reverend mommy's random thoughts

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

"For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

The parallels to our text are Mark 8:31-9:1 and Luke 9:22-27.





From the Depths of the Internet, an email that makes its way around:
A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door. SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?" DAD: "Yeah sure, what it is?" replied the man. SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?" DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily. SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?" DAD: "If you must know, I make $50 an hour." SON: "Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down. SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow $25?" The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don't work hard everyday for such childish frivolities." The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door. "Are you asleep, son?" He asked. "No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy. "I'v e been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier" said the man. "It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $25 you asked for." The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father. "Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled. Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied. "Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you." The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness. It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $50 worth of your time with someone you love. If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours. But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. "The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated...it is finished when it surrenders." "When you know what you want, and you want it bad enough, you will find a way to get it." See it > Be it > Do it !!!!


Matthew 16:21-28
1) Jesus is teaching his disciples about what is going to happen.

• His message to his disciples is changing -- he's not talking about how to live or how to approach the kingdom, but how he is going to suffer and die.
  
• He had begun to "set his face toward Jerusalem" as it says in Luke -- he knew what was bound to happen.
• Jerusalem is the place where prophets are taken traditionally to be put to death by the religious authorities (Matthew 23:37 and 2 Chronicles 24:20-22)
  
• He wanted (out of compassion) to prepare his disciples for this great suffering. Does knowing about the suffering lessen it? Can we really prepare for this?
  

2) Peter can't stand it and rebukes Jesus

• Peter knows that Jesus is the Messiah -- and Jesus gave to Peter the keys to the Kingdom.
• But he just can't deal with the fact that Jesus is going to die.
• He cries out "Never! Never!" -- God forbid it!
  
• Peter only want the grace and the glory of Christ's coming; he cannot bear the thought of the cross
  

3) Jesus lashes back at Peter saying, "Get behind me Satan."

• To Jesus, this must seem like a continuation of Satan's temptation in the desert -- just as he tempted Jesus to use his power and authority wrongly in the desert, Peter's concern is just as much of a stumbling block.

4) Jesus talks about priorities -- how we must take up our cross and follow -- how it profits us little to gain the world but lose our soul.

• We are to love God with all our heart, soul and strength -- how? and what does that look like?
• Heart -- deny self.
• Soul -- give your life.
• Might/Strength -- give up the world's possessions and take up real treasure
  

5) For Jesus will come back again -- and will repay for what you have done.
6) and some will not taste death....

more animals

But not too hard. We do appreciate the rain. It seems so very very long since we have had a real gully-washer. Fay was good to Georgia (for the most part). We have survived the Tornado drill for two nights in a row (Mommy! We are going to DIE) and even though we have some sleep deprivation right now, I do so appreciate the rain. I hope we get more.

I want to go to the 2009 Congress on Evanglism. Bishop Schnase's book is being used as the framework (5 Fruitful Practices) and I would love to have a group dinner with him either before or after the event with all us Methoblogger.

Who is game?

I also want either a person to ride with me from Atlanta and/or a hotel roommate.

Anyone?

Psalm 139
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

*edited: this is Psalm 139 not Psalm 130, as MMM pointed out in the comments. Cough Syrup does that to me. At least I was only 9 away! Or is that 8? Or does it matter? None the less, I fixed it.

Rather, it's more like bronchitis. I'm on antibiotics AGAIN. I think it's being triggered by all the moldy, musty stuff in my LH's grandparent's house (which we are slowly cleaning out.)

We can't stop cleaning out the house -- it has to be done, but I think I will start doing a few things differently.

• I am going to wear a N-95 mask from now on.
• Instead of using a normal vacuum cleaner, we need to get a HEPA vacuum cleaner.
• We need to get air purifiers to run continuously.
• Anything taken out of the house has to be cleaned and set in the sun for a nice long time to kill the mold spores.

We are approaching the end of this process. We need to have an estate sale soon but we need to make sure that the house is clean and smells OK. I think the HEPA vacuum cleaner will help out bunches.

Just thinking out loud... and now it's time for cough syrup, orange juice and bed.

