Summer Fun/Summer Growth

Ever since I was a kid, I have always looked forward to summer. Summer was a time for vacations, no more school and weekend trips to the lake. How could you not love summer?

As an adult, I still look forward to summer, even though it means higher temperatures and higher electric bills. Vacations these days are not merely about fun, but have to be paid for. And rather than being a time for relaxing, summer seems to be even busier than the rest of the year. But I still love summer.

Summer is also the time for summer camp, which for me always meant church camp. I have been attending summer camp, in one form or another, with very few interruptions since the early 1970s. I have been a counselor, speaker, director and sponsor. I have served on and even chaired presbytery committees. Summer camp has always been a big part of my life.

Liturgically, summer is the time of growth. If you notice the parament cloths in the sanctuary, they are green all summer long. On the church calendar, this reminds us that most of life is spent not in special events like Christmas and Easter, but in the daily drudgery of life.

So how can we put these two ideas together? How do we join the excitement of summer camp with the liturgical idea of growth? It’s all about spiritual growth. This summer we have a great opportunity to expand our faith in and dependence on God. Since many regularly scheduled activities take a break for summer, why not use that extra time to grow in your spirit, to nurture your soul?

We would like to offer several new and improved opportunities for you to do that here at the church. First, the new. As many of you may have heard, we have started a new Bible study in the Gospel of John on Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m. Our hope was to provide a time when even those who have been busy or out of town for the weekend can meet together. We figured that most people would be back by Sunday evening. We meet in the Fellowship Hall, and T. J. Teague has prepared a special something for kids. We sing for a little bit, a few praise songs with guitar accompaniment, and we look at the Gospel of John verse by verse in a loose, discussion-style lesson taught by the pastor. It has been a long time since most of us have had such a focused and deep experience with the Scripture, and even some of our most regular “old timers” have commented that they have learned something. I hope your schedule is flexible enough for you to come join us.

As for the improved, Amy McAlister has some new ideas and is infusing some new energy into the children’s Sunday School department. This summer they will be studying some of the Superheroes of the Bible, like Moses, Sampson, and David. They will be using puppets, crafts, and computer-aided lessons to experience in a new way who these awesome characters were, and how we can avail ourselves of some of their super powers! If your kids haven't been to Sunday School in a while, I think they will really like it. Some kids have already said they don’t want to miss a single Sunday! So join us this week at10:00 a.m. downstairs. Just follow the sound of fun!

We are also very excited about Vacation Bible School this summer. Mark your calendar for July 22-26 starting at 5:00 p.m. This year’s theme is Kingdom Rock, where kids learn to stand strong for God. We always need a lot of volunteers be able to manage the numbers of kids we have, so please contact Amy or Willa in the church office if you want to help. We need teachers, crafters, game players, feeders, and crowd controllers. Just remember, we can’t do it without you!

I hope your summer is shaping up to be both relaxing and exciting, and that it will be a time of growth for you, not just physical, but spiritual. I am still excited about all our kids that go to summer camp, from Camp Lochridge to MO Ranch. But don’t forget that there’s still a lot of growing we can do right here at home.

Nike Spirituality

I need to make some changes in my life. Maybe you feel that way, too.

As summer begins to warm up, I have noticed that some of my clothes don’t fit the way they used to. Apparently, they shrunk while they were in the drawer all winter. I guess I need to get serious about getting in better shape. 

But change comes hard. There is a reason we develop a “comfort zone,” that’s because it’s, well, comfortable. We like where we are and how we do things. But every once in a while something happens that reminds us we need to think more carefully about what our priorities are, and how we need to live our lives according to those priorities.

It may be a personal, or national tragedy. It may be watching a loved one go through some emotional or physical pain. Or it may be as simple as not being able to button your shorts. Sometimes we need to make changes. But how do we do that?

There are lots of folks who want to be closer to God, who wish they had a better understanding of the Bible and could pray in such a way that they really felt the love and mercy of God in their lives. They just don’t know how.

Several years ago Nike had an ad campaign that used the simple slogan, “Just do it.” It was plastered all over t-shirts, posters, and media ads. The idea was that there were no more excuses. Time to put up or shut up. Just do it.

I always liked those ads, and the implications. There comes a time in our lives when we just need to quit whining and take responsibility for our lives and our situations. I think that goes for our spiritual lives as well as our fiscal and physical lives. It doesn’t do any good to blame McDonalds or Blue Bell for my extra pounds. I’m the one who packed them on, and if they are going to come off, I have to take responsibility and make some changes.

Back when that Nike ad came out, I always thought it would make a great sermon. I think we need to take the same kind of responsibility for our growth in things of the Spirit as we do for things of the flesh. If I want to get closer to God, I have to take some responsibility for that, and make some changes in my habits. That’s always the hard part. But if my theory about “Nike Spirituality” holds, we can make some strides there as well.

