religion, marriage, career choices etc. To the extent that he says "We accepted, naively, a bill of goods about how one forges an identity and happiness in life. And it doesn't come in a vacuum — it comes in a community with the help of others."

"We accepted, naively, a bill of goods about how one forges an identity and happiness in life. And it doesn't come in a vacuum — it comes in a community with the help of others."

Increasingly it seems to me that it is extremely important for all of us to examine our beliefs and to pass on our beliefs and our traditions to a new generation. We must do this not only for the sake of the kingdom of God but also quite simply for the society in which we live. I believe that what we believe drives how we live and how we live makes a difference in this world.

This is what I believe!

Class of 09 and 10

The first day of school at the Clontz house. It seemed appropriate to take a picture. Laura wanted to know if they needed to act like they like each other!
(And if you look close, you'll notice that John Wesley is looking over them ;-D )

Weekly Review

Do your part and save Mr. Rogers for a new generation!

Why the United Methodist is losing ground with young adults.

Happily, Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog is back on-line! He has a PH.D in Horribleness!

Is the internet ruining or helping literacy?

Top Reasons for Church Attendance. Surprise, surprise what draws them in is not what keeps them there!

Is it biblical to "feel called"? A great challenge to allowing our feelings to drive what we do and also a great affirmation of the role of the community in the process of discerning a call.

John Ortberg reflects on the gift of opposition.

The New Old Age Who's going to care for our elderly who are single and childless?

Good news --Math might be helpful in finding the right spouse! Good news for my kids. I'll start calculating for them now!

Rob Bell has a new book.

Is the problem of evil a "good problem"?

Ben Witherington speaks out on Obama.

On another note entirely, Ben Witherington reflects on Jesus as unifier of the Bible.

Larry shares a beautiful story of a day with his children and a challenge to serve.

Do we need to rethink preaching?

Are Egyptian Christians under attack?

And in honor of the release of "Breaking Dawn" (speaking of a PH.D. in horribleness!)