More than I ask or imagine. . .

Hope

You cannot see hope,

You cannot try it on,

You cannot measure it.

You wait for hope,

You ache with hope,

You weep in hope.

We glory in hope,

Hope melts cynicism

Hope multiplys love

We hope against your hopelessness.

Shame, Guilt, and a Confessional Liturgy

Here is an article by David Powlison on his homework for people struggling with guilt and shame.  I find it excellent, pastoral, and accessible. It is based on the rich tradition of the Book of Common Prayer.  Read what follows to see if you may need to work with it or use it yourself.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

When I counsel with people who struggle with deep feelings of shame, guilt, and regret, I sometimes suggest that they design a personalized liturgy. In what follows, I walk through the example of a woman who has had an abortion, and all that led up to that choice, and all that follows in someone whose conscience is alive. But you can tailor it to whatever struggle you or another person needs to deal with. Where is your struggle? Is it temper or bitterness? Sexual immorality? Amnesia toward God? Gluttony, laziness or greed? Judgmental words or thoughts? Gossip? Obsessive worrying? God welcomes all who are weary with sin.

* * *

Designing your own liturgy of confession will help you to think through exactly what you need to bring to God, and what you need from God. It will give you serious words to express your sorrow, regret, guilt and pain over your abortion. It will lead you by the hand to God’s mercy and to his washing away of your sin and guilt. The parts of this liturgy in italics are taken and adapted from the General Confession of Sin in The Book of Common Prayer. Even when your thoughts and feelings are chaotic, these words can serve as your guide. They are a channel for honesty. Instead of wallowing in misery and failure, these words help you to plan how you will walk in the direction of honesty, mercy, gratitude, and freedom.

The Theological Task

Image by Klearchos Kapoutsis via Flickr

I have a deep conviction that we need to keep theologizing.  Theology is not static but always answering new questions and correcting new voids. Often, Christians believe that theology is a done deal, but that leads to a "sit down, shut up, here are the answers" mentality.  We are not called to get our theology right, we are called to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice.

This is also a theological task.  See everything you do is a theological statement, whether its your Starbucks order, your Facebook profile, or your iTunes library.  We say things or even dream things that we want to be, that is a type of worship.  True worship leads to transformation of all of those things. Thereby, theology is being Scripture and life together as a living sacrifice.

The call of Christ demands for us to bridge new frontiers, not because the old ones are wrong, just not complete. We don't want to change with our tradition but we do need development. Daniel Kirk in a post about why he cares about the Reformed world summarizes his thoughts:

Then, I'd say, the work of Christ is equally about transformation of the cosmos and new life as it is about justification. Then, I'd say, the calling of God's people is not only to celebrate their standing before the bar of judgment but to bring justice to bear on the earth.

I'm beginning to see more clearly that the structure of the cosmos, the problem with the cosmos, the work of Christ, and our own lives as Christians are inherently intertwined. And, that certain articulations of structure, problem and work leave folks with deeply impoverished lives that fail to put on display citizenship in the kingdom of God.

This is theologizing.  If we see a brother or sister leading an impoverished life it is often that their functional theology is deeply flawed.  Good theologizing enables us to strike at the heart of this despair with fresh words by the Spirt.  It is a task that I am committed to and I want you to be a part of too. Because we and the world and the work of Christ are intertwined.

 

Prayer for Baptism

My son, Jerry Donald, is being baptized today, so today I woke up with this prayer in my head.

Father, Thank you for the Sacrament of Baptism, and how you give us Grace in the Name of Jesus, how it unites to him by being named in the Trinity, how we are engrafted into his Body, the Church, signifying and sealing the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, by his Holy Spirit.

I have studied Baptism for many years, but now only beginning to understand its power.  You gave this son to us out of your mere pleasure and grace.  He is more than just fortunate, He is blessed.  I am humbled by the gift of your Son, and the gift of my Son. I know I will mess up, get angry, tune out, and even hurt him, but, Lord, please let Hesed and I show him that life is not found in us, but in the glorious hope that we have in Christ.  You know our sin, and I pray that we would always come back to you with new repentance and new faith, so that we can be the parents who train Jerry Donald up in the way he should go.

