Election Day Communion

Today @ 11:30 am I will lead a service of communion for the employees fo HopeTree Family Services in Salem, VA.  Below is the order of worship. Though O know we cannot have communion over the internet I share this with you so you can come back to the Lord and re-commit yourself to his calling on this Election Day. Peace be with you.

HopeTree Family Services

Election Day Communion

November 6, 2012

 

Call to Worship

from Cahill UMC, Alvarado, TX

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,

And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

And also with you.

 

Happy are the people who serve the God of Jacob.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.

 

Let us Pray

Loving God, we gather to praise and worship you,

And to pledge to you our loyalty and our service.

Bless our gathering and our remembering, our hearing,

And our speaking, that all honor and glory may be yours.

 

Bless us that we may be a blessing — a blessing to you,

To our community, to our nation, and to our world.

We ask it in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen

 

Psalter Reading          Psalm 146

Song and Video                 By Faith K. Getty

Observance of the Lord’s Supper     (by intinction)

Invitation to the Table

The world has called us to the voting booth to decide which candidate should run this country.

God calls us to bread and juice, to decide once more who will run our life.

So let us put away our swords and our sound bites. Let us drop our rocks and our nets. Let us come to the table that is not just for the rich and the powerful, but for the broken.

Come and receive the body of Christ broken for you, the blood of Christ shed for youClosing Hymn They will know we are Christians by our  love

Benediction

Through the power of the Holy Spirit

May God take your shoes, and fill them with feet that follow the way of Jesus;

May God take your lips, and make them proclaim the good news of Jesus;

May God take your hands, and make them touch the world’s wounds with the healing and compassion of Jesus;

And may God take your hearts, and set them on fire for Jesus!

For this is the year of the Lord’s favor: Blessed be the name of the Lord!

 

Do not blindly follow (use the brain God gave you)

I the past month many people have posted on Facebook positions that they "Fully" support or "Completely" agree with. Some are political, some philosophical and a lot of them are religious. I must admit that when I read or hear someone say. "I completely... or I fully..." when it comes to their pastors or religious leaders, I ask myself, "And have you read the bible and made up your own mind?" See, I am a skeptic and I do not believe that anyone of us can find even one person that we will agree with on every issue in scripture. Even the disciples didn't agree with Jesus and at times argued with him. I think that gives us some room, to disagree with our pastors and religious leaders of today, and maybe even argue with them.

With this in mind I want us to look at what it might mean to, "Love the Lord your God with all of your mind"

What makes me a Baptist is what I call the four fragile freedoms. In a book by the title The Baptist Identity, Walter B. Shurden wrote about these freedoms in 1993. They are:

 

Bible Freedom

 

 

Soul Freedom

 

 

Church Freedom

 

 

Religious Freedom

 

 

For my purpose in defining what it means to love my God with ALL my mind I want to look at "Soul Freedom" (Writers request: if you are not a Baptist indulge me and read this post. This post is not about my denomination but utilizes how my upbringing informs how I interpret the scripture we are examining.)

 

Soul Freedom is the historic Baptist affirmation of the inalienable right and responsibility of every person to deal with God without the imposition of creed, the interference of clergy, or the intervention of civil government. (p. 23 of The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms)

 

From this definition we get the term priesthood of the believer. Most Baptists, and I say most because it is no longer ALL Baptists that accept this belief, believe that each person, under the guidance of the holy spirit can and are able to interpret scripture without a priest, pastor or another church leader. In the italicized definition I want to take note of two words; responsibility and every. Sometimes I think as Christians we forget our responsibility when it comes to our faith and depend upon those who are more education or serve on staff at the church. Just because you may not have a degree in Biblical studies and are a lay person rather than on a church staff does not mean you don't have the same access or ability to read and study scripture or encounter God. Jesus never sent his disciples to seminary or divinity school, all he said was "Follow me" and he gave them responsibility.  In John 20: 19 - 23 we read:

 

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed  them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again, Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

 

Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to his disciples, not the chief priests or the religious leaders of the day, but everyday working people. So, why do we rely solely on our pastors and religious leaders of our day to tell us what is true, what is of God and how we should live. When we base our faith and how we live solely on the words and teachings of another human being we are on a slippery slope. Our faith and how we live our life should be based solely on the Jesus and his teachings. So how do we do this? Don't quit going to church, do listen to your Sunday school teachers and your preacher but then go home and read the scripture for yourself, talk with other people, discuss what the teacher or preacher said, and as Paul said, "Therefore, my loved ones, just as you always obey me, not just when I am present but now even more while I am away, carry out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Take responsibility for looking at God's word and through prayer let God and the Holy Spirit show you what is truth and what is profitable to live by. This is how we can love God with our mind. By using it when we read the scripture for ourselves rather than listening and believing everything I or your pastor says.

 

 

 

 

 



A post from Bright Field

 I want a faith that relentlessly pursues truth but also realizes that a greater Mystery is relentlessly pursuing me.

Go read the entire post and answer this question,

What kind of Fatih do you want?

Giving Thanks

Today I turn 40 years old and I give God thanks for these 40 years of life. I know that some people cringe each year they get older and some just stop ageing at a certain point but I give thanks. I do because I know those who die well before their time.

In high school I lost 2 friends to drunk drivers. Not long after graduating high school in 1991 I lost another classmate to murder. Since 1991 more classmates have died either to illness, crime or accidents and they do not get lost on me. The year I worked in a hospital I will not forget the 39 year old woman who lost her battle to cancer. I also will not forget the 21 year old and the 26 year old who also lost their battle to cancer or the 9 year old girl who died from a car accident. I know that each year I am blessed with is a gift. Each year, month, week, day, hour and each minute is a gift from God.

As I turn 40 today I pray that I have used my life to show love, mercy and grace to others as God has shown to me. And in gratitude to the life God has given me I will commit myself again to proclaiming Christ's death and resurrection to all I encounter.

Thank you Lord for 40 years. May you bless me with 40 more. Amen.

I am a Human Being

On May 15, 2011 I was ordained to the Gospel Ministry by Heritage Baptist Church of Wake Forest, NC. It is a day I will not forget. It is one thing to know and feel the call of God on your life but it is another thing when a church affirms that call; meaning they see the call of God on you that you have felt for so long.

After a year and a half I think back to that day often but I have come to experience some pitfalls of having "Reverend" in front of your name. I have learned that people, whether they are of a faith group are not like to put you in a box or assume certain things about you. All I know is that on October 23, 1972 I was born into this world as a human being. Being born human God saw fit to make me a girl.  Without the fact that I am a human being I could not then be a woman, a christian or a minister. I want to take this time to share a little about myself so that you can see the humanity and uniqueness of a person who just happens to be a minister.

In spite of being an introvert I do enjoy the occasional social outing. Outings where I meet new people, converse with those I already know and enjoy a nice meal with a glass of wine. Now that I am a minister I still like to go out to various social events to meet you new people. What I don't care for is someone wanting to engage in a theological debate on the whether God is real and if God hates us or loves us and what do I make of Jesus Christ, I like to keep my social like somewhat free from inendation of my occupation. But what I do not appreciate is when I get a look or even hear, "you are drinking wine?" I am a minister, but I am most likely not going to fit into everybody's idea of a minister. Just as each person is an individual and has a personality true to only them, ministers are the same way. We are not all the same.

As a minister who works outside the church I view church very different than I did when I was a lay person who volunteered my time @ the church. No longer do I want to immerse myself into every church program. Since my ministry is my occupation church is a place for me to worship my God with other fellow Christians and a place that is my get-away from my ministry. I say getaway because Jesus gave us an example of "Self-care" by going away between his gatherings with the disciples, miracles performed and preaching opportunities.

As a child of the 80's/90's I love Rock and Roll and ordination has not changed that. Just this summer I enjoyed a Kiss and Motley Crew concert with my best friend. Listening to some good 80's rock allows me to escape to a world where I can just get lost in the music.

Also as a child of the 80's and 90's I am a fan of all things Vampires. When your formative years include movies like, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Interview with a Vampire and the Lost boys, I have naturally formed a guilty pleasure of watching The Vampire Diaries.

