A New Kind of Resolution

Have you ever moved and a few weeks later gone crazy looking for something? Sure you have. You know. You remember seeing it. You’re sure you knew where it was. But when you go to get it, well, nothing.

That’s basically how it’s been inside my brain these past two weeks. I sit down to write and that idea I just remember seeing cannot be found. I kinda poke around in the clutter and just as I start to get interested in something, another “task” calls me away.

This time however, I’ve got one by the hind legs. It’s just a simple thought, but I’m not letting it go. It will be written, given an amateur taxidermist treatment and mounted on this blog.

It has to do with resolutions. This is the time to write about that, isn’t it? Well, ever notice that nearly all resolutions are self-directed? We resolve in one way or another to improve ourselves. Lot of good in that, even if they’re only kept for a short while. But, what if you’re tired of working on yourself and you want to try something new?

This year, my resolutions are not designed to improve myself at all. This year I’m going to improve others! Yep. It’s time to put my energy where it will make a difference. I figure if I make those around me a little better, I’ll enjoy my world a whole lot more. It’s like the saying, “the rising tide raises all the ships.”

The benefits of re-directing your resolutions are amazing. It doesn’t take nearly as much personal effort, so you’re less likely to give up on it. And, if the improvements don’t show up as you expect, well, you really can’t lay the blame on yourself. After all, you’ve done what you could with what you had to work with.

There’s only one glitch. If my friends really do improve themselves, they might want a new friend, maybe even one who isn’t a pain in the resolutions. Oh well.

.

Man sleeping on tracks hit, killed

The following brief online article caught my eye, and then my heart while I ate lunch. And so I wrote in response...



An unidentified man was struck and killed by a train about 6:30 Thursday night near South Washington Street, according to Kylie Strange, a Greenville County deputy coroner. Strange said the train engineer saw a man sleeping on the tracks and tried to stop. However, the train ran over the man, she said. Strange said there is no reason at this point to suspect foul play. An autopsy will be performed today, she said. By Nan Lundeen, Greenville News Staff Writer, 19 December 2008


Those Who Sleep on Tracks

Christmas will still be the same without you.
But that’s something you probably knew all along.
It didn’t really matter where you were,
Or if you were, for us to sing our Silent Night.

But someone will remember, the conductor perhaps:
A sleeping body, the sighting, and particularly the impotence,
To stop the rolling steel of heedless freight cars -
Much less the growing egomania of heedless hearts.

Oblivious to the warning of the train’s blasting horn,
We’ll stumble in a stupor along the tracks of ease
Celebrating the Christ-child’s coming as always we’ve done;
Never realizing he was lying there beside you, to keep you warm.

.

Aldersgate Ribbon Cutting

Been meaning to put this post up all week - but here it is finally. This past Monday was a milestone in the development of our ministry for adults with developmental disabilities. We formally received the home in Columbia from the Home Builder's Association of Greater Columbia. There was a nice ceremony with the Home Builder's Assoc President, the Mayor and about 150 guests. Five of the six young women who will be living in the home were able to be present, and they definitely were excited. For the "ribbon cutting" each of the residents were given a present and the ribbons on the presents were "cut." Inside each was a monogramed pillow.It was a nice celebration, but the work continues. We are launching this home in the worst of times with all the budget cuts in the state medicaid funding and the challenging economic conditions everyone is facing. But that's when we most often are able to see God at work - in the worse of times. This home exists today because of many instances of grace making a way where none seemed possible. Hopefully by the end of January all the regulations will have been fulfilled for licensing and the residents can move in.

If you want ot know more about Aldersgate Special Needs Minsitry, then visit the web page by clicking here.

A Family Heirloom

This past weekend we were delighted to have my parents and sister come to stay with us. During the visit Dad said he had brought a gift to me from my cousin David. I took it out of the box and it obviously was an old Bible (1892) with the binding a bit worn, but the interior in very good condition.

My grandfather, the Rev. O.E. Taylor, had given the Bible to David and David had decided to pass it along to me. Opening the Bible to the center I realized it was an heirloom Bible, with my grandparents certificate of marriage, along with other pages of family records.

Items like this are meaningful only if it's your family, but when it is a family heirloom, it is priceless. They connect us to our past, rooting us and reminding us of who we are. This was a wonderful surprise and I am grateful to my cousin for entrusting me with it.