Father, may Jerry Donald never know a day that he does not know your love.  That your forgiveness is bigger than all his shame, all his sin, and all his trouble. I pray that this Baptism today would echo throughout his life.  That your Spirit would be with him as he learns the Scriptures, memorizing and studying them, so that he can know where to find your voice, over the voices of unbelief and death that run rampant in this world.  That his prayers would be answered according to your Wisdom to teach him who you are.  That he would honor his family, respect women, and fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.  That one day, he would be ready to give a reason for the hope he has when asked or challenged.  That he may one day become a tender husband and humble father walking in repentance and faith.

Lord, there are many challenges, but today you mark out Jerry Donald through Baptism, and that it would be your pledge to him, that you will be his God and he will be a Son adopted in Christ.  Hear my prayer not based on my works or anything that is within me, but only on the basis of your Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forevermore.

Lose Weight A Thon

On January 1, 2007, my weight was between 300 and 305 lbs. It stabilized there since seminary. When I moved from Nashville to Philadelphia to go to Westminster Theological Seminary, I gained between 40-50 lbs. Who knew that cheesesteaks, pizza, and cola would do so much harm. The lowest point, or the heaviest, was after doing 2 papers in one night I celebrated by having 2 cheesesteaks and a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Mmm, I mean yuk! After I did that, I felt like an addict.

So, this year as whim, I decided to run a 5k, and start lifting weights again. Lifting weights is like reading the Bible. It is amazing and so good for you, but you make all kind of excuses about doing it. No more. As of September 2007, I weighed 285 lbs.

I seemed stuck there for while and then Hesed had an idea. You have heard of a golf a thon, walk a thon, and even a read a thon, but she had an idea for a git fit a thon or lose weight a thon. So here is the situation, I am going to try to lose 30 pounds in 3 months. So on October 1, I weighed 285 and the goal is to be 255 by December 31, 2007. I am asking people to support my college minstry by either pledging a dollar amount per pound, pledging an amount if I lose 30 achieveing my goal, or pledging an amount as an encouragment gift.

Below, is my before picture so let me know if you want to jump on the bandwagon. It takes a villiage to make Jerry lose weight.

Let's Play Two

So,  I am very inconsisent blogger.  I know that.  Everytime that I wish I had an internet connection because I have a thought that I would like to blog about, I realize that I should have home internet access.  But, alas, I don't want it that bad.  In all of my thinking, the natural response would be that I should just pack it up and move on.

But instead, I will now have two blogs.  This one for personal and ministry reflections and the other is our churches.  My church, New Life Presbyterian Church, has launched a new website. Along with this we have decided to start a blog to share the story of our Church our story, and how our church works together in that story as a community.   If you want to check out the blog of New Life Dresher, please click here.   

I guess now I will do twice as much blogging!  Right?         

Bored in Bible Study?

 

So this past Wednesday night, the young adult ministry called YADA (Young Adults Demonstrating Authenticity) had a great discussion on the Bible led by John Fryling.   He said that often we have a high view of the Bible but a low use.  We responded saying that this leads to guilt, boredom, and/or ignorance.  As John spoke about Bible Study, for him and many Christians born before 1965, as something exciting.  I often think that Bible Studies are great for relationships but I never come away thinking, "Wow, the Bible is amazing.  I want to sit down and read more of it." I have done that with sermons, books, and lectures, but never Bible Study.  The classic "Observe-Interpret-Apply" approach may be part of it, but I am looking for answers.

    What do you think?  Have Bible Studies given you that "I love the Scripture" impulse?  What were they like?  Is this a generational thing?   What would it mean for us to take the Bible serious in our generation?  Would it be questioned based?  Would it be based in a daily gathering? These are many questions but take one and let us know what you are thinking.