I want to encourage folks to make some of those changes, and not forget about their relationship with God this summer. I will be preaching on the concept of Godliness and what that means and how we can make those changes. Paul told Timothy, “Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for the present life and the life to come,” (1 Tim 4:8). Over the coming weeks, we will be looking at how to love better, have more joy and peace in our lives, as well as how to be more patient and kind. All of which is part of what it means to be Godly. The Sunday school class in the library will also be studying those same themes.

On Sunday evenings, we are having a Summer Bible study on the Gospel of John. The fourth Gospel has a unique perspective on the life of our Savior, and I think it will provide a spiritual boost for those who make the time to come.

I know summer schedules can get hectic, but if we won’t make time for God, it seems presumptive to want God to make time for us. So set aside a little extra time in your summer schedule and join us for worship on Sundays. I think you’ll be glad you did. Just do it!

Out of the Wreck I Rise

 This week has brought some devastating news to the people of Oklahoma. The stories and the pictures that have come out of Moore have been absolutely heartbreaking. The question that keeps coming up over and over again is, “Where is God in all of this?” Some theologians have suggested that it is the failure to answer this question adequately that has led to so much apathy and agnosticism about God and faith in our world today.

            On my Facebook page I shared a post from Unvirtuous Abbey, which is a bit of an irreverent satirical site, but I believe in this, they have it exactly correct. They posed the question, Where’s God in all of this? And answered it simply, Beneath the rubble.

            You all know I don’t believe in coincidences. God guides our steps and orders our path. This week’s devotion addressed this very question, using Romans 8:35, where Paul says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” An excellent question, to which Oswald Chambers responds, “God does not keep His child immune from trouble; He promises, “I will be with him in trouble . . .” (Psalm 91:15). It doesn’t matter how real or intense the adversities may be; nothing can ever separate him from his relationship to God. “In all these things we are more than conquerors . . .” (Romans 8:37). Paul was not referring here to imaginary things, but to things that are dangerously real. And he said we are “super-victors” in the midst of them, not because of our own ingenuity, nor because of our courage, but because none of them affects our essential relationship with God in Jesus Christ. I feel sorry for the Christian who doesn’t have something in the circumstances of his life that he wishes were not there.

“Shall tribulation . . . ?” Tribulation is never a grand, highly welcomed event; but whatever it may be— whether exhausting, irritating, or simply causing some weakness— it is not able to “separate us from the love of Christ.” Never allow tribulations or the “cares of this world” to separate you from remembering that God loves you (Matthew 13:22).

“Shall . . . distress . . . ?” Can God’s love continue to hold fast, even when everyone and everything around us seems to be saying that His love is a lie, and that there is no such thing as justice?

“Shall . . . famine . . . ?” Can we not only believe in the love of God but also be “more than conquerors,” even while we are being starved?

Either Jesus Christ is a deceiver, having deceived even Paul, or else some extraordinary thing happens to someone who holds on to the love of God when the odds are totally against him. Logic is silenced in the face of each of these things which come against him. Only one thing can account for it— the love of God in Christ Jesus. “Out of the wreck I rise” every time."

I had other plans for preaching this Sunday, but I believe I will address this timely issue. Come and join us to praise God for our safety, to pray for those lost beneath the rubble, and to hear God’s Word to us in difficult times.

Play the Ball Where the Monkey Drops It

This has been a rough week for Americans. First, we had the bombings at the Boston Marathon, then some pretty unusual and severe weather around here, with houses blown away and roofs torn off, and to top off the week, we got word of an explosion at a fertilizer plant in Texas that was so severe it registered on the Richter scale. The blast was felt 40 miles away. I know because my wife felt it.

All of this was not lost on newscasters who made the point that April seemed to be a terrible month for tragedy. On April 19, 1993, ATF officers stormed the Branch Davidian compound outside of Waco and in the resulting assault and fire, over 80 people, men, women, and children, lost their lives.

Two years later, on April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh filled a rented truck with fertilizer and set off a terrible explosion in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. That blast claimed the lives of 168 people including 19 children under the age of 6.

Then, on April 20, 1999, two students entered Columbine High School with semi-automatic weapons and murdered 12 students and one teacher, and injured 21 others before killing themselves. Tragedy upon tragedy.

Besides these highly publicized tragedies and sorrows, we all have our individual tragedies. We have lost loved ones, suffered financial set-backs, and fought serious injury and disease. Sometimes it’s hard to maintain our faith in the midst of such suffering.

