"If in preaching the gospel you substitute your knowledge of the way of salvation for confidence in the power of the gospel, you hinder people from getting to reality."                     -Oswald Chambers



And yet, this is what happens over and over again. We make the gospel our pet, our servant. The history of the church is a history of taming the gospel. We fear it's power. 

I want people to get on board with my cause, sign up for my class, propagate my philosophy, but come in contact with the raw power of the gospel? Without me controlling it and mediating it? Are you kidding?

Forgive me God. May your fire of love purify my ministry, burning off anything that stands between me and the power of the gospel for those that I lead.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help.  Ecclesiastes 4:10¹⁰
I have been reminded a couple of times this week of the importance of standing with someone. So  many people go through a lot of very difficult times alone. As disciples of Jesus, who never leaves us and as members of a faith community who claims to be Jesus' body, I believe we have the opportunity, dare I say the responsibility to stand with those who have no one to stand with them.

It is often not easy. At times it is messy.

Standing with someone does not mean we have to have all of the answers for them. It just means being with them.

Standing with someone does not mean we have to fix them or change them. Transformation is God's work.

Standing with someone does not mean we condone their behavior. Just because we accept someone, does not mean we have to approve of what they are doing.

Standing with someone does not mean we enable them by rescuing them from the natural consequences of their actions. It might, however, mean we journey with them through those consequences.

Who have you stood with? Who stands with you?

This is the trash created from Emerson and me eating at McDonald's tonight. I don't really consifer myself a green freak, but as I was gathering our trash from the table and the mountain kept getting bigger on the tray, I was thinking there was no way this could be good. I want to start being a bit more conscious.

I was at : 132 Riley Ave, Palm Springs, FL 33461,

I have started utilizing Phyllis Tickle's Divine Hours as a resource for my spiritual journey. Of course, a consistent element of most daily prayers is the prayer Jesus taught.

As I was praying it this morning, I was reminded yet again that the prayer is prayed in first person plural. I know that. (You know that. We all know that and have heard at least a half-dozen sermons on the topic.) This morning, however, it dropped a bit from my head to my heart. When I pray that prayer, I am asking that God gives  all of us our daily bread, that God leads each one of us away from temptation, that God forgives my debts and your debts. If the prayer doesn't change the way I live than it is just a collection of meaningless, superstitious words.

I want to live the prayer.

Richard J. Mouw has written an insightful article on an interaction he had with Carl F. Henry, the first editor of Christianity Today, in that magazines January, 2010 issue (unfortunately, it does not appear to be online).

As I work with our local church to find a voice on social justice issues, I find Henry's "five principles of engagement" which Mauw quotes from Henry's biography Confessions of a Theologian helpful:

1. The Bible is critically relevant to the whole of modern life and culture-the social-political arena included.
2. The institutional church has no mandate, jurisdiction, or competence to endorse political legislation or military tactics or economic specifics in the name of Christ.
3. The institutional church is divinely obliged to proclaim God's entire revelation, including the standards or commandments by which men and nations are to be finally judged, and by which they ought now to live and maintain social stability.
4. The political achievement of a better society is the task of all citizens, and individual Christians ought to be politically engaged to the limit of their competence and opportunity.
5. The Bible limits the proper activity of both government and church for divinely stipulated objectives--the former, for the preservation of justice and order, and the latter, for the moral-spiritual task of evangelizing the earth. 

The article goes into much greater detail. I would highly recommend it as a starting place for dialogue.

I was brought to tears twice this week, unusual for me. The tears, in both instances, were precipitated by a view of God.

Wednesday, as I was driving back from my weekly team meeting with the hospice team with which I am currently interning. At the meeting, we spent time being with and feeling helpless with the five Haitian members of the staff who hadn't yet heard from their families in Haiti. As I was driving, I heard Pat Robertson's comments about Haiti on the radio:

The Haitians "were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III and whatever, and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you will get us free from the French.' True story. And so, the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other."

I had to pull over. The experience of just being with those who were suffering and then listening to Robertson smugly "explaining" the tragedy for us lay folks was too much. His is a view of God that we have all encountered at some point or another. God blesses those who are good and curses those who are bad. It is beneficial, at least in the short run. It keeps God in a box. It keeps us in control, keeps us confident that we are right. If we are the ones in the earthquake, however, it is useless.

Another experience of God I had was Friday morning. I went to an interfaith vigil service for the people of Haiti. We prayed and sang in Spanish, Creole, Hebrew, and English. We cried, some wailed. We praised God, we yelled at God. We didn't feel the need to explain. We didn't feel the need to be right. We just sat, with one another and with God. It was a glimpse of authentic community.

Saturday night, I had the opportunity to participate in an interfaith memorial service at COMPASS Community Center. It was a moving experience. There were about 8 or 9 faith communities involved. It was also eye- and heart-opening to see the actual portion of the quilt that is currently installed at the center. The panels, representing the lives of those who have been lost to the virus, ooze sacredness.

Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, ‘You know that my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor misfortune. So I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to my father David, “Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.”….. King Solomon conscripted forced labor out of all Israel; the levy numbered thirty thousand men. He sent them to the Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts; they would be a month in the Lebanon and two months at home; Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.

1 Kings 5:2-5, 13-14 (NRSV)

I came across this story in my scripture reading last week. I am sure I have read it before, but it hit me quite differently this time. King Solomon used forced labor to build the long-awaited temple, the symbol of Gods presence amidst the people of Israel. From the context it is apparent that Solomon had at least a couple of different motives in building the temple. One motive was a passion for the worship of who Solomon perceived as the one true God. Mixed in with that, I imagine, was the desire to create an awesome spectacle that would be the shrines and altars to other gods to shame. Another motive appears to be loyalty to his father David’s memory.

Whatever his motives, Solomon had an awesome ministry vision. It was a vision so big that it required him to force the people of Israel to work on it. I cannot for a moment imagine God, as I understand and experience God, being pleased with such a situation. It is the height of irony to use forced labor to build a shrine to a God who delivered those very laborers’ ancestors from slavery.

As I pursue my vision for ministry it is imperative that I constantly check my motives, constantly seek to be aware of why I am doing what I am doing. However, even when motives are right, it is so very easy to use people in pursuit of a great vision. Between King Solomon and now, institutional religion has been expert in using people to accomplish its purpose. Religion, at its best, can inspire one to become a part of something bigger than oneself. At its worst, it manipulates through dogma and fear, forcing people to labor for the good of the institution.

As I grow in my ministry, may I be ever mindful that my calling is to serve God by facilitating connection between God and individuals, inviting them into their adventure of life with God, not conscripting their labor for my vision alone.

Trish and Emerson and I are at my parent's house in Lake Lure, NC for Thanksgiving. As I was laying in bed last night, I was overwhelmed with gratitude.

This morning in my scripture reading I was in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, where the angel visits Mary. There is lots of theology and a lot at stake for many in the story of the virgin birth which creates a lot of tension. Setting that aside, a phrase jumped out at me: