Well, here it is, just an hour before I leave to compete in my first Triathlon. I am leaving with family in tow for New Brighton, PA for their Memorial Day Triathlon. Over twelve weeks of preparation has led me to this place. I am trying to keep my mind focused on finishing the race. That has been the goal from the very beginning: to finish this first triathlon with a smile on my face! As a friend recenlty said, my second goal is to Beat everyone else! I will compete, but my main focus is finishing.
I have been strenghtened by so many prayers and I thank you for each of them. My family has been so supportive, and the youngest is even making up her own words to "Triathlon." It has an tune that is quite similar to "Lamb of God" I think.
Well, after this morning, I will be heading off to Titusville for a little picnic and Memorial Day service tomorrow. I will post results soon.
"let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfector of our faith." Hebrews 12.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Flavor of the Day
This is a difficult time of the year for me. It’s Ice Cream Season! I know, “how hard can it really be?” It’s hard, because I love Ice Cream and it would be very easy for me to be at an ice cream stand every day for the next several months.
My all time favorite flavor is Mint Chocolate Chip. I could order that every time I go to the ice cream stand. I especially love certain varieties of Mint Chip. The brands with the slivers of chips rather than the entire chips, that would be the top.
When we lived in North Carolina, we were introduced to a store that actually sold Frozen Custard. That place was awesome! They had the standards everyday, vanilla, chocolate and a special for the day. But everyday, you could make your own creation called a “Concrete.” You would simply add ingredients to the custard to be blended together. I always loved a mint chocolate concrete. Big surprise, huh! It was even better if the special for the day was Sweet Cream.
Sometimes, though, I like to get out of my comfort zone and get something different. I don’t like to go there a lot, just enough to get my taste buds working again and to remind me of what I like.
I thought about that, not only because I had a big bowl of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream last night, but because of what I read this morning. Let me explain.
When I want to do some reading in scripture, I tend to go where I am comfortable, I read what I know, read what I like. Often times that means that I am reading the New Testament, and probably reading a Gospel or one of Paul’s Letters. I particularly like the Gospel of Luke and I enjoy reading from Paul’s letter to the people of Rome. In these readings, I hear a lot about God’s grace, I hear about the love of Christ, and I like that. It’s comfortable, reassuring and easy on my spiritual walk.
But this morning as I began, I wanted something a little different. I wanted a different flavor, if you will. So I turned to the Old Testament and to the Book of Hosea. Don’t ask me why this book. It was more about being different and choosing a different flavor.
If you’ve never looked at or tasted this book, I’d challenge you to open it up. It will hopefully cause you to think a little bit. It is not comfortable and reassuring and easy on your spiritual walk. It will give you a spiritual brain freeze, cause you to squinch up your forehead and make you think a little bit. Go ahead – take a sample.
Hosea is a minor prophet. It is named this by scholars, not because it is any less significant in the message, but mostly because it is not as long as the Major prophets that you may know like Isaiah and Jeremiah. It may not be as long, but the message is just as important for us to hear.
I didn’t get very far, just a few chapters. Maybe it’s like a new flavor, with which you have to take a test run. But the taste that I had makes me want to come back for more. It caused me to think about what message God has for us and what God is calling us to be.
Hosea is making a charge against the people of God. The charges are not nice either. Hosea says, “There is unfaithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the Land, and there is only cursing, lying, and murder.”
We don’t like to eat that flavor do we? We don’t like to admit that there are times that we are not the people that God is calling us to be. Quite frankly, we are unfaithful at times. Hosea is reminding me of that.
So this e-pistle is not the warm fuzzy that it usually is today. I thought we should ask some tough questions of ourselves and take a taste of something out of our comfort zone. Ask yourself – if you were judged today – would you be found unfaithful, lacking love, and having no acknowledgement of God? If you answered yes to any or maybe all of those questions – what do you need to do to change that?
I invite you to taste something different this week. Take some time to go to Hosea . . . Keep looking, you’ll find it!
This week, Hengust Robinson will be preaching. I will be taking some time off and doing something really outside my comfort zone. I am competing in my very first Triathlon in New Brighton. My goal is quite simple – cross the finish line with a smile on my face. Along the way, I am going to be praying for strength, not only personal, but God’s strength to be with me. I will be praying for you along the way as well.
Please pray for me, and know that I am praying for you.
Greg
My all time favorite flavor is Mint Chocolate Chip. I could order that every time I go to the ice cream stand. I especially love certain varieties of Mint Chip. The brands with the slivers of chips rather than the entire chips, that would be the top.