This week, I was talking with someone about this very issue. In theology, it is known as “theodicy” which is an attempt to understand the goodness of God in the face of evil. The question posed is that God is either good or powerful, but not both. If God were both, God would eradicate evil, thereby showing both his goodness and his power. Some people claim that since evil has not been eradicated, then God must not be good—he doesn’t care, or he must not be all that powerful—he cannot overcome evil.

That’s where the title of this article comes from. I wish I had thought of it, but I didn’t. Some years ago, my cousin sent me a book with that title; it is actually a golf metaphor. Back in the days when the British ruled India, the ruling class tried to carve golf courses out of the jungle. Mostly they were successful; the grass grew well and the climate was ideal. The problem was the wildlife. They don’t have monkeys in Scotland, so the rules of golf never addressed the contingency of having your ball stolen off the green. What is a serious golfer to do? You guessed it. In India, the rules of golf state that you “play the ball where the monkey drops it.” Philosophically, you embrace the chaos. It could be a better lie or a worse one.

But what does this have to do with God, tragedy, and theodicy? If we believe that God truly is in control, and that God truly is good, then there must be some other explanation. For most theologians, from Augustine on down, it means that we have to hold these two seeming opposites in tension, understanding that we do not see the big picture. It may look like chaos and tragedy, but perhaps it is not. Perhaps there are lessons to be learned, and strength to be built. Any athlete will tell you, no pain, no gain. We are building strength for eternity, and God is there to help, not hinder. We have to trust where we do not understand. So we can believe that God is both good and powerful. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Boots on the Ground

We hear a lot of talk about “boots on the ground” in the news these days. It has to do with basic warfare strategy. War today is fought much differently than it was even 50 years ago. Iraq was not anything like Vietnam, and Vietnam was not anything like WWII. Today we have precision missiles and surgical air strikes, even drone fighters. But what does that have to do with God and the church?

Its true that when we talk and think about the mercy and the love of God, militaristic images seem a little out of place. And yet, they are common images in Scripture; fighting the good fight (1 Tim 6:12), putting on the armor of God (Eph 6:11), and wrestling against the powers of darkness (Eph 6:12). In military terms, putting “boots on the ground” is a colorful way of saying that after all the preemptive strikes, after the strategic bombing, somebody still has to go in and clean up the mess. You still have to have people who are willing to go into a war-torn area and rout out the lingering enemy troops.

Here in Sand Springs, we have just had a season of joy and celebration; there have been receptions, special worship services, and visitors as we establish a new relationship between pastor and congregation. But now is when the real work begins. Now is when we have to begin our strategic planning that we have put off “until the new pastor arrives.” That time is here, and there have already been people asking about some of the projects and programs that are near and dear to their hearts.

Let me assure you that we are already beginning to do some of that planning in order to move forward as a congregation. What are we doing? Well, let me just mention a few things, and please bear in mind that this is not an exhaustive list, nor is it in order of priority, but it should help folks know what is “in process.”

First, the session and the appropriate committees have been discussing hiring a new Children’s Ministry Director. This is a position we have had in the past, and we would very much like to see it developed for our future. It may not look quite like it did before, we may tweak the job description to fit our new reality, but it is high on our priority list.

Second, we are beginning a Newcomers class to provide a way for visitors to join the church. We have not had one in a few years, and we actually have folks looking forward to being a part of that.

Third, as I mentioned in worship last week, I will begin a series of sermons on selections from the Book of Revelation. I often get questions about and requests for help in understanding this unique book, and I thought a sermon series would be a helpful way for us to begin to do that.

You may have noticed that all these approaches, all these tasks, are designed to help us grow in our faith. Jesus sent us into the world to make disciples (Matt. 28:19), that is our primary task as the church. We are to gain new ground, to embrace new people, and bring them into God’s Kingdom. That image may be a bit militaristic, but I think it is apropos.

All Things New

Since I have come to Sand Springs, I have really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know so many people both in the church and in the community. People here have proven themselves to be warm and friendly, and that has made coming to Sand Springs a much easier process.

One of the people I met while opening a bank account last week was a classic car enthusiast, like myself. She and her husband had recently been to Detroit to a car show where their 1958 Chevy pick-up finished in the top ten. This was not just any show, it was one where Chip Foose was not a judge, but an entrant! (If you don’t know who Chip Foose is, we can talk later.) I even had the opportunity to go to the garage where this truck and many others have gotten a new lease on life.

Standing there looking at the progress those cars go through from stripped down, rusty hulks to the high performance, street machines they are becoming turned my thoughts to Easter. I know, it seems quite a jump, but bear with me.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we aspire to be like him. But it’s much more than asking ourselves, “What would Jesus do?” it means allowing the Spirit of Jesus Christ to flow through us and make us new from the inside, so that, in essence, we never really have to ask that question. We already know.

