Blinded

2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Remember this scene from The Matrix? I think I used it a couple of years ago in a message, but it's time to dust it off and use it again. "The red pill or the blue pill?" The Red wakes Neo up to see reality; the Blue let's him stay blissfully ignorant of the Truth. He chooses Red.

We all have a choice to make - whether to continue with the belief system of this world or wake up and see the Truth. If only it was so simple and a one-time thing. In truth, it's a daily choice. Every ---- single ---- day. We choose.

Paul says that the "... god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel..." It makes me stop and think that, though there is of course an element of choice for each person, there is also the "god of this age" (Satan) who is working diligently to feed people the blue pill of blindness. We can't, therefore, be surprised at their hostility to the things of God; the people of God. Why would it be otherwise?

For the message, we'll dig into what it means to "shine in the darkness" and how we can do that in practical ways where we each live. Check out the question in the upper right corner - and chime in!
- Curtis
- CB

The Passion Week

Passion.
That's hubba, hubba stuff, right? What does that have to do with what Jesus went through during his last week? Turns out that our English word "passion" comes from the Greek word, pathos. Pathos, like many words, can have more than one meaning. One meaning referrs to something suffered, and in this sense the "passion of Jesus" refers to the suffering that he endured. Through the years passion morphed into the additional meaning of strong emotions - probably because enduring strong suffering involves strong emotions as well. And if Jesus was willing to suffer so much for us, he must have strong emotions, feelings, passions for us.

Things don't get a lot busier around the church than during Holy Week, Passion Week. There's the Good Friday service, the Egg Hunt on Saturday morning, and Easter festivities. It seems that there's always an extra need during the week as well. But for some reason I'm not feeling overwhelmed this time. It could be denial about all I still have to do; that's a strong possibility. Or maybe God has simply given me a bit of extra peace. I prefer that explanation.

For the sermon this Easter I decided to preach on the least popular account of Jesus' resurrection - Mark's. Mark's gospel ends in a very unsatisfying way. Like a movie ending that doesn't complete things as you wished. Gibson's Passion of the Christ captured this feeling very well, I thought. It leaves you wanting more, sensing that so much more must have happened - and why wasn't it conveyed better?!

In Mark 16, the women come to the tomb with their spice rack to freshen things up around the stinky tomb. But an angel disguised as a guy in white is there to greet them and he gives them the coolest news: "Don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him." There's a bit more, but that's pretty much it. The part in our bibles that comes after this section was most likely added years or decades later by someone who wanted to complete the scene in a more satisfying way. It used to really bug me that we don't have more in Mark. But the truth is, we don't need more. And Mark must have ended it there for a very good reason. What was it? What do you think?
That's what we'll explore this Sunday for Easter. - Curtis
PS: NT Wright provides a scholarly look at resurrection in the 1st century. Go here if you dare!

Trendy Jesus?

Wow, the sun is coming out just in time for Palm Sunday. HOW-lay-LEW-yahhh!
The cold and rain has become way too trendy for me.
Trend: Noun. The general direction in which something tends to move. A general tendency or inclination.
The problem with a trend in this day of rapidly changing trends is that the moment something becomes trendy, it's likely not going to be a cool trend for long. The trend is at an end. At least for marketing and sales purposes. So marketing folks have to think of a way to keep trends fresh and new as they become more and more popular.
Jesus reached the pinnacle of his trendiness on Palm Sunday. From there it was all down hill, at least that's what it looked like. He fell off the trend scale faster than Rod Blagojevich; faster than the economy fell last Fall. And the amazing thing is, that's just what God had in mind. Again and again God pounds away at us with the same idea: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." Isaiah 55:8
If God's ways are so different, then what might it mean to the ways we live? Are we such creatures of trend and culture that we can't see the world differently? And if we can see things from God's view, what would that look like? That's what we'll chew on this Palm Sunday.
- Curtis

Achhhhooo

Kabooom.
Ten thousand droplets of snotty mist expelled at 40 miles per hour. Each droplet carrying a payload of millions of invisible rhinos. Rhino-viruses, actually, expelled from my body in a cataclysmic respiratory spasm - aka- a sneeze. That pretty well sums up my week since Tuesday night when this nasty thing hit. Look at the picture here. It's a rhino-virus, one of 200 likely viral culprits for the common cold. I never thought about it much, but I wonder if some guy with a microscope looked at this and saw the little horns poking out, and said, "Hmm. This little virus Looks like it has rhinoceros horns. Let's call it a rhino-virus." I bet that's really it. What if it had looked like dog poop? Something to think about . . .

As I'm lying in bed last night, dramatically tossing and turning back and forth, hacking up a lung and groaning for effect, Ana speaks words of comfort to me. Ana, my dear, dear wife, tells me, "It's really hard to feel very sorry for you when you already feel so sorry for yourself." Is there no pity left in the world today, I ask?

So the sermon this week is from a terrific passage - Ephesians 2 (you can click on the link at right here and go right to the passage). What occured to me this week is that sin and sickness have some things in common. These little rhino-virus jerks want to take me out of commission; sin wants the same. When they succeed for a time, I become ineffective in my life and I sort of disappear from the scene for awhile. And so it is with sin. As we are lulled away from our relationship with God into a self-focused, diseased mindset, we are taken out of "the game" that God has for us. We find that we are ineffective in our relationships, in our efforts, and the same sort of depression that happens when we're sick can take place.
I don't know how this will work in the message, but the passage is full of good news mostly. Paul encourages us with this:
God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions
Good news, healing is on the way.
- Curtis

Thank God for the Recession!

The recession really sucks. Especially if you are a victim of a foreclosure, a job loss, a business failure. If you have a retirement account, you're lucky if it's worth 65% what it was a year ago. It's getting hard to not let the current situation impact the way we feel about daily living.

But if we trust God; if we believe he is sovereign (in control) then we have to also trust that he has a purpose - or many purposes - in what's happening. There's something absolutely wonderful that he's doing, right now, as we say, "This sucks!" That's where Hope comes in. This week we look at Abraham, the Father of our faith and a guy with an amazing ability to hope, no matter what came his way.
- Curtis

Getting Out of Debt

2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10; Joel 2:1-2; 12-14

(To read the strange dream I had last night - these are getting very common - jump down to the next post)
We're talking about a more important kind of debt than you might first think of. Debt to God. Today's passage from Paul is a beautiful bit of writing by Paul about what it looks like live as "ambassadors for reconciliation." The theme, though, is getting people reconciled to God - a good start for Lent, with the focus on repentance & forgiveness for this communion Sunday. It's rather amazing to think about what Paul was willing, even eager, to suffer if he could reconcile people to God. We don't even like being taken lightly. This guy was tough as nails. He knew what God created him for. He had purpose and drive.
But this Sunday we'll really be focusing more on the Joel 2 passage as we start the Lenten seasion. God says,
"Yet even now, return to me with all your heart - with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your garments. Return to the Lord your God for he is merciful and compassionate..."
Someone needs to bend that into a song. It's so beautiful, this idea of God waiting for us to return to him humbly, completely. Picture the broken prodigal son who comes to his senses, Jesus says, and turns back to home. The Father is at the door of his home, searching for the lost son. How long had the son been gone? How long had the father waited; scanning the horizon for his rebellious son? And when he sees him, he runs to the boy, lavishing undeserved love and forgiveness upon him. So it is for me. And you.