When we lived in North Carolina, we were introduced to a store that actually sold Frozen Custard. That place was awesome! They had the standards everyday, vanilla, chocolate and a special for the day. But everyday, you could make your own creation called a “Concrete.” You would simply add ingredients to the custard to be blended together. I always loved a mint chocolate concrete. Big surprise, huh! It was even better if the special for the day was Sweet Cream.
Sometimes, though, I like to get out of my comfort zone and get something different. I don’t like to go there a lot, just enough to get my taste buds working again and to remind me of what I like.
I thought about that, not only because I had a big bowl of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream last night, but because of what I read this morning. Let me explain.
When I want to do some reading in scripture, I tend to go where I am comfortable, I read what I know, read what I like. Often times that means that I am reading the New Testament, and probably reading a Gospel or one of Paul’s Letters. I particularly like the Gospel of Luke and I enjoy reading from Paul’s letter to the people of Rome. In these readings, I hear a lot about God’s grace, I hear about the love of Christ, and I like that. It’s comfortable, reassuring and easy on my spiritual walk.
But this morning as I began, I wanted something a little different. I wanted a different flavor, if you will. So I turned to the Old Testament and to the Book of Hosea. Don’t ask me why this book. It was more about being different and choosing a different flavor.
If you’ve never looked at or tasted this book, I’d challenge you to open it up. It will hopefully cause you to think a little bit. It is not comfortable and reassuring and easy on your spiritual walk. It will give you a spiritual brain freeze, cause you to squinch up your forehead and make you think a little bit. Go ahead – take a sample.
Hosea is a minor prophet. It is named this by scholars, not because it is any less significant in the message, but mostly because it is not as long as the Major prophets that you may know like Isaiah and Jeremiah. It may not be as long, but the message is just as important for us to hear.
I didn’t get very far, just a few chapters. Maybe it’s like a new flavor, with which you have to take a test run. But the taste that I had makes me want to come back for more. It caused me to think about what message God has for us and what God is calling us to be.
Hosea is making a charge against the people of God. The charges are not nice either. Hosea says, “There is unfaithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the Land, and there is only cursing, lying, and murder.”
We don’t like to eat that flavor do we? We don’t like to admit that there are times that we are not the people that God is calling us to be. Quite frankly, we are unfaithful at times. Hosea is reminding me of that.
So this e-pistle is not the warm fuzzy that it usually is today. I thought we should ask some tough questions of ourselves and take a taste of something out of our comfort zone. Ask yourself – if you were judged today – would you be found unfaithful, lacking love, and having no acknowledgement of God? If you answered yes to any or maybe all of those questions – what do you need to do to change that?
I invite you to taste something different this week. Take some time to go to Hosea . . . Keep looking, you’ll find it!
This week, Hengust Robinson will be preaching. I will be taking some time off and doing something really outside my comfort zone. I am competing in my very first Triathlon in New Brighton. My goal is quite simple – cross the finish line with a smile on my face. Along the way, I am going to be praying for strength, not only personal, but God’s strength to be with me. I will be praying for you along the way as well.
Please pray for me, and know that I am praying for you.
Greg
Friday, May 9, 2008
Why do we do what we do?
Many of you know that my mornings are unlike most clergy who get to walk across the street to their offices, or drive a block or two. My office is 26 miles away. In this economy of rising gas prices, I guess I could choose to run two marathons a day, but I choose to drive. Good choice.
Most mornings I fill my long commute with the sounds of Mike and Mike in the Morning. I'm a big sports fan and so this gets my juices flowing as I drive, drink my coffee, and prepare for my day. I love their interviews, their guests, and their way of providing entertainment. I also listen, because more than making me think about sports, it makes me think about much, much more.
This morning, they were interviewing Bonnie Bernstein. She is noted for her sideline reporting during sporting events. I've never thought that those reporters had the easiest job and it was confirmed during the interview.
One of the questions that was asked dealt with the interviews with coaches either at half-time, or immediately following a game. The guys were asking her about how awkward that moment must be. Basically, they were asking, "Why do you do that? Why do we insist on aking coaches questions when we know how hard it is? Why is that a part of a broadcast?"
Her answer was simple. She acknowledged how difficult it is to get a sound bite or an answer out of a coach during those moments of frustration, but that there is always a chance that you are going to get something. There is always a chance that you are going to get that one good answer, ask that one good question, get that one nugget.
That made me think about what we do every day and even ask the question, Why do we do what we do?
On this Pentecost weekend, I think its about getting that one chance to make a difference in someone's life, making a difference in such a way that we continue to press on toward the goal line in hopes of making a kingdom difference. It isn't always easy, we don't always get confirmation or the right answer - but there is always that one little moment . . .
And it all makes sense, God makes a difference. And before we know it, more and more lives are influenced, more and more lives are saved.
