Thank you God for the sign.

In case you don't watch TV or the news, the Scripps National Spelling Bee was yesterday in Washington DC.

As always, watching young kids sweat it out under the lights (remember this wonderful experience?) is entertaining.  I got to see some of it but the empathetic stress is not what I need during my day.  I'm a light-weight, I know.

But there was a winner!  A very deserving 13 year old girl named Kavya Shivashankar.

Do you know what the word was she spelled correctly to take home 40,000 dollars and a nice big trophy?

Laodicean.

Familiar?  Vaguely familiar?  13 Year old girl smarter than you?  She's smarter than me.  But I recognized the word.  Who knew!?  Well, I knew it was one of the Churches in Revelation who received a letter (Chapter 3) but I didn't know the word had its own meaning!  It means lukewarm or indifferent, especially in religion.

Kinda like doubting Thomas going down in history as a big worry wort, the Church of Laodicea will always be remembered as a bunch of lukewarm Christians.  

Awesome.  Be apathetic enough as a body of believers and 2000 years later some kid at the Scripps Spelling Bee is going to win the competition on the correct spelling of the word...

METHODIST - noun 1.) A person who is lukewarm or indifferent, esp. in religion.

I got all my information for this post from this site.

Whats your spirit? (Acts 2:1-21 OR some thoughts on Pentecost)

There are two spirits in this world from which to choose from.

One is a spirit of fear. Fear makes people do a lot of crazy things. Some philosophers and psychiatrists argue that everything human beings do is out of a fear of death. At its worst, fear leads to violence, oppression, and does little to stop the march of death. If anything, fear encourages death and destruction wherever it goes. Fear focuses on the unknown. The unchangeable. "What if?" is asked and our minds run rampant with endless possibilities of our inevitable end.  At its best, we know fear for a good reason - it can be a strong motivator. It protects us! Fear of fire and electricity keep us from touching things we shouldn't touch.  Fear can bring caution.  And caution can be a good thing, when appropriate.

But often, fear is not appropriate.  My main problem with fear is that when we fear what we know, it can stop us from being courageous, free, or hateful sometimes.  When we fear what we do not know, we don't react to reality anymore, we react to simple non-existent possibilities.

Fear can take you far in life.

Some theologians will even tell you that fear is what God deserves. Fear of the Lord might be the beginning of wisdom, but it sure ain't the end of it. Because there is something stronger than fear - something that is a better motivator and protector.  There is something that can take you farther than fear.

The other is a spirit of adoption.

Think about it.  When you realize how much someone loves you it enables you to be yourself.  It actually encourages you to be MORE yourself and to improve yourself into the ideals of those who love you.  I've spoken before about the progression from apathy/hate/love and fear keeps people at arms length.  But adoption loves.  Not because of who YOU are, but because who HE is.

Fear vs. adoption.  Dark vs. light.  Evil vs. Goodness.

This Pentecost if you go to church, you will hear about a Spirit that is unafraid.  A Spirit of Adoption - the Holy Spirit.  Of course, I'm referencing both Acts 2:1-21 and also Romans 8:14-16.  Here is the Romans passage (in the NRSV, which I love):

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.  For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption.  When we cry, "Abba!  Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.

BOOM!  You are not God's slave and you never will be.  Because you have been adopted.  See the family connotations?  And btw, "Abba" could loosely be translated into "Daddy" - a term of intimacy not shared with just anyone.  The early church stayed behind closed doors because they were scared.  It is into this terror of the unknown that God breaths a new wind.

I can't emphasize enough that as Christians we must act out of a spirit of adoption.  When we do, our hearts intertwine with God's heart.

Fear says you are a nobody.  Adoption says you are someone.

Fear says you are worthless.  Adoption says you are worth more than you could possibly imagine.

Fear says people cannot be trusted.  Adoption says you should be trustworthy because you've been entrusted with much.

Fear says the unknown should be avoided.  Adoption says the unknown can't hurt you (ultimately).

Fear says we should attack North Korea first.  Adoption says there is always a chance for redemption and forgiveness because we've been shown redemption and forgiveness.

Fear says those [insert scary uncontrollable enemy] will be the end of us.  Adoption says they may change us, but our identity is wrapped up in someone great than our enemy.

Fear says they are out to get us.  Adoption says we should be out to get them!

Fear says the United Methodist Church will decline and disappear.  Adoption says we aren't finished bringing people closer to Jesus and the Kingdom of God.