As Lent begins, it is good to consider ways that we've been prodigals. Take a look at your heart. Tear it open, no matter how vile and ugly it might feel inside. For God is compassionate and merciful.
- Curtis

Another Strange Dream

Waves

I had another weird dream last night. This has nothing to do with the sermon, by the way. I was in a high rise hotel near the beach. Someplace warm. I was all alone, maybe on the 15th floor or so. I was in the room with the sliding glass doors shut, looking out over the ocean. The little patio had a wind-shield going about half up made of plastic. I was thinking that it must get really windy sometimes, though it wasn't windy in my dream. This wasn't a place that was familiar to me and the dream just started as I've described. I wondered why I was there, but things changed quickly. As I looked out on the sea, I realized a huge, and I mean HUGE wave was heading in. The hotel was perched right on the ocean for some odd reason, so there was virutally no beach to cross. It slammed into the hotel, and the subsequent splash came all the way up to about 2 floors below me. I wondered what had happened to all those people beneath my floor. As the water receded, I saw plastic wind screens washing away. My room was on a corner; sort of an "L" in the building, so I could peer around my balcony and see people in the room next to me, which was set back a bit further than my room. I looked into their room and their door was wide open; they were laying on top of their covers on the bed watching TV. They seemed oblivious to the sea. Just as I was doing my peeping-tom thing, another wave hit and it was much bigger. It crashed into my window, almost breaking it. My neighbors were not so lucky. The top of this towering wave washed into their room and slapped them right off the bed. One of them was swept out the door.
At that moment, Ana awakened me. Now this is where I'm strange - I love creepy dreams. I hate waking up before they conclude. I tried to go back to sleep for a minute, but that hardly ever works.
So is this about life right now? The economy? Making waves somehow? Hmmm...
- Curtis

Wanted: Dream Interpreters

It's Tuesday and I'm getting ready to leave my mom's house in Mountain View California for Davis. It's pouring rain here, by the way. Sunny California - right!

I spent the day yesterday with Amanda - driving around town to get things that she normally can't lug back to her dorm room without a car. We trekked through Target, Costco and finally landed at an Army surplus store to look for some good work gloves. Over Spring break she's going to Honduras as part of a first-ever SCU trip with the Water Brigade. They'll be working on a clean water project in Honduras. It was a good day to spend together. I've very proud of Amanda.

Today, after taking Amanda and a friend out to lunch, I'll be driving to Davis to see my friend Carl Linvill who works with an economic and environmental "think tank" in Sacramento. It's a good thing someone is thinking about stuff like that. Carl and I have been friends since 1971 and both went to college together; independently became Christians within a week of each other during college; and were in each others weddings. So it will be good to catch up.

So last night the "pastor dreams" started to kick in again. I don't remember a lot of details, but I was traipsing through a thick brush in my dreams. I may have been hacking through high grass with a machete, with a 3rd person view of myself. Then, right in the middle of this brush hacking, I realized that I was overwhelmed with one thought: What is the sermon about this week? What will the "points" be? I kid you not. Not only one sermon preoccupied my thoughts, but two. For some reason I had two sermons to prepare, and both were imminently due. There was a vague sense of a bible passage lingering in the dream, but it felt like I didn't know what I was going to say. As I write these words, I seem to have a memory of the same kind of thing happening last year when I was heading back home. It's not that hard to figure out what the dream was about, but what do you suppose the thick brush and hacking through it represents? The passage? Ministry? My relationship with God? Hmmm. Pipe in with your deep thoughts! May God fill your moments this week with his presence and grace.
- Curtis

My Trip South

(If you're looking for the JOKE I did not tell to start last week's sermon, it's the next post below this one...)


(Above is s short video/slideshow of my drive - nothing much!)

I'm finally getting around to starting a little journal of my trip to San Diego on this, day 3 of the National Pastor's Conference. Last year I brought my little mini-laptop along, but the power cord unexpectedly croaked a couple of days before I made this trip, so I lugged my mac mini and a separate full sized screen along instead. During the first session of the conference I discovered that some rather egocentric fellow pastors didn't seem to appreciate my understandable need to drag extension cords across their laps to power my computer, monitor and printer. They should have been thankful I brought my flat screen monitor instead of the old clunker. Of course you know I'm not serious, but I do miss my laptop. Having to set up shop in my motel room is significantly less fun than typing away whenever I feel like it to share what's going on here.

