Orlando - Fellowship of Presbyterians

I will try to post some comments here about my experience with the Fellowship of Presbyterians Covenanting Conference in Orlando, Florida. You can learn more about the Fellowship of Presbyterians at http://www.fellowship-pres.org/. Basically this is a group of Presbyterians who share varying degrees of concern about the state of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. Some are hopp'n mad about our denomination and are convinced, not without reason, that it has abandoned core essentials of the Christian faith. Others simply have a concern that our denomination lacks vision and structure relevant for today's world - the world we actually live in. (If you're keeping score, I probably fall more into the second kind of concern than the first.)

On the way down here I listened to a podcast of Rob Bell's December 18 farewell address to Mars Hill church. (It's a better listen than a read, by the way.) I was intrigued by this part of Rob's letter in light of this Covenanting Conference I'm attending. Rob writes...

i write this to you because of how many of you have been challenged about your participation in the life of this church, often with the accusation: but what do they believe over there at mars hill?

as if belief, getting the words right, is the highest form of faith.
Jesus came to give us life. a living, breathing, throbbing, pulsating blow your hair back/tingle your spine/roll the windows down and drive fast/experience of God right here, right now.

word taking on flesh and blood.

and so you've found yourself defending and explaining and trying to find the words for your experience which is fundamentally about a reality that is beyond and more than words.

so when you find yourselves tied up in knots, having long discussions about who believes what, a bit like dogs doing that sniff circle when they meet on the sidewalk, do this:

take out a cup
and some bread
and put it in the middle of the table,
and say a prayer and examine yourselves
and then make sure everybody's rent is paid and there's food in their fridge and clothes on their backs
and then invite everybody to say 'yes' to the resurrected Christ with whatever 'yes' they can muster in the moment and then you take that bread and you dip it in that cup in the ancient/future hope and trust that there is a new creation bursting forth right here right now and then together taste that new life and liberation and forgiveness and as you look those people in the eyes gathered around that table from all walks of life and you see the new humanity, sinners saved by grace, beggars who have found bread showing the others beggars where they found it and in that moment
space
place
remind yourselves that
this
is
what
you
believe.

remember, the movement is word to flesh.
beware of those who will take the flesh and want to turn it back into words

Bell seems to delight in tip-toeing right up to the line of orthodoxy and then deliberately trampling over it. However, I can't help but wonder if there's some appropriate caution for us here as we carry on about what ails the PCUSA - as we respond to challenges about our "participation in the life of this church, often with the accusation: but what do they actually believe over there...?" It's not that I think doctrine and orthodoxy do not matter matter. They do. But they matter only because of the One to whom we belong. It's easy for me to forget that I am not my own. It's easy to forget that I, and my church, and my denomination, have been bought at a price and that Jesus did the purchasing, not me (1 Cor 6:19-20). His blood does the owning, not mine. I don't keep the church, the church keeps me.

100%

The 'Occupy' movement is gaining momentum by attracting self-proclaimed 1%ers who think they should be taxed more. (Check out tumblr.) Meanwhile, the NBA lockout continues with players and owners arguing about how they can make more money.

Same planet. Two different worlds.

New and Improved?

A generous life flows from a contented life.

Think about it. What keeps you and me from being generous? It's the restlessness, fear, or worry that what we are giving away might result in missing something we think we need. Put another way, generosity is stifled when I am more focused on the thing(s) I lack than on the abundance I possess.

Capitalism, which drives our society, survives on its ability to create need. We're not taught to be greedy. (We all know that would be wrong.) But we are taught that we would be more fulfilled, happier, more efficient, or have a better family life if we had just one more thing. Excess is not cool today. In fact, it's despised. What is cool is upgrading. Upgrading sounds responsible and reasonable. But the 'upgrade' is always predicated on convincing us that the thing we have now is somehow lacking or out of date. It's last year's model, the clunkier operating system, the lower resolution display, the less fuel efficient model.

Perhaps the apostle Paul's words to Timothy some 2,000 plus years ago are not so out-of-date. Paul insists there is richness and wealth apart from the restless desire for the upgrade. Rather, abundance is found in contentment. Paul says, "but godliness with contentment is great gain… if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that." (1Timothy 6:6, 8)

In this year's stewardship journey we'll discover that contentment is grounded in gratitude, revealed in prayer, and lived in faith. For three weeks we'll study Paul's timeless advice in 1Timothy 6:6-19. This series is for anyone who wants to escape the rat race of desire. It's for anyone who longs to live in the wide-open freedom of lavish generosity.