Fear says we are best left going our separate ways.  Adoption says there is another way... a path where we are all children of God and belong to the same family.

Fear says death will get you.  Adoption says life already has you.

Its not that adoption doesn't share Fear's concern for caution or right living, it just holds fear in check.

You know why generations of Americans laugh at Christianity?  Because Christians everywhere speak/act more out of fear than they do out of adoption.  And fear is laughable.  Adoption is serious.

Believe me, following Jesus is scary!  Its only scary for those who don't know they can belong.  But its a lot better than the alternative.

My hope is that you will see moments in your life when you can choose...

You can choose between a spirit of fear or a spirit of adoption.  Every choice you make speaks either out of a fear of darkness or an appreciation for the light you are in.

Keeping it all in the family.

Jeff Slater (His blog is here, and his twitter is here) and I were talking the other day during his Annual Conference about something his Bishop said regarding the recent departure of a congregation from the United Methodist Church.  Through our conversation, a question came up that I'd love delve into, and hopefully, Jeff will grace us with a bit of a response - I'd call it a rebuttal, but we are on the same side in this conversation, just sharing our hopes for the United Methodist Church in our lifetimes.

The question is: 

For those with no United Methodist ties, why make them?

This question arose because the Bishop, meaning well and from all accounts visibly shaken by the pain of such a situation, claimed that the congregation "did not have a deep United Methodist identity."  This is not a conversation about the rights/wrongs of the UMC or this particular congregation - this is a conversation about the above question.  Another corollary, although not for this post, is why I should encourage young adults in the UMC to pursue ordination in the United Methodist Church.

Many of us in the ministry in the United Methodist church are here precisely because of our ties.  I know I grew up in the UMC.  The church has helped me in more ways than I can write here.  The core of who I am is so wrapped up in Wesleyan theology and the movements of the UMC, I don't thing any place could feel so much like home.

Some of us are here because it has become home in exile.  We were pushed out from other congregations or denominations, and the United Methodists were the only ones who would take us in.  Or the United Methodists were a good middle ground from where we came from.  I don't know why you are in the UMC - and if you aren't yet, I like to joke that eventually you will be :)  Because I believe it is the best church in the world.  Or else I wouldn't be in it.

Why is it the best?  Well, for me, and I've already mentioned this, it affirms who I am.

But is it best for those outside the UMC?

As a place to start, I want to begin with Jesus - crazy, I know.

The Gospel is good news for everyone.  Its good news for those who believe it and its good news for those who don't believe it.  Rob Bell makes the point in one of his books, I can't remember which one, but he offers a hypothetical situation.  Lets say Sarah accepts Jesus as her Lord and Savior.  She lives on a street with a Muslim, Hindu, and Agnostic.  Sarah accepting the Gospel is not just good news for her, its good news for her neighbors as well.  Without any conversation about the salvation of the others on the street, we all would admit that Sarah's presence as a vessel for Jesus Christ is good news for everyone on that street (How often in our society is the presence of a Christian frowned upon?  You should read my post about creepy Christians...).

Anyway, if the Gospel is good news for everyone, it would be awesome if that was analogous - no, literally, the same presence as the United Methodist Church.

I am United Methodist, but I'm Christian first.  If the UMC ceases to exist, I will still follow Jesus Christ.  I might be American, and proud of it, but I will always be Christian first.

I want my identity to be wrapped up in Jesus Christ, and if my identity is in the United Methodist Church, it is the Church that must move closer to my Jesus, not the other way around.

So, first, idealistically speaking, I want as little difference as possible between the Gospel and being United Methodist.

Why should someone with no ties to United Methodism, make ties?  Because it helps them know the Savior better and helps them live into the Christian life. 

I can see this two ways. 1) Your theology is thoroughly Wesleyan and so the church speaks the same language as your heart (and because Wesley loved Jesus, anyone who starts with Jesus can be Wesleyan, whether they know it or not).  And 2) The church offers a way for you to improve your walk with Christ.

You could argue that the one thing the United Methodist Church offers that is strictly unique within Christianity is its system.  Its a connectional system, where congregations act within an Annual Conference - a connection of churches that pray for, care for, and support one another.

Hmmmm.... so can the connection be a reason to be United Methodist?  Absolutely.  Why should a congregation make ties in the UMC?  Because we achieve more together than we ever could alone.  You could argue the bureaucracy does not adequately distribute resources, blahblahblah - this isn't that post.  Moving on.