The other difference this year is that I decided to stay at different hotel which is about a mile and a half from the conference. After a couple of years at Super 8, I was ready for a change. I heard one comedian say once that they should call "Super 8" something else - like maybe "OK 5." I couldn't agree more. The extra distance is worth it and I packed my bike into the back of my car so I could bike to the conference and not pay their silly $12 a day parking fee. I have a fridge and even a little stove so I'm made most meals here in the room. A bit isolating, but cheap!

But let's back up a bit. I started my trek down last Sunday after church - at least that's what I was planning. But I was in slow motion and very tired. I didn't end up leaving town until late that afternoon after packing and laundry and a bunch of other stuff. When I got on the road I found I was so tired that I only made it to Ashland, where I stayed the night. When I awoke, the surrounding mountains were blanketed in snow. The highway was a little icey and covered with more gravel than I have ever seen on a road. The rest of the drive was, in a word, LONG. I amused myself with podcasts I had loaded onto my iPod. And there was plenty of time to think about all of the things I should have finished before leaving town, but didn't. Twelve hours later, on Monday night, I arrived here in San Diego. Since then I've been one of about 2000 pastors, most of whom alternate between looking happy to be here or like zombies from the Living Dead. I wonder which I seem to be.

What Goes On At a Pastor's Conference?
I suspect that nothing could sound more boring to some of you than attending a Pastors' Conference. No doubt you are correct - for you. But for us pastor-types, these things can really be quite enthralling. Check out some of the seminar titles for instance (just a few examples of dozens that are offered):

* When the Buck Stops Here: Dealing with the Loneliness of Leadership
* How to Deal with Demanding People without Losing Your Sanity
* Celluloid Spirituality
* Church on the Couch: Does the Church Need Therapy?
* Organic Outreach for Ordinary Churches: Growing an Evangelistic Vision that is Natural, Contagious, and Compelling
* How Green is God?
* The Coming Crisis of Church PCF (Potluck Casserole Flu) - Why Your Church Is At Risk (Ok, I made that one up...)

Now, don't you wish you were here too? NO? Well, for pastors this stuff is ambrosia.

I won't bore you more with the talks I have attended, the books I've picked up or such minutia. But it's been good. It's especially nice to not have responsibility for leading anything at all this week; to sit back and drink in good teaching, tremendous worship, thoughtful new ideas, and simply rest and think about what God is up to and how we are to be a part of it. I always come home with ideas for our church which are sure to cause an uproar for some.
Last night I got to talk to one of my preaching heroes - Will Willimon. He's a guy in his 60's who spent most of his career teaching students at Duke University and he's written 60(!) books. I think he's one of the finest pure preachers of the last 50 years. A gifted man who can weave God's word into a message that touches your mind and heart. He remains the only man I've ever known who delivered an entire sermon on circumcision. Now he's a Methodist Bishop - a "ecclesiastical bureaucrat" as he describes it. He gave a message that I dare say he would not give anywhere else but in front of a group of pastors. Afterwards I waited to speak with him and was impressed by his kindness and genuine spirit. It was a good time.

Other speakers have included Bill Hybels, Shane Claiborne, Rob Bell and Dr. Chris Wright (who speaks with a very intelligent sounding Irish accent).

So CHBC folks, thank you for this chance to learn new things and to get some time away. It didn't hit me until yesterday that I was so exhausted before coming here. I felt like I was in a fog for a couple of days and just started to wake up.

Tomorrow afternoon (Friday) the conference ends and I'll be driving to see my brother in Seal Beach (South of LA). This weekend with him is the one time a year when get hang out together alone. Then I'll head up to see my mom and Amanda for a day or two, and do some planning as well.

I'll try to update this journal again before the end of the weekend. May God bless you with time for recharging too.
Grace & Peace,
Curtis

The Joke

Last Sunday I planned to start the message with the joke below. But it didn't happen that way. It was Scout Sunday and so we had some great guests with us and I didn't want to offend any of them. Especially the kids - and the parents who might have to answer some "interesting" questions. The point of the joke is in the addendum at the end.
----
A priest, a pastor and a rabbi walk into a bar to share a drink and talk shop. Shop for guys like this is preaching, and one of them makes the comment that preaching to people isn’t really all that hard. Well, they have a few rounds, and so they decide to do an experiment. They each agree to go out into the woods, find a bear, preach to it, and attempt to convert it.