*****
edited: I sure have weird dreams when I'm on cough syrup and what not. I dreamt that a very old friend (I'll call him R) was investigating the disappearance of some of our students. We were in a very large urban building with sidewalks outside and large open spaces (dark) in the basement. For some reason, we were investigating the basement and I had to crawl over a big ladder laid on its side that had chunks of rotting material hanging off of it -- that right, it was over a large open space that was very dark and had punctuations of light. I looked down through the rips of cloth and saw were all the bodies ended up -- in a large radioactive cobalt pool that glowed blue. It been hidden all this time and it turned out that R (my friend) was a serial killer and ... I was going to be next. So I pushed him off into the radioactive cobalt swimming pool and he died. The end. Maybe I watch too much Star Trek and Law and Order.
******
edited again: OK, I know that somehow I am each of the people in my dreams... so does that mean that I've killed a part of myself? Does that mean that I feel that I've been killed before by another agent and I WAS powerless, but not any longer? Dreams are strange things.
******
My lymph nodes are swollen again. Maybe I just got exposed to the dust/mold stuff way too early after Cat-Scratch Fever. Who knows. I'm going to bed.

I just read this posting from John Hamilton talking about rosaries.

I will admit -- I'm a little of a geek about all sorts of stuff. I actually can be a rosary geek. I made my own rosary years ago — I used plain beads for a while, but then did an Anglican rosary — I used 5 gold and silver “rose” beads, 4 freshwater pearls and then 24 beads; each one different. I used the 12 gems listed in Exodus 28 for the Breastplate of Judgement and the 12 gemstones listed in Revelation 21 for the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem. (or approximations of these stones.) This makes 33 stones that represent the 33 years of Christ’s life. I put a rose bead, three gemstones, a pearl, three gemstones, a rose bead, three gemstones, a pearl and so forth. There is a rose bead at the beginning and the end. The gold and silver remind me of the song, “Lord, you are more precious than silver… more costly than gold” among other things. The pearls remind me of the “pearl of great price” in the discourse about the kingdom in Matthew (13?).

Since I have a tool that allows me to place a knot between each bead, I made a large “bracelet” out of the beads. I hung three things between the beginning and ending rose beads — a Roman Coin from around the time of Constantine, a crucifix and a Dove (Holy Spirit) medal.

I think I’ll post a picture….

Matthew 16:21-28

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

"For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

I do believe that I am going to concentrate on the bit of the text in bold and concentrate on priorities -- what will it profit us to gain the best career in the world but forfeit our life? What will it profit us to gain the best schooling in the world but forfeit our life? What will it profit us to gain loads of money in this world but forfeit our life?

• I've been watching the Olympics (like millions of others.) Chaos had a question: how come they never seem to show the sports WE want to watch (that would be Tae Kwon Do sparring.) I suppose it's because the Americans took two bronze and a silver. Only gold medals seem to get the prime-time.
• Tonight is another belt-test. I haven't been to karate like I should be for the past month. I've Cat Scratch Fever (no, not the song!) -- it's been hard to shake. I'm much better now. I never knew that adults could even get this disease. Thank you, Johnny Cat.
• Chaos has had medical problems as well this month. When it rains, it pours.
• Perhaps we should take this as a sign to slow down. I just haven't been able to whack all the moles this month (you know the game -- Whack a Mole.) I've started out several times in the last couple of weeks and not complete all the errands. I have a basket of shoes in the living room that need to be taken to the shoe repair store (the one where the lady always tries to charge me in yen....) I have laundry to do and dry cleaning to drop off. I have boxes to recycle and Goodwill stuff to donate. I have put off doctor stuff until "urgent" has turned into "super-duper extra urgent."

There are times in our lives where it seems like we have a huge task -- that we are supposed to use just our two hands to keep all the bobbing corks submerged in our own personal bucket -- and at times we can succeed and at times there are just too many corks bobbing around. We think we have to choose which corks to keep submerged and which to just let go. Then I begin to realize that this is bad theology. We don't do it all alone. We have our families and we are in community -- I'm not going to mis-quote 1 Corinthians 10:13 and say that "God won't give you anything you can't handle!" That's not what the verse says. In face we need to pick it up at verse 11:
These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don't repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don't be so naive and self-confident. You're not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence. No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it. (The Message)
We will never be tempted beyond our limits -- not that we won't get things that we can't handle alone. The fact of the matter is 1) we ARE given things that we can't handle alone and 2) we are never truly ever alone. My personal cork bucket is not in isolation -- it's connected to my husband's cork bucket which is connected to other cork buckets -- we are all in this together. We have our community -- our family, our friends and our church family. We have God; even when it appears that God is silent and inactive, God is with us. God is always with us.