The Apostle Paul talks about being “in Christ.” This is his way of describing the process of allowing the Spirit of Christ to flow through us, to strengthen us, and to give us life; not the life we had, but new life, abundant life like we have never experienced before. That’s why he told the Corinthians, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come,” (2 Cor. 5:17).

Maybe you can see how I relate this to old cars. After a certain age and mileage, most cars are dismantled, crushed and turned into scrap. They are no longer useful. We want something new. But a classic car is something worth saving. They don’t make them like that anymore. An expert mechanic and restoration specialist can take an old car completely apart, replace metal, wiring, engine and brakes so that almost nothing is left of the old jalopy. It is completely new; but not completely. It has all the charm, or personality of the old car, but runs and performs like a brand new one. Now do you get the connection?

There are a lot of folks in society that get labeled, “useless”. It may be because of mental or physical deficiencies, or maybe they just have too many miles on them. I can relate to that on some days! But God is like an expert mechanic. He is the one who made us to begin with, and he can remake us into something wonderful. God doesn’t see junk or something useless when he looks at us. God sees something he rejoiced in when he made it the first time, and God will rejoice when he makes us into something new. That’s what Jesus came to do.

Paul finishes that chapter by saying, “God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them,” (2 Cor 5:19). May your Easter be filled with the love of God that makes all things new!

A Prophet's Reward - sermon notes

Mark 6:14-29

      There is a lot of discussion these days about what is right and what is not, particularly in the area of sexuality. In schools, for example, officials and parents argue about whether students should be required to take sex education courses, and whether those courses should encourage abstinence, or merely safety. Some schools hand out contraceptives, reasoning that if students are going to be active, we should at least try to keep them safe. And what kinds of relationships are being discussed? Heterosexual, LGBT, and a wide variety of relationships that used to be considered inappropriate, or at least impolite, are now being discussed in the open.

      It is not just in the schools that these discussions are taking place. It is happening in the church as well. This year’s 220^th General Assembly is a case in point. There was quite a lot of discussion about sexuality, and exactly what a marriage is, or is not. You might think issues like that would be fairly clear cut, particularly in the church, but you would be wrong. Before the General Assembly was a proposal for marriage to be defined as not just between a man and a woman, but between “two persons”, thereby leaving open a great number of possibilities. Thankfully, it was defeated.

      In today’s Gospel message, we read that John the Baptist went to great lengths to proclaim the truth about marriage and what is, and what is not, appropriate.

1.  John spoke the truth – about sexuality, marriage, and what is right. When he saw the immorality and corruption of the king, he did not hold back, but spoke out boldly.

      Truth has consequences. John made some enemies when he spoke so boldly. Herodias, the wife of Herod, was one of them. She was the daughter of Herod’s half-brother, so technically his niece. She was also married to Herod’s brother Phillip, who she left and married Herod. He was the king, after all. But she did not like John.

      Herod liked John, and protected him, up to a point. He had him arrested, kept in prison, where he visited him and listened to John.

      2.  Not everyone likes the truth. Even though John spoke boldly, Herodias plotted against him to have him killed.

      Politics are everywhere – in schools, in businesses, in churches, even in families. By “politics” I mean the process of bargaining to get what we want, usually from someone with more power. No doubt, Herodias had tried many things to have John killed before: direct request, feminine wiles, perhaps even bribery. Hard to bribe a king.

      This time she backed Herod into a corner. She used his birthday party with lots of guests/witnesses present, and her daughter to perform some sort sensuous dance normally performed by court dancers and prostitutes, not women of her rank. Herod was so pleased that he made a generous, and inappropriate promise: “up to half my kingdom”. Salome could have had almost anything: Chariots, houses, even her own town! After consulting with her mother she asked for the head of John the Baptist – adding the platter herself!

      3.  John paid the price for his honesty. The prophet’s reward. The first time I heard that phrase was from Andy Dearman @ APTS. It’s a reference to the statement of Jesus in Matthew 23, where he said, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who shed innocent blood and murdered the prophets. You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” Many of the Old Testament prophets, like Jeremiah, were arrested, flogged, thrown in prison, and even killed. They spoke God’s truth, and yet they suffered terrible consequences. Or did they?

      What did John’s death mean? To John himself: paradise and God’s approval. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.” (MT 11:11). For Herodias: she thought she had won a victory. For Herod: the death of his conscience. When Jesus came to him, he turned him away and sent him back to Pilate. For John’s followers: They buried John and Matthew says, (14:12) they went and told Jesus. Very likely, many of them became followers of Jesus.

      Who paid the ultimate price? John? NO. Herod. He hardened his heart and ultimately turned Jesus away.

      What will we do? Stand up for the truth, even though it may be costly? Give in to pressure from society, and lose our conscience?