An ancient faith no longer practiced.....

 

When Barbara Brown Taylor visited the ruins of a church from the land where St. Paul baptized the first Christians she found only "vestiges of an ancient faith no longer practiced in the land."

"Such a thing is not impossible [here]; that is what I learned in that ruin on the hillside.  God has given us good news in human form and has even given us the grace to proclaim it, but part of our terrible freedom is the freedom to lose our voices, to forget where we were going and why.  While that knowledge does not yet strike me as prophetic, it does keep me from taking both my own ministry and the ministry of the whole church for granted.  If we do not attend to God's presence in our midst and bring all our best gifts to serving that presence in the world, we may find ourselves selling tickets to a museum."

The entire book is worth the read for all who claim the name of Jesus.
The Preaching Life, Barbara Brown Taylor, Crowley Publications, 1993, p 5.

How might I pray for you?

Not, who do you know that needs prayer?
Not, what situations weigh on your mind?
But, how might I pray for you?

Broken places, fears in the night, frustrations with loved ones, dread about the future, concerns that weigh you down.....what is it YOU need prayer for?

First you must stop and open up the hidden places of yourself to tell another of your needs.  Then you have nothing to do but to receive the blessing of knowing that someone has brought you before the throne of God.

I recently learned that a colleague had been praying for a concern of mine....for TWO years!  I was struck dumb, and eternally grateful for there had been moments during those years that I couldn't even pray for these burdens myself.  Yet he prayed; God listened and I have participated in God's hope.

To pray for someone else is a powerful gift.  To know that you are being prayed for is a humbling experience.  Be generous in your prayer, pour it out upon the creatures of this earth near and far, make it an offering of love.  And when you need prayer, allow someone else to pray for you.  It is what we do as the body of Christ.

How can I help?

 

"How can I help?"

This is the first step in living a generous life - or maybe generously living life.  Either way, it is a beginning from which we can grow and mature like fruit from the vine that is Christ.  Someone could use your help today.  Be sure to offer.  It is the whole reason God has given you so many gifts.  Wherever you are, is where you are needed.

Too many folks think that they must be rich before they can be generous.  Folks who think like that are rarely rich enough to start being even a little generous.  Generous folks look at their resources and see how they multiply when shared with others. 

"Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have for such sacrifices are pleasing to God."  Hebrews 13.16

Long ago and far away

 
 
 
If 'the resurrection' is nothing but an ancient story....

if Jesus is only 'long ago and far away' to you,

come, see the power of new life in our midst.

I'll meet you at 10 Tons of Love this afternoon and all next week.

Come and meet Jesus.

Objection or Avoidance?

Not on the Sabbath!  That was the objection they raised.  Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath!  I have no trouble imagining these folks huddled in the parking lot saying to one another, "There is no healing on the Sabbath!"  (Can you hear the echoes from A League of Their Own  There is no crying in baseball"?)

 

The Law supported their position.  Tradition supported their tradition.  The solid, observant, faithful members of the congregation supported their position.

God didn't.  God's desire is for wholeness and each and every agent of God is called to bring forth healing and wholeness and life whenever possible.  That means Jesus, God in the flesh, and that means you and me and everyone else touched by the resurrection power of Jesus.  Bring life, wherever and whenever we can.

It was a HUGE leap of faith to trust that Jesus was acting in accordance with God's desires - even when the old rules and the old ways of doing things were turned upside down.  It required first, that believers focused on God's central activity of giving life and second, that they join an unfolding, unclear and scary future.

Having God's power on the loose through Jesus.....and through you and me....is a whole lot harder to 'nail down' than a Jesus we keep confined by rules and traditions.  So, was it an objection....or simply avoidance of a reality they could not handle?






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Just folding clothes????

The energy crackles around the room - people moving, hauling, asking, answering, laughing, sharing stories, sharing names!  And folding.....Tshirts, and shirts and bedding and socks; searching out the second of a pair of shoes, untangling hangers.  It's the kind of work you wouldn't want to be paid for doing, because then it would be work instead of the caring, giving ministry it is.

10 Tons of Love is open for business, and business is good.  Donations of unneeded goods, clothes, food come in from students at SU and OCC and the volunteers at First English sort it, fold it, box it for the next weeks.....just so they can give it away.

Offerings of goods; offering  time; offering a hand to those in need. 
This is the power of the resurrection at work in this little corner of the world. 
Come any day M-F from 10 - 3 and be a part of it all.

No Hunger Games here

Too many children go to bed without enough food in their stomachs.  I have read as many as 1 in 5 children in the US are hungry.  Add to that number the children and adults around the world who are unsure of where their next meal will come from, and we have a serious problem on our hands.

The World Hunger Appeal and the Good Gifts program of the ELCA address just these issues at home and abroad.  Go to elca.org and participate in making a difference.

The Church provides more than nourishment for the soul and spirit; it fills tummies as well.  We will gather at the communion table this Sunday and be nourished by the hand of Jesus.  Let us reach out our hands and help nourish the hungry in our world as well.