Without the connection, are you really United Methodist anyway?  And if you don't have that connection, does the UMC offer such grace, peace, resources, and strength that you are better off with the connection than without?  Even before you have it?  Sure, but how well does the UMC welcome new people and new congregations?

What if we have established a system that is only good news for those within the system.  

To say it more bluntly, we protect the system from those outside the system.  There are lots of ways we can do this.  Maybe...through a laborious process and lots of red tape to discourage anyone coming in?  I've seen this in the ordination process and I'm sure that on a congregational level, it would be near impossible for a church to actually *join* the UMC if it didn't start that way. (well, I know how to do it, just give the conference your property and all authority).

I digress.  Why should someone with no connection join our connection?  For...the... connection?

My hope is that the connection is favorable for any person, church, or community because it makes the future look better.  I don't think we will get many 

Yes, the Church has been good to me and has been a means of grace for sharing God's love with me and my loved ones.  And that will continue to be a big part of my "sales pitch" for the church.  But I'm working to create a United Methodist Church that does not live in the past - I'm excited about the future.  Much like my spiritual walk with Christ - I'm Christian not just because of what Jesus has done for me, but what he will do for me today and tomorrow.

So those are my two reasons (for now hehe) that someone without Methodist ties should make them.

1.) Because it helps them know the Savior better and helps them live into the Christian life. 

2.) Because we achieve more together than we ever could alone.

Thanks (Memorial Day)

Know anyone who has shown true love? John 13:12-14 -

¹²My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command.

I've had lots of family in the military.  Both my grandfathers were involved in WW2.  One was a paratrooper in the US.  The other a part of the Dutch resistance in the Netherlands.

The Army put my father through medical school (and I was born at Ft. Gordon).  One of my best friends is a Marine and served in Iraq.

But I did not lose (to my knowledge) any close family in any conflicts.  There are those though, who, in service to this country (and others!!!), have laid their lives down for me.  Sure, they didn't know me, but I'd lift up their sacrifice as a means of grace in my life.  In a way, such a sacrifice raises this person above the nature of the conflict and shows a kind of faith and conviction that is a true Christian ideal.  I'm not talking blind faith, but strict obedience.  I hope that your sacrifice will encourage me and my Christian brothers and sisters to re-evaluate their own lives and the impact we make on those who come after us.

If someone can live/die for our country - surely I could live/die for our God?

Just wanted to say thanks.

Ordination and the lack thereof

June 5th, 2009 I will be ordained into the Order of Elder in the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church.

*gasp*

Thats a mouth full.  Translation?  My life's calling will be affirmed by the church on June 5th.

But my mind goes not just to the future and what that will look like, it also turns back to my friends.  Or aquaintances who have been in the ordination process.  I wish I could say everyone who has sought ordination in the United Methodist Church, found it.  But that is not the case.

This is my open blog post for those who are deferred, rejected, or encouraged to withdraw from seeking ordination in the UMC.

I'm sorry.  My heart aches because things didn't work like you thought it would.  Despite the perceived intentions of man/woman, God's intentions are for you to prosper and live fully into the calling God has on your life.  There is no board, church, society, person, seminary, evil, or circumstance that can stop you from living into your very being with God.  All I have for you is hope and hurt.

-----------

Do you know about the candidacy process in the United Methodist Church?  Its elaborate, somewhat laborious, and time consuming.  I think I started the process when I was 18.  Its been 10 years.  But those ten years were formative, and helpful, and if anything... helped me discern where I will be then next 10 years of my life.

Now, I've said this before and I'll say it again - ministry can happen concurrently to this whole process.  I don't feel like I've been held back within the process.  Some that I've spoken to felt that the way the system is designed it implies that until you are "full-connection" Elder or Deacon, you are just a partial minister of sorts.

Well, if you are thinking of ordination as some kind of pyramid system where Elders/Deacons are above Laity, like the Catholic Church, then you'd be right.  Anyone short of the Pope is not as powerful or important as the literal representation of Jesus Christ.  Its a power pyramid.

Now, no church would claim that pastors are *ahem* more important than the people who make up the church.  Because frankly, the church is not centered on the clergy.  It should be centered on Christ.  But some churches will say this translates that the church centers on pastors (as the representatives of Christ). 

I don't think this is what Christ wanted in his church.  Instead, a Christ-centered congregation would welcome and encourage ministry in all its beautiful forms (we are, afterall, a priesthood of all believers).  I'm not saying we don't NEED clergy.  Lord knows there must be someone not to LEAD but to serve.  If its a pyramid at all, it should be an inverted pyramid with the clergy below the laity.  

In MY mind, the closer we can come to understanding ministry as a system of servanthood and less a system of power, the more being deferred from Ordained Ministry will be less of a let down and more of a discernment/joy.  

effecient customer support...

I had the most incredible exchange with someone today.  First, let me get the technicalities out of the way so I can get on to my point.

I love twitter.  To use it effectively, I have it on my phone and my computer.  There are programs you can download that take your twitter feed and do all kinds of wonderful things with it.  I happened upon http://www.monitter.com and decided to give it a try.  

You get that?  Check it out.  It'll help you appreciate twitter more.  Anyway, basically, the webpage wasn't working like I wanted it to (something to do with replies and retweets) so I emailed the developer.

I kid you not, within a minute the guy responded.  Not just some tech support guy, but the ACTUAL developer!  Its a small operation, I understand that...but the guy who codes the whole thing actually responded within a MINUTE to address my concern.  Within 15 minutes he had the issue fixed - and then emailed me to let me know.

Now, as this is a blog about church/Jesus you knew I'd tie it in somehow, right?

Basically, my exchange with the developer was SO personal and SO specific and SO directed at my issue, I couldn't help but appreciate it.  Okay, so he got lucky and was in the right place at the right time, but still... maybe it was the Holy Spirit? 

As Christians, so often our efforts are directed towards a very small window of people.  For example, Sunday morning worship service is a SERVICE provided for those who are willing to come.  It does not go anywhere for anyone.  If I'm going to donate my time at a food pantry in the name of Christ, you better believe I am going to be very specific with when I'm there.

The point is this: I wish my church could be more like my experience this afternoon with Monitter and less like working with Charter Cable Television.  I hate getting the run around - and you do too.  But isn't it nice when someone stops what they are doing and helps you?  Or happens to already be working on what you need?

Now, there are examples of companies who can handle mass volumes of people effeciently and as low cost as possible - Google and T-Mobile (customer support) come to mind.  It is clearly impossible for the CEO of Google to answer phone and emails concerning glitches in the system.  The CEO probably couldn't fix my problem anyway.  But Christians should expect our God to put us in the right place at the right time to be the most effecient customer service in the world.

Maybe Customer Service is a poor analogy...

But thank you @soyrex for the help.  It sounds corny, but you made my day.

tolerance isn't what it used to be.

Christians should not be tolerant. We should be a lot of things, but tolerant is not one of them. There are too many tolerant Christians, you know?

Since I work well with progression (and I'll move from less to more Christ-like), I want to use some words I hear that describe Christians sometimes.

• Prejudice - an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. I know Christians like this, and I bet you do too. We will all admit, however, that Christians should never be prejudice. Its not technically a crime. There is no charge-able offense in simply thinking in a prejudice way. But that doesn't make it right. Prejudice Christians size someone up before they even meet them. This is mostly where we go wrong. That guy dressed funny on the corner? He isn't worth as much to our church as the pin-striped CEO right? Or maybe we have a problem with different ethnicities or pedigree? And one more thing - the second you think you aren't prejudice, please step back, quit being so defensive, and ask yourself how you can know someone better. Because chances are prejudice is the opposite of knowledge - the less you know, the more likely you'll be prejudice. And the best way to know someone...is...well...know them. Talk to them. Be around them. Get to know who they are. Don't read about "their kind" in a book. That doesn't count. But once you stop being prejudice, you might become...
  
• Tolerant - a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry. (I would say, tolerant, but that definition is simply having tolerance, which gets us nowhere.) Christians are sometimes called bigots. A bigot is someone who is completely intolerant of another person who is different. Well - are we bigoted or not? I think its a simple question. Because regardless of whether you ARE or AREN'T, if someone else thinks you are, their perception is enough. Sorry, back to tolerance... Some people think Christians should be tolerant. Christians should be fair, objective, and permissive. Hmmmm. For others, tolerance sounds like a dirty word that immediately labels anyone who is tolerant as "liberal" which sometimes could be used as a four letter word. Whichever way you feel about tolerance - you are in luck, Christians aren't supposed to be tolerant any more than they are supposed to be prejudice. Sure, being tolerant is better than being prejudice, but its not where we stop.
  

