I'm still on Dallas Willard's The Spirit of the Disciplines. He makes the case that "the churches of the Western world have not made discipleship a condition of being a Christian." You can join a church with no requirement for growing in Christ. I hadn't thought about it that way, but that's probably what has created our "social club" Christians. It makes me wonder how it's different in the Eastern world, or if it is any different, and if so, how?

I think of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas and their senior pastor's insistence that when you become a member, you agree to support the church by your presence in worship, by giving in proportion to your income with the tithe as the goal, by being involved in some kind of Bible study, Sunday school class or prayer group, and by helping at least once a year in a mission/service project organized by the church. I've often heard the protest that if we "made" our members do those things, we would scare people away. But Church of the Resurrection is the largest United Methodist Church in our Conference, and while I don't have facts in figures in front of me, I think they are raising up more new pastors than any other church in our Conference.

Hmm... Dallas and Adam may be on to something here.

Peace, love and grace.

Practicing the With-God Life

Renovare talks about developing the "with God" life. The assignment this week was to pick a way to practice the comtemplative discipline. The exercise I chose asks you to read something on the spiritual life, but to read it to understand it. Rather it is to be read "with God," with the knowledge that God is in the room with me as I read. I am to find God in the reading. Hmmm...

Today I'm reading an excerpt from The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard. One of the things I've struggled with in my spiritual life is the feeling that my spirituality is too simplistic. I tend to take things literally and at face value. One of the things Willard says about Christian discipleship is that,

"The disciple of Jesus is not the deluxe or heavy-duty model of the Christian person--especially padded, textured, streamlined, and empowered for the fast lane on the straight and narrow way. He stands on the pages of the New Testament as the first level of basic transportation in the Kingdom of God."

This gave me a good laugh. As I read it, I had the thought that it's OK for me to be a jalopy for God! I'm not sure what I would pick today as basic transportation, but I like the image of an old Model A- or Model T-type car bumping down the road of life.

I may never be a spiritual giant, but I'm in the company of the early disciples who rarely understood, rarely "got it," and yet it is on them, and on me, that Christ has deigned to build the Church. And if you're reading this, then you're probably one, too.

Hang on! We're in for one heck of a good ride! Thanks be to God!

Peace, love and grace.

Letter to God

Last Tuesday was the first meeting of the Posse Renovare group, composed of Susie Olsen, my preschool director; Mindy Turner, my children's director; Kyle Olson, my youth director; Kay Scarbrough, my senior pastor; and me. We're meeting on Tuesday mornings at Edesia's, a local bakery and coffee shop just down the street from the church. I'm really excited about getting this, and more like it, started in the church!

After our meeting last week, we had an assignment to write a letter to God, recalling the first time I sensed God's presence and some of the ways God has revealed Godself to me since then. I'm sharing that here.

Dear God,

It's hard to think of the FIRST time I sensed you in my life because you've just always been there. I can't remember a time I didn't go to church and Sunday school. And given how my memory works (read: doesn't always remember), it's a difficult task.

The first time I have any vivid memory was in high school. We'd had a meeting at Manhattan First Presbyterian Church to plan an upcoming youth retreat and were worshipping there on Sunday morning. I was tired from having been up late the night before and I drifted off. It was probably more of a dream, than any thing, but I was sitting in my pew looking up at the stained glass window behind the chancel and I had a "vision" of sorts. I saw something I can't even describe, but it was wondrous to see. I remember looking around after to see if anyone else was as awe-struck as I, but everyone was just sitting there listening to the preacher. It was an incredible time, but it has stayed with me, and really sustained me, all these years later.

Since then, and probably before then, I've known you in many ways--through the beauty of nature, the splendor of a sunrise or sunset, through the miracle of birth and the finality (and yet not) of death. I've seen you through what you have done in the lives of others and in the relationships of family and friends you have placed in my life. I know you through the love you have given me in and through Dale.

I know you in large part because of how you worked in my life most visibly during seminary. There were papers I wrote for which I don't feel I can take much of the credit. The words that ended up in the versions I handed in, were pure gift. The certainty of my call and the work you enabled me to do were two of the things that kept me at it, when I might otherwise have thrown in the towel.

I've known you in part. I look forward to the time when I will know as I've been known, when I will no longer look through a glass dimly.

In your peace, love and grace.

Catching up

It's been awhile! I had a great trip to NYC with Heather and Erin. We're talking now about making plans for next year and including all our female relatives and going some place like Colorado or off the coast of North Carolina. Stay tuned.

After the trip to NY, I stopped in Chicago with Heather and then met Dale and the rest of the family in West Lafayette IN on Saturday for Jeff's ordination. As an elder in another UM Conference, I was allowed (at Jeff's request) by his bishop to be one of the three clergy who was on the platform for the laying on of hands. What a great honor and such a proud moment and incredibly humbling all at the same time! Thanks, Jeff! We drove back up to Highland that evening, went to church with Heather and Jeff on Sunday (along with Erin and Jay), grilled out after church, then started the long trek back to Manhappenin.

Back home for one night, then off to a Conference Council on Youth Ministries (CCYM) overnight--after being delayed by a hail storm that broke out the windows in Sarah's car--at Ottawa First UMC. I've agreed to join Kurt Cooper and Natasha Norman as co-CCYMCs (Conference Council on Youth Ministries Coordinators) for the coming year. Stay tuned for more on that as it develops.

On the way home from CCYM, I stopped in Baldwin City to meet with the Annual Conference worship team to go over all the services planned for Annual Conference.

Back home for one more night, then off on Wednesday morning to Annual Conference for the week. When it was over on Saturday, I returned home to write my sermon for the next morning. Whew!

Last week was a blur as I got back to the church to catch up on all those things that hadn't been done for the two weeks I was gone and the things that DID happen.

All that being said, I'm hoping to get back into a routine and posting here again on a more regular basis. That's all for this post.

Peace, love and grace.