e-Soundings

Taken any "Soundings" of your world lately?

SOUNDINGS

  "Soundings" measure the depth of water as a boat passes through.  
   Before the nifty electronic depth gauges, a sailor stood near the bow of the ship tossed out a weighted line to measure the depth of the channel they were entering.
   As a Riverboat captain, Samuel Clements knew that "Mark Twain" meant 13 feet of water under his keel and so the passage was safe.
   The dictionary adds that a sounding is  "…a probe, a test, or a sampling of opinion or intention."
   It is my hope and prayer that the thoughts, reflections, ideas and prayers shared in this column may also be indications of God's safe passage for us all.  
…that this column may probe into what it means to be a Christian, to test our discipleship, insights and intentions.
   I also hope and pray that you feel free to respond back in conversation, emails or on my e-Soundings blog. (www. http://pastorterry.blogs.com)

RELATIONSHIP
   Without a conversation about life, we can't be in a relationship.
   And our God is a God of relationships.  We are called to be in relationship with God, and with each other.
   The famous verse of John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life..." sums up this Gospel of relationship, this story of Jesus Christ and God's desire to be in close relationship with us.
   This was unheard of before the advent of Jesus.  For most, the gods were meant to be feared.  For the Hebrews, God was meant to be reverenced.
   For the early Christians, God invited us to love, …to draw closer to him than ever before, to be

Do you talk about God as much as you do the Economy? ...Wolverine? ...the Basketball Playoffs?

Are you an Encourager?

We spend lots of time talking about all sorts of things in our lives.  The Economy has dominated our discussions, but we also spend time talking about movies, sports, home improvements, our cars.  We spend lots of energy simply talking.

Here at Orangethorpe UMC, our Vision statement challenges us to "prayerful and lovingly encourage each other with healing and hope", but this last weekend I realized that it's not just to each other here in the church or even to the people who happen to show up at church that we can speak to about faith issues.

Recently I spent a day in the outpatient facilities of St. Jude Hospital and before and after the minor surgery, I realized anew that God gives us the opportunity & challenge to be an "encourager" in the Christian faith every day!

There were four nurses with whom I spoke off and on about Christ, faith, prayer and church. In each case they attended a church, somewhat nominally. (One Lutheran, one a very lapsed Catholic and Two Calvery Chapel church attenders.)

It was easy to talk to them because, in good United Methodist fashion, I simply encouraged them to become more active in their own place of worship and to make sure that their family had the rock of Christ in their lives by their regular attendance. (Especially in these hard times! We can all do that, can't we?)

Love is...

“Love is all around us,

cheapened it and drained it of its power.

It’s sold in small bottles, fashionable clothes and expensive cars.

But the love of God cannot be purchased.

It’s a gift.”

The Time has come .... (How to make Easter last!)

   The time has come. 

   In the light of Easter, we are called as a church to gather, sing, pray and speak to each other about our future.

   It is appropriate to have just celebrated the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb.  That is the core element to our faith.  The event that sets us on our faith journey and asks us to trust God is ways that seem impossible.

   Yet there it is.  An act of trust, an act of faith.  “Do you believe?” we are often asked…. But in reality we are being asked “Do you trust?”

Cheers to Jeers – The price of being a celebrity

    Michael Jackson, Madonna, U-2, American Idol, Charlie Sheen, Octomom and all the other celebrities share the painful fragility of fame.

   When your hot, everyone loves you.  You have friends, power, things are looking up.

   But the crowds are fickle, and can turn away on the most minor mistake or overblown rumor.

   It’s a story straight out of the Bible.  Jesus enters town and everyone turns out to whistle, gawk and even throw their clothes in his path.

   The more politically astute of the crowd begin to wave palm branches as a sign of revolution.  It’s a symbol of the Maccabean  revolt a few hundred years before.

   Now they are under the bloody boot of the Roman army and are looking for a savior.  They want another revolution to start.

Jesus shows up and fits the bill.  He has

We are a hopeful people.

Even as we face the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression, we as a nation still hope and work together for the better.

In the midst of “hard times” news, there are stories of individuals, neighborhoods and communities filtering out to show the deeper heart of our nation and of our citizens.

I believe that hope and the willingness to work together comes from the fact that we are a nation deeply influenced by a dynamic form of Christianity.

Within four hundred years of it’s birth, Christianity was recognized as a powerful force in Roman society and made the “official” religion.  As such it not only held sway, but was corrupted

“Where is Heaven?”

Almost every child asks this question.  (I did, did you?)  We were told:  “It’s all around you, and it’s in your heart.”

In our unprecedented time of economic Tsunami and storm, such words do little to console us.

We’re anxious and fearful, unsure if our jobs have stability and our families will be fed.  Finding “heaven in our hearts” is hard.

Yet this is what Jesus proclaimed over and over again, even in the midst of the brutal occupation by Roman Troops.  (Mark 1:14-15)

As we look around us, and as we struggle to rebuild our businesses and our lives, lives, we weep for the devastated families and individuals.

What can we say to those who have no hope?   …who have seen their jobs and homes crumble beneath them?  What can we do to reassure them that God has not forgotten them?

 

"Give Christ a Chance..." by Mother Teresa

“We need

to give Christ a chance

 to make use of us

to be his word and his work. 

 

If we do not

radiate the light of Christ

around us,

 

the sense of darkness

that prevails in the world

will increase. 

 

The people around us

should be able

to recognize him

by our union with God.”

—Mother Teresa 

                            in "Heart of Gold" daily readings

                                    copyright © 1994 by Garborg's Heart ‘n Home

Prayer is having a conversation with God

Prayer is defined as having a conversation with God.

 

However, most of us make it a “one way” thing.

 

We tell God what we think we need, or what we think needs to be done, and then we wait to see if it happens.

 

That’s like going to the doctor and telling him or her all your ailments, never listening to what the Doctor might say, and then expecting to be cured.

 

Prayer has to be more than a “we speak / God listens” activity.

 

Prayer is one of the greatest gifts God has given us. 

 

Yet we rarely explore the fullness and power of that gift. 

 

If our marriages and relationships were like that, one person would be constantly asking for things, and the other would be expected to deliver.  No relationship would

Have you found your “hidden” place yet?

Not your “hiding” place…  That’s the place you go when life gets too hard to bear.

No, your “hidden” place is the place that you keep the parts of you that you don’t want others to see.

It’s the place that hides your fear with you are trying to be strong.  It’s the place that hides your mistakes when you want to be smart.

It’s the place that hides your hurts when you want to seem invincible.  It’s the place that hides your failures when you want to look successful.

It’s the place you hide your prideful self, or your angry self, or your gloating self that resides in all of us.

It’s that “hidden” place that holds the parts of you that needs work, or healing, …or both.

It’s that place that is hidden from everyone but God and you.

Yes, God sees into all the places of your heart, the hidden ones as well as