Tag: Questions

A Response to “Unsettled Christianity” and “with Bishops abandoning the Discipline, are we a church?”

Please read the above article here before reading my response. Thanks!!

Joel Watts, once more you have given us a well written, concise article. You have given me much to think about and I believe, with a lot of hope and prayer, that we share more common ground than we do disagreements.

I agree that we need discipline in order to truly be a church. However, I don’t think the action of our bishops – or inaction for that matter – destroys our standing under the headship of Christ. How many times historically would this have taken place, if not just in the UM tradition then the Church universal? If the efficacy of sacraments are not dependent upon the “holiness” of the presider then how could we possibly say that the entire existence of an ecclesiological body such as the United Methodist Church lays solely upon the actions of its episcopal leaders?

At the same time, we are at a crossroads in our church. There is danger in the disorder we are facing. The fact that we live in a 24/7 news cycle world and that people use that cycle to proclaim what they believe makes our four year system of affirming and changing our Discipline seem rather quaint, if not almost useless. Even our conversations in and among blogs shows how quickly things develop. Yet, if you are a United Methodist, you must wait four years for any “real” change to take place. It reminds me of the old joke, “How many United Methodists does it take to change a light bulb?” “Doesn’t matter how many but you can count on it taking a full quadrennium to happen.”

I am not excusing misbehavior by our bishops, elders or any other member of our denomination. I do, however, understand how frustration can lead to demonstration. It was quite possibly frustration, I believe, that led Rev. Wesley to send Asbury and Coke to these United States (ok, they weren’t that yet) to do everything a bishop would normally do, but not be a bishop. I know Rev. Wesley didn’t wink and nod when he did this but it sure didn’t Coke and Asbury long to really fix the problem.

So, I think we might both agree that our Discipline needs fixed in such a way that we can actually be church in the 21st Century. What would that look like? Is that even possible? I don’t know. I just know that the times between Councils and Conferences, etc. throughout church history has become shorter and shorter. It used to take much longer to do theology and even cause schisms and reformations. Now we can do these within days.

Secondly, I disagree with starting our theology with ecclesiology. You say, “Christ is head of the Church; the Spirit dwells in the Church; we (who) are saved (are) in the Church. Our ecclesiology will reflect our views of those other important doctrines.” I would say, “Christ is the head of the Church and the Host at Communion and every other part of our theology should flow from there.” Ecclesiology must be secondary to Christology simply because of the chicken/egg question. Can we say, “There is no Christ without the Church?” Maybe in some places, but certainly not in United Methodism. I believe we would say “There is no Church without Christ” instead.

You are welcome to disagree with the part of that statement concerning Christ presiding at the Table. I’m a practical kind of guy and it makes things easier for me to think about Jesus at the Table whenever I think theology. If it doesn’t fit there, well, maybe I am thinking something wrong.

Truly, I’m not the most theologically minded writer you will find with a blog. I’m a Christian pastor and an ordained Elder in the UMC and my theology grows out of that practice. I tend to forget a lot of the great history I have learned over the years or perhaps I package that history differently in my mind now after almost thirty years in pastoral ministry. I do appreciate how you are pushing us to take ourselves, what we stand for and the very way we encapsulate those doctrines and polity with more seriousness than it would appear we are doing. Please keep up that work!

Or maybe we should just join together and try to get everyone to accept the Nicene Creed and nothing else as what we need to share in order to be a church in this day and age. Perhaps the time of overabundance in information will is forcing us back to a time when a lack of information made us keep things simple.

Hmmm…is that a new thought?

Where Hope Is Found

In silence, I hear its harmonies…

I see it in the smooth pink skin of a newborn
and in the deep shadowed lines of an octogenarian’s smile;
I take note of hope’s sigh in the space that is empty in a pew;
I see its struggle for life in the life of one just days from loosing their home;
I smell hope in the aroma of an uncorked bottle of wine.

I hear it
in birdsong,
in the sniffles
caused by weeping at the bed side of a loved one,
in the shouts for justice in places of despair.

I taste hope on the lips, the tongue, of my wife as we kiss.

I see it in the stoic faces of officers who have taken a life;
I hear it in the breaking glass of a riot.

I smell hope in the earthy assault of a sudden Spring shower;
I see it in the swishing tail of a cat intent on catching that fly;
I see hope in the weed that breaks apart concrete stretching,
creeping, reaching, towards the sun;

I feel hope in the embrace of my beloved after harsh words
have done their deed;
I sense hope in the darkness of a storm;
I see it as my daughter bounces, bounces, bounces,
a tennis ball
before striking her serve.

I taste hope in words that are held back on my tongue.

I see, taste, hear, smell, feel hope all around.

NamasteAnywhere there is the presence of God.
Any place or time there is space
for God to appear –
There is hope.