I believe Jesus calls us to something more than just tolerance for other people. We should be loving.

Imagine if Jesus were tolerant of Romans. Sometime tells me he would not have welcomed Centurions into his fellowship.

Imagine if Jesus were tolerant of sinners. He would have kept them at arms length and not actually eaten with them or laughed with them or shared God's love with them. See, people who are tolerant allow other groups of people to exist concurrently with little to no care for what happens to them. Christians that tolerate non-Christians really don't give a rip for those they tolerate - or else we wouldn't call it tolerating them. Christians should always be welcoming. They blur the line between the haves and the have-nots. They purposely try to reach out to those who have been pushed to the outside.

Truth is, Jesus was never tolerant. He was more than that - he was loving.

• Loving - (and btw, there are 28 different definitions according to the dictionary I'm looking at, but I picked the one that applies) a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend. Could you imagine what would happen if Christians stopped tolerating and started loving? The Kingdom of God would happen on Earth. If I were personally attached to someone different than me, that would alter the way I live. If I had deep affection for someone who didn't believe like I did, but was in my life, why would it matter if they think differently?
  

Now I know what you are thinking, my wonderful Christian friends. You are saying to yourself that Jack is right...inside the church, everyone should be welcome. But this just doesn't make sense in life. Jack, you've overstepped your bounds. Okay, silly man, in the church, all are welcome. But not in the real world. And not in Church leadership. Right? Right?

Well, I will grant you that this is not easy. This is a tough teaching that you and I will have to wrestle with. But don't sell God short or yourself short by playing like the Church is some kind of building. We all know that the buildings are only as good as the people who are in them. God has decided not to live in buildings anymore, but in human hearts. As the Holy Spirit moves in you and you become more like Christ, the church goes wherever you go. SO! Don't just be tolerant, be loving, and welcome someone into your life (the Church) that maybe you are pushing out.

I actually preached about this issue this weekend with Acts 10:32-48 - the sermon is below. Be more than tolerant! ;) ha!

Angels and Demons

Let me just throw this out there: who cares?

Aren't we over the whole religion/science conflict? I think its overblown.

Sure, I know there are those out there who have a serious problem with the whole creation/evolution thing. But this movie certainly does not assist that conversation at all.

But I bet its a great movie. I loved the book but I read it a while back and some of it isn't coming to mind. I remember thinking that the characters were better than the Davinci Code (although some of them are church folk, maybe I'm bias?) - I hope to see it soon, actually. And when I see it, I'll let you know what I think of it. I can guess that in typical hollywood fashion the church will be seen as, at best, a short-sighted, anxious, and fearful institution that is a victim of outside forces too powerful to withstand. At worst, the church will be represented as evil, malicious, and trying to stave off obvious defeat to the more respectable intellectuals.

puleese. First, the synthesis of science and religion is not that difficult anymore, as any clergy worth their salt will plead some measure of ignorance to the workings of God. Nowadays, this is not a political or militaristic statement about whether the Church is right - the stakes are different.

Think about it, when the Catholic Church had such a "hard time" with science, they were oh-so political - simply trying to maintain political clout instead of further the understanding of God's beautiful creation. Saving face.

But now, why do we invest so much into pitting science and God? If every scientist in America were a God-hating athiest, it wouldn't scare me a bit. Their work would still (in my humble opinion) praise the creativity and complexity of a world that is far too grand for me (or by extension, humanity) to fully grasp or ever conceive. God's truths CAN be factual, btw. They don't have to be all faith and such. Don't you think the curve of a circle (pi) or 9.8 meters/sec(squared) to be Godly truth? So what if God decided to create the world in seven days - isn't he God? Can't God pull that off? But couldn't he also spend million of years perfecting DNA?

Why does my stance on evolution color your perception of how faithful I am as a Christian?

I can think of more godly things for Christians to get passionate about.

prayer, and then some.

Today is the day. Sure, there is always reason to pray. But beginning today 40 Young Clergy (and a bunch of their friends) have committed to praying for the United Methodist Church for 40 days.

You can get the RSS feed here: http://umcyoungclergy.com/prayer/rss

Or check it out on the site: http://www.umcyoungclergy.com/prayer

Thanks to Ben Simpson, Jenny Smith, and a host of others who let God use them and their sacrifice of time to make this happen.

