I Wonder

The following is from “Dear Church” by Sarah Cunningham, in reference to an informal survey she conducted while studying urban ministry:

“The comments from a woman working in connection with the local justice department summarized the feelings of many. ‘What do you think churches could do to improve their relationship with the local community?’ I asked… ‘I don’t see anything that churches could do.’ She wasn’t being mean, but rather to-the-point. ‘We’ve already got tons of churches. …And nothing has changed, has it? Did you know that three or four of these churches have been here since the town was on the map? But some of the social issues just keep getting worse and worse… People don’t have enough job training or employment opportunities. Drunks wander the streets. The same homeless people have been circling in and out of the shelters for the last fifteen years. Kids don’t have anything to do to keep them out of trouble. Meanwhile, the churches keep right on existing, holding their services every Sunday. And it never changes anything. It seems pretty obvious to me that churches are not the answer.’”

What a convicting answer! This text caused me to think, and I wonder what the people in our community might say about churches in the area. We have several missions that reach out to the community, one of our most active being the food bank, but I wonder if we can do more. I wonder if we just simply exist, or if we are agents of positive change in people’s lives. I know Elmwood, and I think we can.

Happy New Year!

For many Christians around the world, last Sunday marked the beginning of the New Year. The season of Advent (the beginning of the church year) began on December second and will end on Christmas day. Advent is a season of remembering and reenacting the anticipation of the Christ’s coming. In addition to remembering the Hebrew anticipation for the Messiah’s arrival, Advent also serves as a reminder that we as Christians are waiting for Christ’s second coming.

It’s easy to get caught up in the secular properties of Christmas, distracted by the bright flashing lights and flashy wrapping paper and forget about the Christ story. Though Advent is not traditionally observed within our heritage, it has been a part of the Christian life for at least 1400 years, and I believe that there is value in observing, or at least thinking about the Christmas season within the context of our Christian faith, Advent helps me do that.

This year, let’s remember the Christmas story, but let’s also remember that Christ is coming again at some time in the future, which is yet another reason to have great joy during the Christmas season.

Action

“Therefore prepare your minds for action; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed” 1 Peter 1:13 NRSV

This section of text intrigues me primarily because of the “therefore” and what the therefore requires of the reader. Prior to this text Peter tells his readers that they are saved because of “the outcome of [their] faith”. In light of this salvation (therefore) they are to, as the original text puts it “gird up the loins of your mind” or “prepare your minds for action. The placing of these texts next to one another is important, especially because when an author uses “therefore” he is practically yelling “Hey look at these texts together!!!”

This section of text captures something that I think in modern America, many people have forgotten about. The message of the gospel is often designed to show the listeners how they can benefit from hearing the gospel, but Peter has taken the message of the gospel to its proper end. Peter is saying… since you have received salvation of your souls because of your faith; prepare your minds for action.

As Christians, we are called to act in response to our salvation, to gird up the loins of our minds in response to the grace which we have received. In other words, the acceptance of Christ in baptism is simply the first step in a life of action, a life of service to others that a Christian performs in response to the grace which he or she has received.

Are you ready for action?

God is Good

“God is good all the time” is quite an amazing theological statement. This statement is fairly unique to the Judeo-Christian heritage. In many cultures, especially those with a plurality of gods, deities often are fickle characters that are good if one does what is required of him or her by the god. What an interesting statement then, to say that our God is good all of the time! This would be especially interesting in the Greco-Roman world, this type of plurality of gods permeated the culture.

And yet, what is perhaps more interesting is the circumstances under which the phrase (or others like it) were uttered. The Jewish people had no country of their own, no king or kingdom. And yet, God is good.

The story of Joseph is excellent at expressing the fact that God is good during times of difficulty and during times of greatness. Joseph’s story spans across a good ten chapters towards the end of Genesis. The story of Joseph details not only personal triumphs and failures, but also nation-wide abundance, and famine. Joseph is put in charge of a large estate, and God is good. Joseph is thrown in jail based on false charges, and yet God is good. There are seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine in the land, and still God is good.

We come from a heritage with a rich theology that realizes that both in times of famine and in times of plenty, out God is in control, and our God is good, what an encouraging place to be!

Evan Almighty

The movie Evan Almighty recently came out on DVD so I finally got a chance to watch it. I thought it was pretty good, there were some good morals and values in it, but there was a quote that really stood out to me as something. A short plot synopsis: A man, wanting to change the world is tasked by God to build an ark in preparation of an impending flood. This of course causes job issues and family issues as Evan reluctantly begins his task. At one point in time, Morgan Freeman, who portrays God in the film is talking to Evan’s wife, who had prayed that their family could be closer, and he says: “Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?”

What an interesting idea! I don’t know about you but I often have the expectation that God will zap-fry me some patience or self-control or whatever but I don’t think often enough about what spiritual development really looks like. Spiritual disciplines, are just that, and like any other discipline, they require training to become proficient in them.

And God Said

Well, I’m in a new place in the Newsletter, and when I found out, the first thing I wanted to know was how big the column was, how many words I could write, so I could plan accordingly. Unfortunately, there is less space in this new location (maybe you don’t see that as unfortunate!), but this change got me thinking about the nature of words, and how powerful they are. In the Genesis narrative, God’s creative power is unleashed by the speaking of words. Physical existence began with the intonation of “Let there be…” John writes that Christ himself is the Word, and that he is life (John 1:1ff). Words have the ability to unite countries and cultures, or to cause holocausts.

The word, whether spoken or written is powerful. But perhaps more exciting than the power of the word, is the fact that God’s word is “living and active, sharper than any double edged sword it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). This text is heartening, because we are told that unlike written word, the Word of God is living and active, it has ongoing action within out lives. So not only is the Word powerful, it is relevant, it has the life to convict us and to encourage us, and that is a comforting thought, and it leaves me with a question:

How is the Word of God speaking into your life?

Oasis

I spent my time this weekend at the Oasis conference where we discussed outreach to the Muslim community. It was an opportunity to learn more about the Islamic faith and to understand how to reach out to the Muslim community in our everyday lives, by simply inviting another person to share in your life.

There were many interesting facts presented during the weekend, including the fact that 85 – 90% of Muslims in America are not simply non-militant, but also want to be integrated into American culture. Sadly, we heard many accounts of Muslims that had not been asked into a Christian’s home at all for years on end during their time in America.

There are many misperceptions within the Islamic community about Christianity, primarily because they do not have a chance to interact with Christians, so the images that they receive are solely from American TV, broadcasting shows like Desperate Housewives, or Britney Spears’ latest mistake. Often the perception is that a white American is a Christian, so many people who are acquainted with neither America nor Christianity are often under the impression that Christians act the way they see people act on TV.

The most eye-opening portion of the weekend was when the group took a trip to a mosque and witnessed a weekly service, the equivalent of our Sunday morning services.

All of this leads to the conference’s main point of the weekend, which was exploring what I call life-based ministry, which I referred to earlier. The Oasis method of ministry to Muslims is difficult, but not demanding. It does not require that one moves across the world to lead an underground church in the heart of an Islamic country, instead there is something that I know this church body can do, because I’ve experienced it!

The way that the Oasis group recommends ministering to the Muslim community in America is quite simple. One must only strike up a conversation with a Muslim, and become a friend.

Perhaps opening your home to a person from another country, and another religion is a difficult thing to conceive of, I would encourage you to start with something perhaps a little easier, Inviting Gilbert, Kate, and Cole into your home would be an excellent ministry to them, as well as a great way to expand your personal ministry to those around you!