Reading List

I currently have a large number of items on my reading list.

So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore (Paperback)

Well-Intentioned Dragons: Ministering to Problem People in the Church

The Pastor's Survival Manual: 10 Perils in Parish Ministry and How to Handle Them

Clergy Self-Care: Finding a Balance for Effective Ministry

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: Unleash the Power of Life in Christ

The Hole in Our Gospel: What does God expect of Us? The Answer that Changed my Life and Might Just Change the World

Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call

Armageddon's Children (The Genesis of Shannara, Book 1)

Transparency vs. Secretiveness

Some readers might question why I am so forthright and transparent in recording even my negative thoughts on this blog. Couldn’t someone take it and use it against me? Of course. I fully expect it could happen. I fully expect what I have written to be taken out of context and manipulated to say what I never intended. Do I care? Yes and no. Yes, I care that someone may be so insecure as to do that. No, because no power on on earth can change or destroy the confidence that I have in Christ’s love for me (Romans 8:31-39).

I write here because there just might be someone who is experiencing similar problems who can know that they are not alone. I write here because I don’t believe in hiding my thoughts, even negative ones. I don’t believe in pretending that everything is okay when everything is not. I believe there is more redeeming power in revealing our struggles and how Christ works through them than there is in the “nice Christian” stories and clichés (one might term that “Churchianity”). If you don’t agree, that’s okay. Just don’t be dogmatic about it.

Alice in Wonderland

The High School production of Alice in Wonderland began last night. I went to tonight’s showing to take some photos. Shelley plays the part of the Duchess.

No more sermons

No more for the foreseeable future unless something changes.

Because I have resigned from the pastoral duties of the church, I am apparently no longer welcome to provide the sermon during the church hour. I have not received this as a formal statement, but only as rumors, innuendos, and implied-read-between-the-lines statements.

Apparently I am still welcome to lead and teach in every other way. If my preaching is so threatening and dangerous, shouldn’t my teaching be as well… The stupefying illogic rises to new wonders and astonishment.

Whatever…

My apathy level regarding the Seventh-day Adventist political organization and those that feed into it and from it are about 99.999%.

So there you go.

February Picnic

This past Saturday, at the initiative of one of our parishioners, we went out to Blind Slough rather than hold a regular church service. It was a sunny day, though a tad cool. Even though there was a thin layer of ice on the water, it was more like spring than winter.

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Spring in February?

That’s what it felt like today. The temperature warmed up to almost 50 degrees and the sun came out for a bit, though now it is mostly cloudy and breezy.

I went out on the bike for a short, 45 minute spin. I couldn’t find my arm warmers so I went out with just a short sleeve jersey and a wind vest. Fifty degrees is still too cold for shorts so I had leg warmers. This is the lightest cycling clothing I’ve ever worn around here in February. Normally I’d be wearing a long sleeve jersey, perhaps a jacket, and wind-and-water-proof pants.

On another topic, Shelley made it out of Juneau yesterday, but the ferry broke down in Sitka. She is stuck there today. If the boat doesn’t get repaired, they will be on the next ferry leaving Sitka tomorrow and arriving here on Wednesday.

Shelley is stuck in Juneau

Shelley was supposed to return today but the ferry broke down. The scheduled return is now early morning on Wednesday.

No sermon yesterday

There was no sermon yesterday. Not because it is related to any of the things going on earlier, nor because I didn’t have one ready to go, but because we spent something like two hours working through the defense Stephen gave before the council (Acts 7).

School News

There are a number of items about Shelley and school to report on today.

First, she is currently in Juneau as part of the Drama, Debate, and Forensics team. She joined this semester and this is her first school trip away from home. She returns Sunday.

Second, Shelley will be part of the cast of the High School production of Alice in Wonderland. She has been hard at work rehearsing her part and also doing a lot of work putting together the costumes. Her sewing skills have been noticed.