Now get cracking! Our church can become everything God wants it to be, if we'll just let Jesus use us.

organic gardening

Does faith grow more like Kudzu or hardwood trees?

Is the Christian life more like employing Slash-and-burn tactics or Gardening?

For my God.

I'm a momma's boy.  Mothers Day is coming up soon - and if it applies to you, don't forget your wife, grandmother, or any female carrying an infant - and tell them all Happy Mothers Day.

Matthew 23:37 - "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing."

When Jesus talked about God, he called God, Father.  I cannot work around the notion that this is how we should think of our heavenly creator.  But I don't want to get in a theological tiddly-winks game where we try to determine which name best describes our God.  God is bigger than that. Let me just say this: 

1.  My mother is the greatest representation of Christ in my life.

2.  There are some wonderful ways of understanding God's love, and "motherly" is one of them.  Does that scare you?  Can we agree that God is protecting/nurturing/loving like my mother?  Even if you want to swap it (and be more accurate) you could say that my mother is protecting/nurturing/loving like my God.  In the same vein, my father is loving, strong, wise. and challenging.  It is just a different way of understanding love, and our God is big enough to provide all of these.

Maybe I'm making it too complex, lets break it down to an expression:

What is God's love like?  What about a hen gathering chicks under her wings?  Beautiful symbol of godly love.  It is in my mother.

For the record, this is a post about God.  The post about my mother will come on mother's day.

Thousands and thousands of doors

Ten Thousand of them, at least.

If you ever doubted that the UMC could make a concerted effort to try new things, check this out:

http://www.10thousanddoors.org

I am quite impressed with the site.  "Connectional" is the best descriptor you could give it.

Hopefully you'll open a door or two and have an experience with Christ by your searching.  I can't help but think about the Scooby Doo cartoons though where the bad guy is chasing the whole crew and they are running through one door and out another, all the while, making me laugh and not really getting anywhere at all.

Personally, I love the site, because it isn't just static information, but moveable, customizable, and so wonderfully personal.  You might disagree, but its really nice being able to interact in a nice shell.  And it already uses my google account - how awesome is that?

There are no substitutes for actual relationships - but I could see this website getting people in a position to see/hear God move in new ways.  There is lots of stuff about "church" on the site, but not much about Jesus.  Which in some ways is fine, I mean, I know people who spout Jesus' name everywhere they go and I know it just makes Jesus cringe.

I know, I know.  This is a seeker friendly place blahblahblah, but really - I know people in America are distancing themselves from that name, but lets hope when someone actually ends up at a church or in a relationship (from this website) where they find Jesus.

My only real knock would be that with all the doors, actual change will only come from action, not pretty websites.  And with the multitude of directions we could go,  it can be a bit overwhelming. Here's to the Holy Spirit directing us!

All in all, good job UMC.  Good job.  Now I just hope that 20 mil is worth it.

Dealing with my shortcomings.

Excitabat enim fluctus in simpulo.

Consider this my open disclosure to the world.  I'm an excitable person.  Where some speak in hushed tones with slight movement, I try to create a tempest in a tea pot.  Why?  Well, I'm coping, obviously.

Maybe its because I feel strongly about something.  It certainly isn't because I want to hurt another person or oppress them.  But apparently that happens sometimes anyway.  And it shouldn't.  I need to somehow control my excitability.

So I apologize.  I'm sorry that tone of voice has a tendency to make people angry or cry.

I'm torn obviously - between expressing myself and respecting other people.  I'm torn between showing some chutzpah and completely tucking my tail.  Which will win? Another way of saying might be that I get defensive.  But something in me just wants to claim I'm confrontational.  What can be such a great tool elsewhere is also a horrid way to impose on other people.  Can there be any good in turning people into victims?  Is it possible to even avoid the unwilling altering of their reality when my reality is obviously off kilter?

But people respond in different ways.  The lower levels involve distorting reality and avoiding the truth.  Higher levels involve sublimination, altruism, suppression, anticipation, and humor.

I don't feel like my anger (if I can call it that?) is a distortion of the truth.  Rather, I'd like to think its a healthy attempt to deal with stimuli.  But its obviously not healthy or people wouldn't feel the need to respond with their own coping methods (crying).

I'll say this, I don't feel like I can control it, so I'd have to say that this the physiological response (increased heart rate, tension, raising of the voice, sharp tone, funny breathing) shows more of a lack of control than anything.  Something in me feels threatened by some stimuli and boom... hurt feelings.  Its childish, its immature, and I can't beat it down all the time.  I will fail in this regard, sometimes. 