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less ... Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind ..." John Donne

I received an advance copy of The Shack a while back and honestly never felt compelled to blog about it. If you are not familiar with The Shack, it's a novel that tries to be theology or a theology book disguised as a novel -- I can't decide which. The protagonist Mackenzie's daughter is brutally murdered in a shack off in the Northwest wilderness. Four years later, while he is experiencing his "Great Sadness", he receives a letter from "Papa" -- which happens to be his wife's pet name for God -- asking him to meet him at the shack. There Mack meets the trinity -- a big black woman, a Jewish carpenter and a small Asian woman. He comes to deal with his grief, getting to know God through his pain.

There are a few things about this book: first, I had a hard time picking it up to begin with. I've experienced enough pain that this seemed more like sticking my tongue over and over again into a drilled out tooth -- why on earth would one do that? The suffering and pain seemed so ... inevitable. When I realized what was happening, I actually put the book down and walked away for a while. After all, knowing the plot of Schindler's List, I have never ever felt compelled to watch the movie. Why on earth would I?

Well, once I got over that and picked it up again, I read it through. To me it seemed contrived. The theology was occasionally off the beaten path. Not horribly, but enough to make me squirm a little. I am sure that there are others who will be very offended by it. There is an implied assumption that to know God, you have to suffer. Is this really so?

I understand that William Young is wanting to stretch our concepts of God (I actually have portrayed "God the Father" by a "Big Angry Black Woman" myself...) but I see it as just exchanging one set of boxes that we've put God into for another and slightly "more modern" set. I didn't find myself transformed instantly by this book -- I didn't find myself incredibly enlightened. I found the book heavy -- in the same manner a plate of Bangers and Mash can be heavy. It's not bad, it's just dense and my stomach isn't used to it.

I find the brouhaha about the book puzzling. It resembles the brouhaha around "The Celestine Prophesy." This is not a miracle cure. It's not a complete analogy to modern life and suffering. It's thought provoking, yes, but it is not the panacea for all that ails you.

Actually, if it weren't for the brouhaha I would not be writing this review....

Found here.

An interesting concept. Time will tell if it's OK -- or more like community theatre. I would have wished that the people who did "Amazing Grace" or "Luther" would have produced it....

The oldest known lock (estimated at 4000 years old) was found in the Khorsabad palace ruins near Nineveh. It works much like a modern pin tumbler lock, but made of wood. There were several wooden pegs that operated like the modern metal pins. They were held in place with a large wooden bolt. The key to this huge lock would have been huge itself.

Locks and keys are mentioned in the Old Testament. Keys represented authority, security, and power. The delivery of keys to King in a castle after it was defeated was a ritualized ceremony and is probably the fore-runner to the modern Key to the City ceremony that we practice now. Keys were a status symbol; a sign of authority. In ancient Egypt, the heads of household owned slaves whose purpose was to carry a man's keys. If he has several of these slaves, he was considered to be a man of great power and wealth. So the lock and key are seen as very prestigious -- a representation of power and authority. Keys imply that you possess something of great value -- something that others might want or covet.

Keys can represent all forces that open and close, bind and release, liberate or incarcerate.

Interesting website here on the history of keys.

Apple Offers Free Magsafe Replacements

Parallels: Mark 8:27-33 and Luke 9:18-22.

Son of Man -- Dan 7:13
"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. (NIV)

Peter/Rock -- Greek Petros/Petra -- a play on words. Interestingly enough, it works in Aramaic as well. “You are Kepha [or Cephas], and upon this kepha [rock] I will build ...”

This passage has long been used as the basis for Papal authority. Can that be ignored? Should it be ignored?

Seems to me there are two keys being offered to Peter, the rock. The key to bind; the key to loosen. The key to not forgive; the key to forgive. Interesting thought, that we as the church might NOT forgive. God hold ultimate forgiveness; do we hold the keys for that kind of salvation? Or is it that we need to practice what Dr. Laura would call "tough love" -- not letting people "get away" with their bad behavior. Holding them responsible for their actions.

