LOGOS Week 20

Wow! Can you believe it? Tonight is the Twentieth Week of LOGOS and we are ready to celebrate, but it is still hard to think what will happen next week and the week after until things start back up again in October of 2009. I know at least one six year old who will have trouble adjusting, as well as one thirty-eight year old who will appreciate a few weeks rest but will sorely miss the kids and adults. Granted I will see just about everyone, but it isn't quite the same on Sunday morning with brief encounters before, during and after worship.

When I think about this past year I will recall the time spent with our elementary and preschoolers teaching them about what the different parts of worship are. From learning about the Call to Worship by having the kids take off their shoes and socks and walking through sand, dirt, and stone replicating Moses' walk on Holy Ground to teaching the kids "Go Tell it on the Mountain" while discussing music as Proclamation to having the kids develop a communion table cover that the congregation is using throughout Lent the time I have spent with the dozen or so younger kids during Worship Skills has been priceless.

I will also fondly remember the evenings of being the Dinner Dean during Family Time. Being granted the privilege to be the first one to raise my hand and watching everyone raise their hands and gradually quiet down to prepare to pray for our food through word and song and movement is a joy like no other. And then to bring others along in the activity of thanking the cooks and then to listen to the laughter and sheer fun that young and old alike have during family game time is awesome.

And then there has been the time spent with the two oldest kids in LOGOS, Austin and Zakk who have encounter the Bible through J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Ring" triology has been fun and hopefully stimulating in their grasp of the Bible and concepts of faith. Of course I have missed spending time with the Junior Highs this year, but having that small group time with two young men and talking about how the Bible interacts with their lives has been informative and formative.

Like I said, I will certainly appreciate a few weeks of having six to eight hours each week when I am not preparing and engaged in LOGOS, but I suspect that I will soon feel a great hole in my week. So I pray and ask all of you to pray for the relationships that have been built and have grown throughout these past twenty weeks that they may continue in the time between March 2009 and October 2009. May all who have been touched by the wonder of treating one another as Children of God continue even as LOGOS at FPC, Twin Falls takes a hiatus. And may we all work at building relationships with one another, whatever our age, through God in Christ who has called us all into sacred community.

"Fool" by Christopher Moore; a Right Raucous Read

WARNING: If you are offended by adult situations, questionable language or a pastor who reads something other than the Bible and Nonfiction, then you may not appreciate this post.

This past week, in spite of a pretty heavy load I was released of some of that burden by the wonders of author Christopher Moore in his latest novel, "Fool". If you have read anything by Moore you know that he is not for the faint of heart, but for those willing to delve into his sick mind the laughter he dishes out is well worth the occasional (o.k. it is more than occasional) bit of offensive language.

"Fool" follows the story of King Lear's court jester through intrigue, jesting and a fair bit of promiscuous behavior. The novel is based very, and I mean VERY loosely on Shakespeare's play "King Lear". Actually, about the only thing that the novel has in common with Shakespeare is that some of the characters share the same names and titles as those that appear in the play as well as the setting being England sometime in the distant past. From there the novel takes off.

The lead character, the Black Fool a.k.a. Pocket, is a fantastic character. Throughout the novel the reader is endeared, repulsed, amazed, drawn to and shocked by what comes from his mind and heart or at least what Moore creates through him. If you are looking from an escape from the economic woes of today or of whether or not Obama can actually save anything, then I encourage you to pick up "Fool" or borrow it from me. But be forewarned, if you don't like foul language or reading about consenting adults doing what consenting adults will do from time to time then your best off being dragged down by one depressing news cycle after another. Cheery, isn't it?

"Rendition", a Thoughtful Flick

Last night I watched a movie that provoked a lot of thought on my part. The movie was "Rendition" which tells the story of an innocent man caught up in America's nearly fifteen year old policy of sending persons of interest overseas to be "strenuously interrogated" by countries of less strenuous rule of law. Although it is a fictional account, it still will cause anyone with a heart for the Bill of Rights to wonder at what we have become as a nation. "Rendition" is sort of the anti "24" the Fox TV hit drama about terrorism and national policy post September Eleventh.

I guess for me one of the things that gets me going is that as a supposedly "Christian" nation it always shocks me to think that torture is o.k.'d by so much of our populous. After all, crucifixion was the state sponsored form of capital punishment, so for our so-called "Christian" nation to so readily accept the idea that any form of torture is o.k. is somewhat suspect to me. Granted, I understand the power of fear; it's just I wonder at people of faith saying that fear is more important than faith.