The last Word to Live By of the Ten Commandments is a word about Contentment. It provides the perfect launch point for this three week adventure beginning the last weekend in October. I encourage you to join us for every step along the way.

Song for "10 Words to Live By"

Here are the lyrics for the song we're learning during this series. Start practicing. I can't wait to hear you!

Number one, we’ve just begun, God should be first in your life.
Number two’s the idol rule: those graven images aren’t nice.
Number three, God’s name should be never spoken in jest.
Number four, the Sabbath’s for our worship and for rest.
Number five, we all should strive to honor father and mother.
Number six, don’t get your kicks from killing one another.
Number seven, life is heaven when you’re true to your mate.
Number eight, don’t steal and break this rule for goodness sake!
Number nine, don’t be the kind who goes around telling lies.
Number ten, don’t covet when you see your neighbor’s house or wife.
That’s the list and God insists we stay away from these sins;
That is why we memorize commandments one thru ten.

~ Words & Music by Kathie Hill and Janet McMahan

"Allegiance" message follow-up

We're off to a great start in our study on the 10 Commandments. The 10 Commandments are God's curriculum for living as truly free people. These are words to live by!

Here are the two quotes I used at the end of the message today. The first is attributed to C.S. Lewis:

"When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. Insofar as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving toward the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased."

The last quote is John Wesley's Covenant Prayer. It appears in the Methodist Hymnal (I did not use the last phrase):

"I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
Exalted for thee or brought low by thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it be ratified in heaven. Amen."

Lastly, be sure to check out my friend's website that has all the study materials for this series (10 Words to Live By). Greg is a special friend of mine and a great Bible scholar. You'll find lots of material to enrich your personal study.

(Tomorrow I'll post the lyrics to the 10 Commandments song that we're singing each week. You may even get a YouTube video out of me. Who knows!?)

I Don't Want to Be Thin

Ever since I began trying to lose a few pounds using the iPhone "Lose-It" app, I've been thinking about our culture's obsession with thin.

In our world, thinner is better.

How do you know the iPhone 4 is better than the iPhone 3? It's thinner. Same with the iPad 2. It's clearly superior because it's thinner than the original iPad. New TV's are better than older TV's because they're thinner. Same goes with computer laptops. We want thinner electronics, appliances, kitchen gadgets, and camping gear because thinner is better.

Or is it?

Our culture's obsession with thin also begs us to live thinly. The "thinner is better" myth stretches our schedules and flattens our lives. We are losing weight and getting thinner but can anyone see us when we turn sideways? Do our lives count for anything that really matters?

In contrast to our thin-obsessed culture, the Scripture invites us to live thick with purpose and meaning. The Apostle Paul invites us to stop "wasting away" (2 Cor 4:16) and begin preparing for "an eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor 4:17).

The Ten Commandments of the Old Testament are a kind of weight-gaining program for life. More than being a mere list of things to not do, the Ten Commandments are live-giving words by which we can learn to really live. Starting this weekend (August 27-28) I'll be leading us through a 10-week series on these "Ten Words to Live By." My hope and prayer is that we'll all gain some weight ("weight of glory") as we make these words our own.

Check out clpc.org for more information.

Throwing Stones at Casey

USA Today reports that Judge Belvin Perry will sentence Casey Antony today at 9:00 a.m. Her conviction is for lying to police, not for murdering her daughter. The majority of the nation would very much like to have had the latter. Over the last several months we have become experts in the psychology of the criminal mind and are convinced beyond reasonable doubt that she is guilty. So if the jury and Judge Perry won't do it, we will – we will do the sentencing. Some have taken this more literally than others. Only moments after her acquittal, Antony began receiving death threats. NBA basketball star Vince Carter offered advice on his Twitter account that Casey "might want to move out of Florida like ASAP!!!" We just can't grasp how in the world this lying, conniving, and self-centered young woman can get off so easy.

Casey reminds me of another woman discovered clearly in her guilt. She was brought before the jury and tried for her crime – only this time they got the verdict right. But when it came time for sentencing, a different ethic ruled. A woman caught in adultery deserved to be stoned to death. But Jesus invited the one without sin to go first. One by one her accusers dropped their stones and walked away leaving Jesus alone with the guilty woman. "Neither do I condemn you," Jesus said; "go, and from now on sin no more" (John 8:11).

I started this blog in the morning and by now we all know that Casey will stay in jail until next Wednesday. Conversation on the TV news and at the company water cooler is all about what she'll do when she gets out. Perhaps we could use the time between now and next Wednesday to pray for Casey and to interject a different voice to these conversations. Perhaps we could talk about a God who offers grace and forgiveness no matter how big the crime and who invites his followers to do the same.