Flow of the scripture:
Who am I? -- the Messiah
Good Answer! -- You now are my Rock!
Here are the Keys -- I'm going to build my church on you/on this
What are they keys for? -- to bind and to loosen

• Yesterday was one of those "chase your own tail" kind of days. Doctor appointment that went very long, making me late to pick up Chaos for her cello lesson, rushing around, getting to the lesson late -- and the new instructor doesn't show up. Kate needs the lesson because...
• She is auditioning for an honors orchestra the Saturday after Labor Day. She has the music and so we just need to get her enough time to practice and some tutoring. This is the first level of auditions this year; All State is next.
• She's removed the last "tape" from her fingerboard; it's like training wheels for the cello. She probably doesn't need it -- she's dependent on it, though. One step at a time.
• This week should be better than last week, schedule-wise. We are gradually getting used to getting up at o-dark-thirty. It's a matter of just making sure there is enough time for everything to get done.
• Still, it's hard to get used to 5:30 am almost every single day (except Saturday).
• I like the girls having their own cell phone. I will talk to them as they are at the bus stop. It's a compromise -- that way I know for my own peace of mind that they are OK and they don't have me physically hovering.
• I'm thinking about hospitality this week (more) and how it intersects with the Keys of the Kingdom. I want to do two sermon series this Autumn -- or maybe what would be better would be just linking each sermon to one or more of the themes in the 5 Faithful Practices. This week -- I'm still thinking about hospitality. Wikipedia:
• Hospitality refers to the relationship process between a guest and a host
• For an in depth understanding of the term of hospitality, the starting point is the etymology of the word itself. The word hospitality derives from the Latin hospes, which is formed from hostis, which originally meant a 'stranger' and came to take on the meaning of the enemy or 'hostile stranger' (hostilis) + pets (polis, poles, potentia) to have power. Furthermore, the word hostire means equilize/compensate. If you combined the above etymological analysis with the story of Telemachus and Nestor you can develop in your mind the Greek concept of sacred hospitality.
• Hospes is the root word for many different English words: Hospitality, Hotel, Hostel, Hospital, Hospice.
  
• My friend Sophianne named her island on Second Life Xenia, which is the Greek word for sacred hospitality. From Wikipedia: There are a few basic rules; "The respect from host to guest, the respect from guest to host, and the parting gift from host to guest. The host must be hospitable to the guest and provide him with food and drink and a bath, if required. It is not polite to ask questions until the guest has stated his needs. The guest must be courteous to his host and not be a burden. The parting gift is to show the host's honor at receiving the guest."
• Interesting thing: Hospes means both guest and host. We get stuck with a single meaning in English, but Hospes is a reciprocal relationship -- it not only means the respect from host TO guest but also the respect FROM guest to host. I suppose you can't have a host without having a guest; each are necessary for the relationship to exist.
• Jesus was born here on earth; if we see his incarnation as a "visitation" from God to earth, we can see how Jesus is on one hand a guest here on earth, here to receive our honor/hospitality/respect and on the other hand to give to us -- the very keys of salvation. (The Hospitality of God: A Reading of Luke's Gospel By Brendan Byrne Published by Liturgical Press, 2000, p. 4)
• More later.
  

more cat pictures

And the LH even has shorts like this.....

13 When Jesus arrived in the villages of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "What are people saying about who the Son of Man is?"

14 They replied, "Some think he is John the Baptizer, some say Elijah, some Jeremiah or one of the other prophets." 15He pressed them, "And how about you? Who do you say I am?" 16 Simon Peter said, "You're the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God." 17-18 Jesus came back, "God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn't get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I'm going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. 19 "And that's not all. You will have complete and free access to God's kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven." 20 He swore the disciples to secrecy. He made them promise they would tell no one that he was the Messiah.

Verse 19 might said to be "key" to this scripture. (Groan now, yeah that was awful).
I have keys to the church (not exactly as Jesus might have imagined) -- a huge bunch of keys that I have inherited from all the previous pastors. I was told that there are only about 3 that are really important at either church. That would leave about 14 that I don't know what exactly they unlock....