How do you pray?

When you said, “I don’t know how to pray.”
I thought:

Sometimes I pray with my eyes closed, watching the images of my imagination work their way across the part of my brain I am trying to keep perfectly still;
prayer-tearsSometimes I pray as the aroma of coffee wafts its way into my thinking senses;

Sometimes I pray with tears;

Occasionally, I pray with a soft pillow under my head and my beloved held in my arms;

Sometimes I pray with my feet propped up on my desk and a pen in my hand;

At times, I pray with words…but mostly not;

Sometimes as I pray I am surrounded by music that fills in the blank spaces and teases me toward God – Katy Perry does a fabulous job but Jewell is better;

Sometimes as I pray I laugh, well, I giggle a little – the absurdity overcomes me at times;

Occasionally the bitter sting of coffee goes across my tongue even as words to the Almighty find their way out;

Sometimes I pray with open eyes, glancing at the miracle of a new life, the wisdom held by the binding of a book, the serenity of a sleeping cat, or the soothing color of a glass of wine;

At times my prayers run over with thankfulness or fear – usually in equal measure;

prayerThere are those rare and precious moments when my mind and my surrounding conspire in their quiet and I know I must be praying.

I know some people say they don’t know how to pray.

Problem is…I don’t know how not to.

Ask Almost Anything – Catching Up

There have been three slightly related questions that have come in during our Ask Almost Anything series that I believe I would like to try and answer here, rather than take up time in worship. (Don’t worry, we will print some copies out so folks without access to the blog can read them as well.) Continue reading “Ask Almost Anything – Catching Up” →

Ask Almost Anything 2015

God, please send us the people that nobody wants and let us demonstrate your hospitality to all. Help us to see the people that live around our church so that our invitation will be with open hearts. Create a place of acceptance so that all feel welcome just as Christ welcomed us.

Amen. (1)

Well, we are up to it again at a Church in the Heart of Princeton. We are spending several weeks in worship doing a series called “Ask Almost Anything.” As the name implies, we are allowing people to anonymously email or drop off questions that I will then attempt to answer during our sermon time. (Some have referred to this as “Stump the Chump” but that name was already taken by a radio show.)

On this past Sunday I was able to address two questions. One was on observing the Sabbath and the second was on the theological idea of predestination. You can find my answers here.

We ended the time of AAA with a very thought provoking question that I promised to answer via this blog and in worship next Sunday. The question was: “Why does it seem that Christians can be some of the most judgmental people in the world?”

Wow!!!

Let me point out that the first thing that struck me with this question is that it asserts that Christians ARE judgmental. The person who asked this question has found themselves on one end or the other of the judgmental tendencies of our faith.

Now, if you asked me if it were “inevitable” that Christians be judgmental, I would have to answer with a resounding, “No!” If you asked me if I thought Christians can be judgmental, I would answer (somewhat judgmentally, I must add as a disclaimer) that “Yes. Yes, we certainly can fall into that category at times.”

The assumed position of the question writer – that Christian are at times judgmental – led me to pause before I gave a full answer and reflect this question back to our congregation. I asked them to think and pray about this and even ask themselves: “How can I be less judgmental this week?”

I’m glad I waited to answer this.

On Tuesday a new video came out from “Chuck Knows Church.” If you are not familiar with this series, I invite you to check out any of these videos – they are both informative and entertaining. The new video that came out on Tuesday, however, is the first part of a longer series being produced that takes a hard look at how a church might turn itself around from the brink of closure. I have been looking forward to this series but was absolutely astounded at how much the first episode, not to be confused with the introductory episode, fit the answer I really wanted to give about this question.

I invite you to watch the episode before you read any further.

 


Okay, if you took the time to watch the video, and again, I would highly suggest it, then you might now understand the prayer at the beginning of this post. It is the prayer that ends the episode and points out that hospitality is not something we “do at church” – it is a lifestyle we have received with Christ. That’s right…along with giving us eternal life and forgiveness, Jesus gave us hospitality. Jesus chose to welcome us and imparted upon us that same Spirit so that we can be people of hospitality as well.

So, about this “judgmental” question…

I guess the best answer to give is that Christians become judgmental when they refuse the gift of hospitality that has been given to them. When we reject or forget or otherwise lay aside the welcome Christ gave to us, then we will very quickly become judgmental. However, if we hold on to the gift, well, that would lead us down a different path altogether. We would be accepting of those who disagree with us. We would be welcoming to those who are different than us. We would see each person as someone Jesus’ wants to welcome into God’s Kingdom and the judgment can then be left up to someone much more qualified.

I hope this answer helps!

Oh…and if you have any questions, ask Chuck. Tell him your pastor sent you! 😉