There.  I said it.

Just wanted to get that off my chest.  No human copes effectively all the time.  To be honest, none of us have the necessary defenses or applicated responses that will preserve our lives and adequately bring together our lives with the lives of those around us.  We all need Christ for that.  But when I do mess up, I'm sorry.

Young Clergy are doing something

http://umcyoungclergy.com/prayer

I'm part of a 40 day prayer campaign by United Methodist Young Clergy.  Honestly, most of these people I've never talked to - but we share two things in common.

1.) A belief prayer is worth the effort.

2.) A love of Christ and Church

I hope you'll pray with us.  Click the website above for more info and subscribe to the feed.

Pictures of Churches banned

You gotta check out this site.  The mouse can't talk, so he blogs.  ha!

(And being a British church mouse, I read his blog as if he has a british accent, which I know he does.)

Muslim demographics! AHHH!

Maybe you've seen this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU

One downside to such a video is there is a vague reference to "research" and "data" and it also piddles with the idea that "population" equals "culture."  If anyone can produce the studies it proposes, I'd love the link.  But until then...

I direct you here for some statistical (and perhaps boring) references to Fertility Rates.  Most striking to me is the chart relating GDP numbers against fertility rates - basically the poorer the country, the higher the growth rate.  Awesome, no wonder America is dying off, we are a bunch of "rich" Americans.

It can be quite scary to see things change and to feel helpless to stem the tide of life.  But that is the world we live in, is it not?  And the scares never stop (at least, from a xenophobic stand point) - it seems all of time has been a battle between the civilized and the uncivilized.  Rome had its barbarians.  Islam has had its infidels.  Hindus have their untouchables.  America has their...  And now, the question seems, if Christianity is so great (and our God so powerful), why would Muslims seem to be "winning" the culture war?  (by the way, I purposely interchange the term Christian and American for my purposes here, because the video presupposes the two are interchangable).

Maybe because Christianity's goal was never to duplicate a culture?  Christians have set too low of a goal for what our Jesus is trying to accomplish.  I don't think Jesus ever wanted us to replicate the culture of any particular nation (hellooooo, Judiasm is "dying") - but instead replace the culture of every nation with that of the Kingdom of God.

How much has culture co-opted God's plans here in the United States?  Any nation (except a communist one) will appreciate good moral religious adherents of any type.  In a way, governments needs religion to keep people docile.  Marx called religion the opiate of the masses (and thus looked disfavorably on them as a tranquilizer of sorts).  I don't know if Islam is better suited for that role, but it sure wasn't Jesus' attempt.  Personally, the idea of a non-state/cultured sponsored Christianity is quite a thrilling prospect.

Don't get me wrong, it is "scary" (to me) that our world is going to look different.  There are a lot of unknowns and honestly I don't know very many Muslim friends.  But the ones I DO know are far from the "agenda" of the Muslim world to breed out Christianity.  They are regular folks like you and me, actually.  As Christians, the Gospel is good news for everyone.  We have a spirit of adoption, not a spirit of fear.  Thats why I laugh at propoganda films.  Because you can't scare me into being a better Christian - folks have been trying that for years.  I've been loved into being faithful.

And yes, it saddens me that we've come to this (the whole Christianity not showing the "fruits" we'd expect from the one true religion).  I'd love for Christianity to be everything it can be (since it is based on that guy, Jesus) and care for the poor, help the blind see, set free the oppressed, and declare the year of the Lord's favor (Luke 4).  But have we succeeded in doing that?  Has Christianity "failed" to live up to God's standard?

I hate that America is no longer as "Christian" as it used to be.  But how good was that, really?  The "Good ole days" are always better than how things are now.

I'll say this - Jesus has never failed to live up to his promises.  And I can only hope these "muslim nations" this video talks about will be more tolerant of non-muslims than Christians have been to non-Christians.

I would suggest exactly what the video suggests - be fruitful and multiply AND share the Gospel with everyone (not just Muslims).

But don't do it so you can "fight" their culture or because you are scared of them.  Do it because you have experienced the Risen Christ and know within your heart that the love of Christ should and will change the way you interact with everyone (especially those who are different than you).

How extreme are Jesus followers?  They love their enemies.  Not convert, not kill, not breed out, not ignore, love.  Lovelovelovelovelove.