We all carry keys. I got the kids new house keys this year because the old keys disappeared into "house key heaven" (that's next to "odd sock heaven" for those who like to be informed) -- hopefully this set will last. I have keys on my big keyring -- the most of which are the keys to the church, but also a few other keys. I have my house key, my car key, my husband's car key. I have the keys to two other cars that I've been test-driving for the last couple of weeks. I have a key to our travel trailer -- and a key to the airplane. Shelter and transportation. Important things. I do need to get around all day long and I do need a place to lay my head at night.

What other keys might we have on our key chain? Some of us have keys for our work. Some of us have keys for pleasure (like my trailer key). Personally, the LH once told me that I have the key to his heart -- isn't that romantic? We use keys for entry, for access. We also use the word "key" in a variety of different ways -- some of us might have the key to success. Do you have that? That sounds like a good key to have -- some of us have had presented to us the key to the city -- that's nice too. Sometimes we get the key to understanding something -- sometimes we get the key to happiness -- those would be good to have as well.

What Jesus is offering here to Peter, the rock, is something very valuable. Peter is being given the keys to the kingdom of God.

What might those keys be? More to ponder tomorrow.....

Original (from the Primitive Physick):
1. The air we breathe is of great consequence to our health. Those who have been long abroad in easterly or northerly winds should drink some warm pepper tea on going to bed, or a draught of toast and water.
2. Tender people should have those who lie with them, or are much about them, sound, sweet, and healthy.
3. Everyone that would preserve health should be as clean and sweet as possible in their houses, clothes, and furniture.

Translated:
1. Th' air we breathe be o' great consequence t' our health. Them who ben long abroad in easterly or northerly winds ortin' ta drink some warm pepper grog on goin' t' bunk, or a draught o' toast an' water.
2. Tender swabbies ortin' ta be havin' them who lie wi' them, or be much about them, sound, sweet, an' healthy.
3. Sea dogs an' land lubbers that would preserve health ortin' ta be as clist an' sweet as possible in the'r houses, clothes, an' furniture.

Aye, jus' as I thought. Wesley be a pirate.

I have come up with the perfect sermon title:

Canaan's Canines.

*note: I googled this. Someone else thought of it too. Ah, well. Great minds and all that.

Tees for DOG and GOD
Canaan's Dog
CANINES TO CANAAN: The Story of Some Forgotten Four-Footed Pioneers

*******

In other silliness:
What would a Bible story sound like told by a pirate?

Walkin' on th' Water
As soon as th' meal be finished, he insisted that th' disciples get in th' boat an' go on ahead t' th' other side while he dismissed th' swabbies. Wi' th' crowd dispersed, he climbed th' mountain so he could be by hisself an' pray. He stayed thar alone, late into th' night.
Meanwhile, th' boat be far ou' t' sea when th' wind came up against them an' they be battered by th' waves. At about four o'clock in th' mornin', Jesus came toward them walkin' on th' water. They be lily livered ou' o' the'r wits. "A ghost!" they spake, cryin' ou' in terror.
But Jesus be quick t' comfort them. "Courage, 'tis me. Dasn't be lily livered."
Peter, suddenly bold, spake, "Master, if 'tis really ye, call me t' come t' ye on th' water."
He spake, "Come ahead."
Jumpin' ou' o' th' boat, Peter keel hauled on th' water t' Jesus. But when he looked down at th' waves churnin' beneath his feet, he lost his nerve an' started t' sink. He cried, "Master, save me!"
Jesus didna hesitate. He reached down an' grabbed his hand. Then he spake, "Faint-heart, what got into ye?"
Th' two o' them climbed into th' boat, an' th' wind sank t'Davy Jones' locker down. Th' disciples in th' boat, havin' watched th' whole thin', worshiped Jesus, sayin', "This be 't! Ye be God's Lad fer sure!" On return, they beached th' boat at Gennesaret. When th' swabbies got wind that he be aft, they sent ou' word through th' neighborhood an' rounded up all th' sea sick, who asked fer permission t' touch th' edge o' his coat. An' whoeretouched th' lad's be healed.

more cat pictures

A comparison of

• Bishop Schnase's Five Practices
• Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life
  
• Scott McKnight's Five Streams of the Emerging Church
• Gibb's and Bolger's 9 Core practices
• John Wesley's Holiness of Heart and Life

In Short:
Bishop Schnase's Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations

• Radical Hospitality
• Passionate Worship
• Intentional Faith Development
• Risk-Taking Mission and Service
• Extravagant Generosity

Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life

• We were planned for God’s pleasure, so your first purpose is to offer real worship.
• We were formed for God’s family, so your second purpose is to enjoy real fellowship.
• We were created to become like Christ, so your third purpose is to learn real discipleship.
• We were shaped for serving God, so your fourth purpose is to practice real ministry.
• We were made for a mission, so your fifth purpose is to live out real evangelism.