Living Christmas Story

Once again the Trinity congregation has come together to present the Living Christmas Story. It is truly amazing all the different areas that have to be prepared - sets, costumes, casting, animals, meals, traffic and city coordination, advertising, CD production, and who knows what else - and then it all seems to come together on the day the TLC begins.

It wasn't really cold last night until the wind got up, but if we have similar weather for the next couple of nights, that will be just fine. Last night I played Herod, one of the few speaking parts. The scene is the wise men coming before Herod asking where they will find the newborn king. Their backs are to the traffic, but Herod can see when there's a gap in the line. The last half hour of the second shift the traffic was light, so it was a great time to leave the script and stump the wise men by asking things like, "Did your star tell you that Herod is the only king in Judea, and all pretenders will be killed?" or "What gift is that you have brought to King Herod?" Yea, it may be juvenile, but at the end of a cold couple of hours, it was fun.

.

Misquoting Jesus

I’ve always heard that if you’re going to write, then you have to read. Reading, I guess keeps the mind engaged in story, ideas and communication. Maybe one reason I didn’t make a blog post in November was that I wasn’t reading (outside of sermon preparation).

Anyway, since Thanksgiving I’ve wedged in three books, a couple of “religious” books and a novel. And one of them I’d like to recommend, especially if you’re a Bible history nerd like me.

Bart Ehrman, in his 2005 book, Misquoting Jesus, does a scholarly, yet easily readable job, of explaining why it’s beyond our ability to determine what the “original text” actually said. He doesn’t do it to undermine the faith, but as part of a scholarly discipline to search for the truth, even if the truth is disconcerting. In the process he shows that faith is sustained not by a belief in the inerrancy of the Bible, but by a relationship with the living Christ.

Ehrman grew up in Biblical literalism. A “born-again” convert of Campus Life Youth for Christ, he graduated from Moody Bible Institute and Wheaton College –bastions of fundamentalism. His interest in textual criticism however took him to Princeton to study under one of the best in that area, Bruce Metzger. He understands both the desire for “the literal Word of God,” and the inconsistencies that show the Word is a human record of God’s revelations.

I especially liked the way he explains how the “written story” was passed along, first by untrained devoted followers making copies, and then by “professional” copiests. The number of textual variants resulting from unintentional, and intentional changes is overwhelming (estimated to be in the tens of thousands), but many of these are insignificant. Ehrman selects several major ones to cover in detail. It left me with a desire to know even more about the text, and a renewed appreciation of the work of the Spirit to make the text alive (inspired) in each generation.

Ehrman's book has been challenged by a host of conservative scholars who believe the Bible is the actual, literal Word of God. And I can see how his work can be used by those outside the faith to heap criticism on the Bible. But those of us who think of the Bible as a divinely inspired human record that contains or reveals the Word of God, his work helps us continue to search for the truth.

Playing with Your Food

Yesterday I was visiting a dear lady in the hospital. She’s been there awhile getting rehab after surgery, and told me she was feeling down. “I know God’s things for me to do,” she said, “I guess I’m just playing with my food and not eating.”

Leaving the hospital a friend called and said he hadn’t seen a blog post in awhile and was just checking in on me. I told him, “Just been busy. There have been a couple of things I’ve thought of writing. I guess I’m just playing with my food and not eating.”

All Out Without Worry

The defensive back we named Player of the Week was asked “What made your night so successful?” He replied, “My teammates agreed before the game we would go all out, so I didn’t worry about the other positions.” Agreement, Commitment, Trust - they free you for your best.

Speaking the Truth in Love 4: Standards

It’s time for me to finish my series on the Conference Board of Ministry, and specifically the process of evaluating candidates for ordination. Most people know the United Methodist church still has a two-step process for becoming ordained. A candidate first applies for Provisional Membership in the Annual Conference as a Commissioned Minister. Then following two years of serving under full-time appointment, the completion of the Residency Program, and the completion of any remaining educational requirements, the person may apply for Ordination and Full Membership in the Annual Conference.

The words we use to define the different stages of evaluation are “Readiness” and “Effectiveness.” At the Provisional level we try to ascertain a candidate’s “readiness” for ministry. Does the person have the skills, the knowledge and character that says they are ready to assume the tasks of ministry? At that point proficiency is not necessary.