Third, Shelley submitted a marine themed art (colored pencil) to the Tsunami Bowl Art Show. The Tsunami Bowl is a regional competition for high schools on ocean sciences. The competition includes research papers and quizzes for the school teams, and also includes an art show aspect. Shelley won Best in Show for her artwork. The High School art department was awarded $500 for the win. We received an invitation for next Tuesday, February 16, where the Petersburg City School Board, during their monthly Student Recognition, will recognize Shelley’s achievement in art.

Since Shelley seems to enjoy and excel at drama, theater production, and art, perhaps there is a future career direction found in one or more of those areas.

When you get KOed…

Apparently the psalmist knows a thing or two about getting knocked down and beat up. One of my short devotional pieces this morning referenced Psalm 42, so I looked it up. (This is the chapter that begins, “As the deer longs for streams of water…” NLT) Translation notes for the psalm indicate that this and the next psalm, Psalm 43 were originally a single psalm.

The psalmist knows about discouragement, distress, depression. In these two chapters a refrain is repeated three times. I like the way the New Living Translation translates the refrain:

Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again -
my Savior and my God!

End of a chapter

I have chosen to resign as the pastor for the local Adventist church. A new district pastor came last summer and after a number of interactions, came to the conclusion that the differences were simply insurmountable at this time. This, in addition to some of the other things that have transpired over the past half year, I could sense my entire well-being – physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual – coming apart and I simply could not continue.

I guess it is now time to see what happens next.

Sermon: Leaving to Learn Fishing

(Click HERE for MP3 sermon audio.)

Text: Mark 1:16-20

This passage narrates one of the callings (the others are found in John and Luke; Matthew provides the same event as Mark) of Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow Jesus. As it follows the summary message of the gospel and what it involves to accept it, this narrative could be understood to provide a prototypical example of what accepting the gospel looks like.

Mark describes the discipleship process as that of leaving the past behind and following Jesus in order to become fishers of people. How might this example be applied in each of our experiences?

Sermon: Two-Way Street

(Click HERE for MP3 sermon audio.)

Text: Mark 1:14-15

This passage is Mark’s (and Peter’s; c.f., sermons by Peter recorded in Acts) summary of Jesus’ gospel. This passage is an allusion to a prophecy regarding the coming Messiah that is found in Isaiah 9, and to the seventy sevens prophecy (also about the Messiah) in Daniel 9.

The hearers were expecting the Messiah, but not quite the message that Jesus brought. They understood the offer of deliverance and salvation (the first part of Jesus’ message), but the second part regarding their need to respond in repentance and faith would have been quite foreign to most and even offensive to some. But that is Jesus’ gospel message: the offer of salvation is available to all, but it is of no effect unless a person responds and begins the process of repentance – a journey of life-change – through dependence upon the power of God through the Holy Spirit.

Not quite freezing and a bit of sun

The last couple of days have been fairly good for winter. Temperatures have been in the mid to upper 30’s and there’s even been a bit of sunshine. There’s been quite a bit of fog during the early morning hours.

Before things got really stressful this afternoon, I did go out and bicycle the loop while running the Post Office errand. It was dry enough to pull down the road bike. It is always such a pleasure to ride the light, fast bike after pushing the heavy behemoth of the studded tire mountain bike for so many weeks and months. Even so, I could tell after the twenty minute ride that my legs were no longer in very good shape. The cold always seems to sap strength as well.

Facing a spiritual battle

Now that I look at it, things must have started developing sometime last week. Today though, I’ve felt an almost oppressive sense of evil around me. As Adventist, and a North American one at that, my faith is probably best described as intellectual and rational. Sure, I believe in the supernatural but most of the time it seems to be removed from everyday life.

Not this week, and particularly not today.

I sense evil closing in around me, seeking to destroy God’s ministry that I am a part of, and perhaps even destroy my life.

I preached this past Sabbath on Jesus’ temptation [testing] and how the Holy Spirit gives Christians strength to battle Satan. I didn’t think it would come so quickly or so forcefully. Frankly, I am terrified. It’s easy to preach about battling evil but to truly live out the belief is quite another thing.