During my time in high school I attended a modeling school. You know, even I had that dream of becoming a beautiful and famous model. So to indulge in that never forgotten dream I live vicariously through those who do by watching the reality shows, America's Next Top Model and Project Runway. (I know, it is a little vain, but I just love those shows)

But probably the one thing that will come as the biggest or unexpected surprise is my current distrust and cynicism towards the church. The best way to describe it is by borrowing the title of a blog I recently read, "I am not in love with the church". Go read it before continuing on.



SERIOUSLY: READ BEFORE CONTINUING ON! THANK YOU!



I have gone through the pain of a divided church, seen a pastor forced out and left that church disillusioned and wondering where God was in the midst of all of it. I have served in the church and felt the judgment and criticism when what I did was not "good enough" for some church members. As a result of both of these events in my life I walked away from church ministry. Really, I told God that I would go anywhere and serve except a church. People say you should not tell God what you won't do but I did and still feel the same way about it.

I was 38 last May when I was ordained and who I was that day and today has been shaped by numerous life experiences, good and bad and becoming a minister does not change who I was prior to May 15, 2011. My ordination is but one event among thousands of events that have occurred in my life and that shape who I am. That one event in no way negates what happened before and I would not want it any other way. Just as I like who I am now I liked who I was on May 14, 2011 and really don't want to change everything about me. God looked past my gender, my faith and called me to Christian ministry because of who I am, whose I am and what I can offer as a result of my life experiences. So why do I write all of this to you:

At this point in my life, following my ordination, all I want and would give anything for is for people to look past my gender, my faith and my occupation and see me. See a human being created by God and in the image of God. I imagine that every person reading this post wants the same thing too. 

So in the spirit of loving our neighbor let us meet people where they are and how they are with out any agenda to change them or label them to fit some box we have created, but only to get to know the person that has been created by God and in the image of God.

For the Love of Dogs

October 4 is marked as the Feast of St Francis. On this day or the Sunday following it, Catholic and Anglican Churches around the world have a service where animals are blessed. The Feast of Saint Francis is in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi (Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone) Saint Francis is the patron saint of animals and the earth. You may also know him by the following prayer that has been put to music:

The Prayer of Saint Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of thy Peace.Where there is hatred, let me sow Love.Where there is injury, thy Pardon, Lord.Where there is doubt, let there be Faith.Oh Lord, make me an instrument of thy Peace.Where there is despair, let me bring Hope.Where there is darkness, let there be Light.Where there is sadness, let there be Joy.O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek:To be consoled, as to console,To be understood, as to understand,To be loved, as to love.Lord, make me an instrument of thy Peace.Where there is hatred, let me sow Love.For it is in giving that we receive,It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.And it's in dying that we are born To eternal life, to eternal life.Lord, make me an instrument of thy Peace.An instrument of thy Peace. Amen.

 



 So, in honor of Saint Francis, I took my dog Sophie to a Feast of Saint Francis in Roanoke, VA on Sunday, October 7, 2012 and she was blessed by an Episcopal Priest.

 So why bless animals? Why not bless animals? In both accounts of the creation story, Genesis 1 and 2, we read how all the animals came into being. The animals of the sea, earth and air all came from the earth, or dirt we might call it. Something else was created from dirt as well. Adam; mankind, was created from dirt and that life was formed from the breath of God. We as humans are connected to every animal and creature by where we came from, the dirt(earth) Throughout scripture we read story after story of how God blessed his people. If God's people, us, came from the earth and are blessed then why would all the other creatures that came from the earth not be in need of blessing or be deserving of blessing? In the 2nd story of creation God gives Adam, mankind, dominion over all the creatures. As we have dominion over all the creatures of this earth I think it would be of great importance for us to follow God's example. That example would be one of blessing. In response to the blessings God bestows upon us let us in return bless all creatures that we have dominion over. Not just for the love of dogs but for the love of all of creation.

in the meantime...

While I ponder, wrestle and thoughtfully craft what is on my heart I give you this post from Suzanna Paul.

I am one who will not write to all my thoughts are clear and so I don't betray the word of God that has been laid upon my heart. So in the meantime, enjoy this post. May it inspire you, as it has inspired me to seek out the ordinary.

http://deeperstory.com/mumford-sons-sacred-ordinary/