Pastor Jackie

    Although I may not agree with Albert Pike and everything that he stood for, I heard a quote by him tonight that has lots of meaning for me.  He said, “What we do for ourselves dies with us.  What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.”  Although Pike was considered a Satanist, which is still considered a type of faith, I think this quote wraps up what Jesus said, and what comprises much of the basic tenets of Christianity.  Take care of yourself only, and only you will care.  Take care of others, and the world and others will care, and benefit.  
    Sometimes, we have to do for others instead of ourself.  How do we teach this truth to the next generation, that hears over and over again that what they want is more important than anything else?  How do we create a society that learns to respect each other and genuinely want the best for each other, a society that values each and every person.  I think this is part of the challenge that Christianity faces today.

I was reading in the summer issue of the congregations magazine and found the 7 habits of highly effective churches article.  I think the 7 habits deserve mentioning.  It looks to me like we are on our way with at least some of them.
1.  Strive for excellence in service to Christ.
    We seem to consistently strive to go first class.
2.  Cultivate a spirit of innovation and experimentation.
    This is exactly where we are with our worship and music progam.  Yeah.
3.  Take the iniative to build relationships with people and groups in the wider community beyond your 
congregation.
    We do this in many ways
4.  Accept responsibility for mistakes, learn from them, and in all things let grace abound.
    In the end it is about God’s grace and not our achievements. (I like that)
5.  “Always be prepared to give an account of the hope that is within you.” (1 Peter 3:15)
    I think this is probably one of the hardest things for us to do, consistently HOPE.
6.  Be willing to let people go in order to stay focused on your core mission.
    I would never have thought that was a good thing.
7.  Splash it on.
    Spend money wisely, well, and freely in God’s cause.
    
    So there you have it.  I think we are well on our way.  Some items are momentary, some are consistent, so I guess that just points to the fact that we are all human.

     I was reading in Deuteronomy the 25th chapter today, and I ran across this scenero.  If a woman’s husband dies, the brother of the husband is to marry her and the first born son will bear the name of the dead brother.  However, if the brother doesn’t want to marry the dead brothers wife, then after talking with the elders, he still won’t marry her, she is to go in front of the elders, take the sandel off the brother that won’t marry her, spit in his face, and say, “This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brothers family line.  Throughout Israel hisfamily shall be known as “the house of him whose sandal was pulled off.” (Deut 25:9-10)
    I wonder how the literalists work that out in this day and age.  It seems to me that we are more than willing to attribute some things to the day and age and know that they are not relevant today, yet we want to extract those pieces of scripture that we agree with and hold them up as Holy.   

We had a bar-b-q after church today with a swim party, and we had a blast.  I think all who came had a great time.  The kids played in the pool, till they all looked like ice cubes, then we shared a great meal and played volleyball.  It was a great time.  I think that is the vision of the faith community that the prophet Micah spoke about.  Micah boiled it all down to this: “And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8.  I welcome the day that all of us, as children of the one God, can walk together humbly with our God.

I’ve been reading a lot in the Hebrew scriptures this week, preparing for my sermon tomarrow.  I realized that I let myself slip back into that old mindset of the judgemental, hateful God that so many try to represent in those texts.  In fact, the God that I read about is a God who searches for those that are on the margins, those that most have given up on, those that have a mind of their own, and quite honestly, don’t want to listen to God and God’s ideas (Doesn’t sound like anybody we would know today), and offers usually more than one chance to make good choices. 
Sounds like a Parent that’s been to parenting classes.

I took a friend home this morning and on the way back to the church I got lost.  Of course I would, I had nobody to navigate for me.  However, in my lostness, I found several gardens that I would never have seen had I been found.  Often, I think we put way too much importance on being found.  Once something is found, we quit looking for it.  We stick it in our pocket, purse, or man purse, and know that it is safe now.  I think we often do this with God.  We found God, Once….  So now we don’t need to search for God.  I have come to understand the truth that sometimes it is in the very act of searching that we find what we did not even know we were looking for.

Peace

    I got another e-mail yesterday from someone who had been at church.  They loved the spirit and the church.  They saw people who looked like them in service.  They will be back.  
    The sermon was about going first class and not settling for less.  Not being ashamed of who we are, who God created us to be.  
    A friend called earlier, one of their friends committed suicide.  I wonder if anyone ever told him it was ok to be who God created him to be.