Quite frankly, thats "scary."  God help me - Jesus help me - when I fail to live by your standards.

Holding our church together

Should the United Methodist Church talk about stuff that is divisive?

I've noticed there are many blog posts in the Methoblog concerning annual conference amendments.  This week, there have been a flood of Swine Flu posts as well.  Thats good though- wholeness and health should be an important concern for Methodists (holiness, anyone?).

One issue I don't find much among the Methodist blogs is the recent judicial council decision to uphold the Discipline with regards to gay marriage.  You can find the official UMNS Article here.  Sure, there are important things going on in our church - but this issue doesn't seem to be touched by anyone many people INSIDE the church.  If you'd like to see how many people are talking about it on twitter, go to search.twitter.com and try "gay methodist" and just look at the wealth of people who have taken notice of the decisions we'd like to think are trivial.

The simple lack of material this past week concerning this judicial decision tells me there is a reason folks don't want to bring this topic up.  Sooooo, I've decided I'm going to touch the issue of Gay marriage within the United Methodist Church.  Not because I'm intelligent, but because I love my church and I want it to stay together.  It hurts sometimes, but just bringing the issue up will hopefully help.

On my weakest days, I do not want to look at the issues that will divide us.  Its easier to just keep my head down, be about ministry, and ignore what my ears are hearing.  On my better days I engage the people around me.

What issues are most divisive?  I think the discussion of what is sound theological teaching is what is really being discussed here.  For me, the issue isn't whether homosexual marriage should be considered in our congregations.  The issue isn't whether the sanctity of marriage is being destroyed somehow - the issue for me is why does this separate us?*  The divisive issues are the ones that separate us.  In their maturity, it leads to a break in fellowship.  In Christianity, these very rarely have anything to do with Jesus and everything to do with how the Church is the body of Jesus.  I mean, really, how many churches have left Christendom because Jesus ate with sinners or proclaimed grace to those who don't deserve it?  Our divisive issues are almost always not problems with God but problems with other humans. 

Is the marriage of two homosexual persons so important that we must break fellowship over it?  Can Christ not bring together all who love him?  If you cannot imagine a church where a person who is pro-choice and pro-life stand hand in hand before our God, then either your church is too small or your God is too small.  The same would go for blue collar/white collar, young/old, pro-homosexual/anti-homosexual, republican/democrat, liberal/conservative, auburn/alabama, etc.etc.etc. - you get the idea.  Aren't these things trivial in relation to the goodness of the love of our Jesus?

I don't know how anything could bring these people together other than Jesus.  So maybe we just need a priority change.  How do we bring more into the Kingdom of God without placing heavy burdens on believers' necks?  In a word, I believe the body of Christ is inclusive.

What is the right way to be inclusive?  Here is what I mean - surely God's greatest gifts are love and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.  To offer Jesus to those whom he loves, we in the UMC are careful to always offer Jesus first and let God sort out the rest.  This is most clearly seen (for me) in the idea of the open table.  Communion is not something we will deny someone, because it is not our place to 

Which is better?  Exclude someone in uncertainty?  Or include someone in uncertainty?  Would you rather deny someone Christ because they do not measure up to what you think is important to Jesus, or would you rather include someone that you aren't sure about?

Maybe holding our church together is not the correct priority in the first place.  If it isn't, God help me, because I'm devoted to bringing people together, not tearing them apart.

And with that said, I'll offer my advice to you:

Speak your heart in love that only Christ can offer.

If you hate that the UMC is missing a golden opportunity to change its ways, I'm sorry.  I hear you.  How are you going to win others over in the name of Christ?  Can you get over your own pride and hurt to love those who think differently than you?

If you praise the UMC for upholding its stance (or even think it hasn't gone far enough), congrats.  I hear you, so how are you going to remind your homosexual brothers and sisters in Christ that you love them and include them?

Sometimes, yes, this love will be tough and it may divide us, but I hope that you use it not as a means of exclusion, but a means of inclusion.  A means of grace and not condemnation.  I am not screaming "peace peace!" and hoping to maintain an oppressive system.  I'm screaming "peace peace!" and hoping we will align ourselves with the Prince of Peace.

* Maybe I will someday post about whether I think the UMC should marry homosexuals - and I promise you, I do have a stance on this subject (although I must admit it moves sometimes), but this is not that post.  I'm simply trying to align myself with Jesus and get the rest of you to join hands with me, dagnabbit.