I picked up Desire of Ages tonight and began reading the chapter on Jesus’ temptation. I found the following:

Whenever one is encompassed with clouds, perplexed by circumstances, or afflicted by poverty or distress, Satan is at hand to tempt and annoy. He attacks our weak points of character. He seeks to shake our confidence in God, who suffers such a condition of things to exist. We are tempted to distrust God, to question His love. Often the tempter comes to us as he came to Christ, arraying before us our weakness and infirmities. He hopes to discourage the soul, and to break our hold on God. Then he is sure of his prey… (120-1)

That is exactly what I am experiencing. My prayer today, repeated over and over, has been a quote from author Anne Lamott, “Help me, help me, help me,” because I don’t know how else to pray. I hope that I will be able to pray her second prayer soon, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

What makes an activity and time more valuable?

At our [town pastors’] weekly morning coffee the discussion turned to youth ministry and how difficult it was to get any significant youth attendance at weeknight (or even weekend) programs. The primary reason was all of the school extra-curricular activities and sports that goes on. There was lament that the youth weren’t nearly as passionate about Christ (meaning they didn’t prioritize attendance at church programs) as they were about basketball or drama.

The a priori assumption of this discussion was that church activities are more valuable than “secular” ones, such as those provided by the public schools. Is this assumption correct? Is time spent in church and church programs more valuable than time spent in non-church activities? Is religious instruction and socialization with predominantly church people more valuable than enjoying activities that utilize one’s skills and interests, and which involves socialization and interaction with non-church people? Is it proper to divide activities and time between what is sacred/holy and secular/profane, between what is clean – ritually pure – and unclean – ritually impure – (using the Old Testament Levitical terms)? I wonder…

Was Jesus’ attendance at the wedding in Cana a secular or sacred activity? Matthew’s banquet, which Jesus attended, and was for primarily for non-synagogue folks, was that secular or sacred? Jesus seemed to attract negative comments from “church” leaders for spending too much time outside “church” sanctioned activities…

I know there are good reasons to bring church youth together. It can be a time of encouragement. It can be a time to be reminded what it means to follow Christ. It can be a time that is more free (notice I don’t say completely free) from the bad influences of the world. There is value, but does this make organized youth church programs more valuable than other activities?

I think youth programs make it easier for churches and church leaders to work with youth since they are all together in one place at one time. But would youth ministry be any less if, rather than programs, we simply took the time to listen and be involved in the things the youth already are?

Sermon: On Satan’s Turf

(Click HERE for MP3 sermon audio.)

Text: Mark 1:9-13

The Christian life is not necessarily a passive one. Jesus, filled with the Spirit, battled Satan and won the victory over temptation, thereby showing that sin is no match for God and demonstrating the power to redeem sinners from sin. When a person is filled with the Holy Spirit, they could be called to battle Satan on his turf, just as Jesus was compelled to do, in order to bring the message of the gospel to those suffering from the disease of sin and its effects. The Holy Spirit assures Christians that they are not alone in this battle, and that indeed, victory is assured.

Sermon: Good News! You’re Sick

(Click HERE for MP3 sermon audio.)

Text: Mark 1:2-8

We (almost?) never consider to be terribly good news tidings that declare us to be sick. But could an accurate and timely diagnosis be good news if we look at it from a different perspective?

The gospel account begins with a diagnosis of the spiritual condition of all who are born into this world. “You are a sinner,” at first hearing doesn’t seem to be terribly good news. But could it be good news, if we look at it from a different perspective? After all, it is part of the gospel, aka good news.

Sermon: The Rest of the Gospel

(Click HERE for MP3 sermon audio.)

Text: Mark 1:1

We begin a new series based on the gospel account by Mark.

Mark 1:1 reads, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (ESV) Scholars now identify this first verse to be a title and many believe it is the title for the entire book. If Mark’s account is the beginning, then what is the rest of the gospel?

This sermon introduces the gospel account by Mark: historical context, audience, some of the themes, literary features, etc. and how these things will inform our interpretation and understanding of the gospel as we continue to study Mark and what that means to live out the gospel in our lives today.

New Years 2010

Happy New Year!

It’s only been a few hours since Alaska welcomed in the New Year. I got all the cooking done and on time.

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Added a few more photos that include guests and family.