So if you want to wonder at what it means to be an American in the post-9/11 era this film "Rendition" is one that will make you think and wonder at what our founders are doing in their graves. Are they rolling in horror or are they proud at our innovation of their founding ideals?

Snow in March

Just when I thought Spring was coming to Southern Idaho we are getting a fair amount of snow this morning. I'm sure it is quite possible in this part of the country to get snow this late, but just a few days ago several of our flowers were starting to come out showing off yellows, purple and pink. And now today it's all WHITE! Ugh!

Even though March started off like a lamb, the lion has come back in the form of a snow tiger. Hopefully here in a few weeks this wet snow will be a memory as we watch trees, flowers and bushes blossom and temperatures rise.

I guess I'm just bummed that after an "interesting" week that Friday is so glum. Oh well, after some sermon preparation and other Sunday morning responsibilities I'll head home for some Wii with Eric and then settle in with my boy and watch "Star Wars the Clone Wars" on Cartoon Network; all in good time.

Neophyte, but a good day to be Presbyterian

While I am still trying to figure this whole blogging thing out, I haven't quite figured out how to respond to comments posted on my own blog! I'm sure I'll figure it out some day, but in the meantime I wanted to respond to "John" (honestly sometimes the anonymity of this 'networking' is frustrating).

I blogged about prayer yesterday because calling upon the Holy Spirit is important and I believe the Holy Spirit ultimately triumphed yesterday by affirming Adam's preferred course of action after a day long conversation.

That conversation began the night before when Adam came over to my house where my wife and I opened our home to Adam and we shared cake, ice cream and conversation. In the midst of that conversation I recognized and apologized for my part in this whole sorry episode in the life and ministry of Kendall Presbytery. Likewise Adam and I had face to face conversation before and after his meeting with the committee. It seems to me that gossip is more about making an accusation without knowing the facts, as "John" does in his comment that I haven't quite figured out how to respond to.

Well, I pray that "John" reads this post and if not comes to understand that gossip is an easy label to throw out at others without examining your own motives to begin with.

Prayers Needed

I covet your prayers for a young man who is in our church today in a very difficult meeting. His name is Adam Walker Cleveland and he has been, for the past few years, a candidate for ministry in Kendall Presbytery. Adam was due to have been examined by Kendall in December, but his exam and subsequent ordination were put on hold through a series of unfortunate events.

I am partly to blame as a member of what would have been Adam's Ordination Commission I was curious about an unfamiliar person preaching at the planned service. And so I googled that person's name and found out some things about him that were a concern for the church in which he was to preach for Adam and so I called several people in the presbytery. My hope in those phone calls is that the muckity mucks at presbytery would encourage Adam to find someone else to preach or search for a different venue for the ordination. Instead two pastors in our presbytery have stalled Adam's ordination. One, I believe because he is in his late fifties and cannot relate to a twenty something candidate for ministry and the second minister who disagrees with Adam's theology.

Don't get me wrong, both pastors are entitled to their opinions, but I wish they had acted more like pastors and looked for a way through things instead of erecting barriers to a fine young man's future of serving God and the church. Granted, I have my biases, but please pray that the Holy Spirit has the final word in the meeting between Adam and members of our Presbytery and not some political/theological ax.

Stations of the Cross & the Labyrinth

It has been a while since I've posted anything, mostly because there have been several pastoral matters that needed my attention over the last week or so. And then there have been several Presbytery of Kendall shenanigans going on that have grieved my heart and stretched my conscience. So, today, after about a week of non-stop concerns I was feeling pretty drained when I came in and so after grinding and making my coffee I decided to head down the hall to our prayer labyrinth.

Thanks to Dorothy Geist we now have numbers one through fourteen taped to the floor at turns in our prayer labyrinth and a handout that includes scripture and prayer for each of the fourteen turns. The reason for those numbers is that they are one way of praying the Stations of the cross, an ancient Christian prayer practice. I have to confess, while I have been curious about the stations for over fifteen years, I have never walked them. Until today and it was a powerful centering for me after so many concerns and needs that have stretched me thin.

So if you have the time and the desire to go deeper in your faith and you are in the Twin Falls area and have twenty or thirty minutes to read scripture and spend time in silent reflective prayer, then I encourage you to stop by the Presbyterian church and walk the Stations of the Cross through our Prayer Labyrinth.