When the Provisional Member returns to the Board seeking ordination, we are looking for “effectiveness.” What has the candidate gained in the provisional period through the regular practices of ministry and through applying the knowledge of their education (in Bible study, theology and administration)? Does their work demonstrate they can effectively fulfill the responsibilities of their calling?

While “readiness” and “effectiveness” are nebulous terms, they do reveal that the standards are set higher for the second evaluation. Once a person is ordained and made a full member of the conference, he/she in a sense has tenure. Misbehavior or disobedience to our Discipline could result in charges (that may result in an involuntary leave or removal from ministry), but excluding that, the minister is guaranteed an appointment. There are annual continuing education requirements to keep up, but essentially the pastor operates as a free agent in determining how he/she works (or doesn’t work) with other pastors, how the day to day responsibilities of ministry are handled, and where the priorities will be set for their ministry and their growth.

So the evaluation for Ordination and Full Membership is the last chance the Board of Ministry has in determining whether we can entrust the church and its members to the leadership of the person before us. Those on the Board know we are all human and except for the grace of Christ in all our lives, we are inadequate to the challenges of ministry. We have, and will, make mistakes in our evaluations. We know we must make room for the Spirit to work in and through the process and yet we also know there are times when we do not yet see signs of “effectiveness” and must speak that truth in love.

What are some ways we evaluate effectiveness? First of all, does the candidate communicate well in written and verbal forms? That assessment of course includes the use of good grammar, inclusive language, and the proper use of references and quotes, but it also has to do with whether the average person can comprehend what you are saying. I have at times asked a candidate to explain a Wesleyan understanding of grace as if they are teaching a confirmation class. In other words, can the person make sense of the human predicament, and prevenient, justifying and sanctifying grace to a twelve year old?

One thing we run into on the Theology and Doctrine Committee is formulaic responses. By that we mean the person includes all the right terms, but there is no personal engagement in the answer. In fact, I have noticed in the past few years a shift from expressing one’s considered theology to giving the right answers to the questions. If we were only looking for “right answers” we could just go to a multiple choice test.

For instance, the first question asks how the practice of ministry has affected the candidates understanding of God. We often get several statements on particular attributes of God, such as God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s faithfulness, God’s sovereignty, etc. However, if you speak of God’s sovereignty, then what role do you give to God’s passion (involvement in human free will)? If you emphasize God’s mercy, how do you reconcile that with God’s justice?

This question also calls for some kind of Trinitarian statement. But rarely now do answers reveal any Trinitarian struggle - and I’ve yet to meet a person (myself included) who has the mystery of the Trinity down pat. We each tend to emphasize the work of one of the persons of the Trinity more than the others in our practical theology. I want to know how the candidate assessed herself/himself in this and what it means for her/his ministry.

I guess overall, and to bring this long post and series to a close, the big underlying question is, “Do you have something to say, and where does your voice fall in the theological understandings we share?” Has your preparation and engagement in ministry produced a proclamation that reflects your journey? Can you “rightly explain the word of truth?” (2 Tim 2:15)

Can this candidate effectively proclaim, teach, and defend the gospel? “Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence.” (1 Peter 3:15)

Thanks be to God for the grace that makes possible our participation in God’s redemptive work. And thanks be to God for those who “study to show themselves approved” and offer themselves to the Church for the sake of Christ.

A New Landscape

Regardless of your political leanings, you cannot deny that yesterday the landscape of American changed. For one thing, for an African-American to be our President Elect says to me that while racism is still a problem in our country, it alone does not define who we are. The images change, the boundaries shift, and what was once impossible is now a fact. I am proud to live in a country where people can have their say, and through that collective power can make dreams become reality.

I was most impressed last night with the speeches of both men. John McCain was eloquent in his concession speech and exhibited the character of a statesman, one who puts service over self (and affiliation). The Associated Press has the text printed here.

President-elect Obama's speech was a powerful blend of story, recognition of supporters, and rallying call. Fellow Methoblogger David Camp has the text posted here. I understand Obama's primary speech-writer is 26 years old? Tens of thousands stood in Grant Park to listen closely to his words.

Last night was a reminder to me of the power of the spoken word. Yes, we live in an image age, but the spoken word can define people and situations, create new possibilities, and move people to respond. As one of those who weekly lives in the world of the proclaimed word, these excellent examples are inspiring. Now I pray that we will do as both candidates encouraged -rise above partisan bickering and work together to find solutions to our country's problems.