The next day back in the bar, they share their stories. Father Flannery is bandaged head to toe and on crutches. He reports, “When I found my bear, I read to him from the Catechism. Well, that bear just started slapping me around. So I quickly grabbed my holy water, sprinkled him, and bless me, he became as gentle a lamb. The bishop is going out next week to give him first communion and confirmation.”



Reverend Billy spoke next from his wheelchair, one arm and both legs in casts. In his best fire-and-brimstone style he claims, “Well brothers, you know we don’t sprinkle anything. But I found me a barr and read to him from God’s Holy Word! But that barr wanted nothing to do with me. So I took hold of him and we began to wrassle. We wrassled up one hill and down another until we came to a crick. So I quick dunked him and baptized his hairy soul! And just like you said, he became as gentle as a lamb. We spent the rest of the day praising Jesus and I signed him up for New Members class."

They both looked down at Rabbi Goldstein who was in pretty bad shape — an IV drip, full body cast and he’d been wheeled in, in a hospital bed. The rabbi sighed in pain and reflected, “Looking back on it, I probably shouldn’t have started with circumcision.”

The Point of Telling It
Okay, so there it is. I was preaching on "gray areas" and wanted to kick off with a story that was a gray area all it's own.
What part of that story made some of your cringe the most? Religious leaders in a bar? Having a drink, and then tossing back a few? Clergy bragging and holding a preaching contest? Religious stereotypes? A punch line about circumcision?
That's all there is to it! I think I made the right decision by leaving it out that Sunday. I know Ana was relieved!

Care About the World

Care, Learn, Open Your Mind to What God is Doing

It's easy to get tunnel vision, selfish vision. Fight that tendency in a practical and very simple way - come learn from the Chetti's in worship this week. Daniel and Sarah Chetti are our missionaries to Lebanon. They will be with us this week, January 18th, in worship at Cedar Hills Baptist. Daniel is a wonderful speaker with an up-close and fascinating perspective of the situation in the Middle East. His ministry directly involves relationships with people of Islamic faith, and he has an understanding of Palestinian issues and the many challenges to peace in the Holy Land. How does a Baptist seminary respond to the needs of Christians in the Arab world? What can we do to support peace? How do we pray for peace and for believers and unbelievers in the Middle East? These and other questions (yours) will be explored on Sunday - don't miss it!

We'll have two opportunities to learn from Daniel and Sarah - in worship at 10:30 AM and then at a question and answer "Share a Dish" lunch following worship in the Fellowship Hall.

To prepare for our time with the Chetti's, check out info about the Chetti's and the nation where they serve - Lebanon.

Go HERE for a BBC country profile on Lebanon.

Go HERE for the Chetti's online International Ministry page with lots of info about them.

Go HERE for "Link TV" News broadcast from the Middle East - from both Israel and Palestinian sources.

Here's a map of Israel with the Gaza Strip at the bottom and a bit of Lebanon with Beirut at the top. Click on it to enlarge.


- Curtis

WWJHUB?

When people start to think about becoming a Christian, many have a specific fear that God is going to wipe away their unique personality or identity. After all, we tell people "Jesus will make you a whole new person." Or, "You'll be like Christ." What does that mean? What does it look like? Do we really want to totally lose ourselves and become exactly like Jesus -- and is that what it means to be a Christian? Is there nothing good about us that God wants to keep?

These are good questions. And Paul said things like, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me...the old has gone, the new has come."

This week's passage from John 1:43-51 gives us a peek at the "calling" of two relatively unknown apostles, Philip and Nathanael. We don't know a lot about these guys because they are not often mentioned in the rest of the book of John. Early Church history legends say that, after Jesus' death and resurrection, Nate and Phil traveled abroad to share Jesus' good news and were finally killed for their faith. So, chances are they remained followers. But were they exactly like Jesus? Nope.
How then does God work in you and me? Thats' what we'll delve into this week.