Scott McKnight's Five Streams of the Emerging Church

• Prophetic Rhetoric
• Postmodern
• Praxis-Oriented
• Intentional Worship
• Orthopraxy (right living)
• Missional
• Post-evangelical
• Post-systematic Theology
• In vs. Out
• Politically Active

Gibb's and Bolger's 9 Core practices

• 1. Identifying with Jesus (and his way of life)
• 2. Transforming secular space (overcoming the secular/sacred split)
• 3. Living as community (not strangers in proximity at a church service)
• 4. Welcoming the stranger (radical and gentle hospitality that is inclusive)
• 5. Serving with generosity (not serving the institution called "church," but people)
• 6. Participating as producers (not widgets in the church program)
• 7. Creating as created beings (this is a great chapter!)
• 8. Leading as a body (beyond control and the CEO model of leadership)
• 9. Merging ancient and contemporary spiritualities.

John Wesley's Holiness of Heart and Life

• Deepen your Christian walk in word and deed.
• Follow John Wesley's disciplines of prayer, Bible study, and fasting.
• Discover the roots of mission, spirituality, and justice.
• Act with Wesley on issues of poverty, slavery, substance abuse, education of children, women's leadership.

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I don't think it's so odd that these lists have strong similarities. After all, we all follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. I do find it interesting that there are tensions -- there are places were some of us are comfortable; and places some of us are not. For instance, I am not very political yet I am very sharply attuned to issues of social justice; I just don't express them politically. Some people are very political and have no problems expressing themselves that way.

Another difference: Some deal more with the structure, some with the individual. I tend to deal with the individual; I believe in building a church by making each of the building blocks (the members of that church) as strong as possible. I do have a "big picture" in mind -- I just tend to focus on the blocks rather than the over-arching design. That makes for a rather "organic" church growth. I strongly believe that is the way Jesus would want me to do it -- he also tended to deal with people and relationships rather than large group structures. However, there are those who would examine the design of the entire structure first and then attend to the building blocks. Which is the better way? Can it be that BOTH ways are needed?

Some believe one way and others believe otherwise -- different strokes for different folks. Wesley believed in true spiritual worship -- that worship is the origin of all that we need to gain. It begins with the means of grace and it begins with prayer: The chief of these means are prayer, whether in secret or with the great congregation; searching the Scriptures (which implies reading, hearing, and meditating thereon); and receiving the Lord's Supper, eating bread and drinking wine in remembrance of Him: And these we believe to be ordained of God, as the ordinary channels of conveying his grace to the souls of men. (Sermon 16, The Means of Grace.) Prayer in the great congregation and Lord's Supper are done in corporate worship. He says also:
You cannot find your long-sought happiness in all the pleasures of the world. Are they not "deceitful upon the weights?" Are they not lighter than vanity itself? How long will ye "feed upon that which is not bread?" -- which may amuse, but cannot satisfy? You cannot find it in the religion of the world; either in opinions or a mere round of outward duties. Vain labour! Is not God a spirit, and therefore to be "worshipped in spirit and in truth?" In this alone can you find the happiness you seek; in the union of your spirit with the Father of spirits; in the knowledge and love of Him who is the fountain of happiness, sufficient for all the souls he has made. (Sermon 77, Spiritual Worship)
I tend to agree with Rev. Wesley. For me, it's all about true and intentional worship of God -- both individual and corporate. This is my personal beginning spot; my origin. For others, it's different. I find it interesting that Bishop Schnase starts with Radical Hospitality -- greeting the stranger to dwell among us. Interesting too that Bishop Schnase self-identifies as an Introvert and I as an Extrovert -- wouldn't you think he would start with Worship and I start with Hospitality, since Worship seems more of an introverted activity and Hospitality more of an extroverted? Perhaps we do not start where we are most comfortable, where we already get our batteries charged; perhaps we start with something we need the most.

Things to ponder on a Friday morning.