Most mornings I fill my long commute with the sounds of Mike and Mike in the Morning. I'm a big sports fan and so this gets my juices flowing as I drive, drink my coffee, and prepare for my day. I love their interviews, their guests, and their way of providing entertainment. I also listen, because more than making me think about sports, it makes me think about much, much more.
This morning, they were interviewing Bonnie Bernstein. She is noted for her sideline reporting during sporting events. I've never thought that those reporters had the easiest job and it was confirmed during the interview.
One of the questions that was asked dealt with the interviews with coaches either at half-time, or immediately following a game. The guys were asking her about how awkward that moment must be. Basically, they were asking, "Why do you do that? Why do we insist on aking coaches questions when we know how hard it is? Why is that a part of a broadcast?"
Her answer was simple. She acknowledged how difficult it is to get a sound bite or an answer out of a coach during those moments of frustration, but that there is always a chance that you are going to get something. There is always a chance that you are going to get that one good answer, ask that one good question, get that one nugget.
That made me think about what we do every day and even ask the question, Why do we do what we do?
On this Pentecost weekend, I think its about getting that one chance to make a difference in someone's life, making a difference in such a way that we continue to press on toward the goal line in hopes of making a kingdom difference. It isn't always easy, we don't always get confirmation or the right answer - but there is always that one little moment . . .
And it all makes sense, God makes a difference. And before we know it, more and more lives are influenced, more and more lives are saved.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Is God done with the Church?
Relevant, alive, growing, vital, faithful, fruitful, Spirit Filled: these are words that describe a church that not only listens to the breath of God, but is making impact in the world.
Irrelevant, dying, stagnant, unimportant, irreverent, rotting, and self-centered: these words describe a church that is listening to its own self interests, not making an impact, and will be soon a vision of the past.
What kind of church do you want to be? Where would you choose to worship? Does either church exist? Further, will the church exist?
I bombastically and probably flippantly expressed recently that the church may not exist in a few years if we don’t follow the leading of God. I wasn’t referring to any particular church, but maybe referring to denominations and even to the church that exists today in our society. I suspect that the person had thought about that recently and had a firm reply. It was so firm that my bombastic and flippant statement was revealed as rather shallow and myopic.
Irrelevant, dying, stagnant, unimportant, irreverent, rotting, and self-centered: these words describe a church that is listening to its own self interests, not making an impact, and will be soon a vision of the past.
What kind of church do you want to be? Where would you choose to worship? Does either church exist? Further, will the church exist?
I bombastically and probably flippantly expressed recently that the church may not exist in a few years if we don’t follow the leading of God. I wasn’t referring to any particular church, but maybe referring to denominations and even to the church that exists today in our society. I suspect that the person had thought about that recently and had a firm reply. It was so firm that my bombastic and flippant statement was revealed as rather shallow and myopic.
The response made me think a little more than my initial rant. The person said rather eloquently, “God may be done with certain churches or denominations, but God will never abandon the church. The church will always exist.”
Maybe I was giving into the pessimism that exists within society or a news report about declining membership trends. Maybe I was thinking about an upcoming denominational gathering and the lack of movement forward. But what I was not thinking about was how God relates to his creation and how God’s foundation for the church is Jesus Christ, and not me or anyone else.
I think that can be confirmed this week, as we anticipate Pentecost. Pentecost is a season, or a Sunday when we can be reminded and affirm the notion that God sent the Holy Spirit to teach us, inspire us, move us, fire us, temper us, and even move us to be the church that God is calling us to be. The Holy Spirit was sent not only to begin the church, but so that it might thrive.
C.S. Lewis writes in The Weight of Glory, “That structural position in the church which the humblest Christian occupies is the eternal and even cosmic. The church will outlive the universe; in it the individual will outlive the universe. Everything that is joined to the immoral head will share his immortality. We hear little of this from the Christian pulpit today. What has come of addressing the forces on this subject, I found that one of my audiences regarded this doctrine as “theosophical.” If we do not believe it let us be honest and relegate the Christian faith to museums. If we do, let us give up the pretense that it makes no difference.”
On Sunday, we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit that has the power to make us Relevant, alive, growing, vital, faithful, fruitful, Spirit Filled. We must seek what God is sending to us. Let us pray that we might seek that this day and eternally.
This week, we are confirming our hope that God is not through with us yet. We are celebrating the Sacrament of Baptism for two of God’s perfect miracles. I hope that you come and fill yourself with the Spirit that is promised. We will also have an opportunity to thank God for the love that makes Mother’s possible. I look forward to welcoming the Spirit together.
Please pray for me, and know that I am praying for you.
Greg
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