You'll also note a theme popping up in the message this week that we'll start developing through Lent and Easter - the Heart. Having a new Heart is at the core of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. No matter how I try to do things right and keep the "rules" of the faith, I can't. I need a change of heart. That's the key for a disciple, I'm convinced. This week I started listening to a daily podcast that's simply some guy with a raspy voice reading the Proverbs. Over and over Proverbs talks about Wisdom, God and having a new Heart. Ezekiel 36:26. More on that later. I hope your new year is off to a meaningful start.
- Curtis

A Walk Instead of a Sermon

The "video sermon" above is 10 minutes. That's closer to what some Cedar Hills Baptist folks would like to hear on Sunday morning. But since we didn't get to worship together today I went for a walk and recorded some thoughts about the birth of Jesus and what it's all about. Or a tiny bit of what it's about.
Also, the song at the end has great lyrics that you were going to see on the screen in worship today. Instead they're here below. It's a song by RelientK which they wrote about CS Lewis' The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe.
I hope we get to worship together for Christmas Eve (6 PM)!

"In Like A Lion (Always Winter)"

It's always nice to look out the window
And see those very first few flakes of snow
And later on we can go outside
And create the impression of an angel that just fell from the sky

When February rolls around I'll roll my eyes
Turn a cold shoulder to these even colder skies
And by the fire my heart it heaves a sigh
For the green grass waiting on the other side

It's always winter but never Christmas
It seems this curse just can't be lifted
Yet in the midst of all this ice and snow
Our hearts stay warm cause they are filled with hope

It'd be so nice to look out the window
And see the leaves on the trees begin to show
The birds would congregate and sing
A song of birth a song of newer things

The wind would calm and the sun would shine
I'd go outside and I'd squint my eyes
But for now I will simply just withdraw
Sit here and wish for this world to thaw

And everything it changed overnight
This dying world you brought it back to life
And deep inside I felt things
Shifting everything was melting
Away oh away
And you gave us the most beautiful of days

Cause when it's always winter but never Christmas
Sometimes it feels like you're not with us
But deep inside our hearts we know
That you are here and we will not lose hope

Joy, Joy, Joy

Christmas Sunday
I feel terribly torn. The kids have been off of school, the snow is falling, and I've got things to do. Not too deep inside this 48 year old corpus of mine is a child raging to get out and play in the snow, sled down the hill, and probably break something. I've indulged that child a couple of times this week, but alas, my kids are now too old to think it's much fun to play with dad. Then there's the problem of what to do about all the plans for church this weekend. I know we'll get the stuff together for the 15 families we're helping through Christmas Boxes of Love. But what about the worship service, the kid's Drama ... Christmas Sunday! Will there be ice, and will the abominable snow man show up and squelch our best plans? Time will tell.

I hope you've had a good week. I doubt it's been overly productive and perhaps that's good. This week, the coldest spell we've seen here in Beaverton in 30 years, is a good time to take care of what's needed, but then to just be a kid. That's my take on it. I hope we can gather for worship this Sunday. I hope you make time to help pack Boxes of Love on Saturday morning and deliver them Saturday or Sunday (we DO still need several people who want to deliver and this is the most fun you will have this week, I guarantee you). But even if the snow and ice descend, make sure to stop, look up into the sky with flakes falling, and thank God for this life, for his goodness, for sending Jesus into our world long, long ago.

Making a Way

Isaiah 40:1-11
It's supposed to be easy for me. I'm a pastor, after all. It's what we do, right - talk to people about God; help people to discover that God is real and present for them. And sometimes it is easier.
I remember a Christmas party many years ago, that we attended for Ana's work in San Francisco. One of Ana's co-workers came up to me and said, "You're in the ministry right?" "Yes," I replied. "Well, I have a lot of questions about Jeremiah. I've never read the bible before, but I started reading Jeremiah, and I don't get it. Explain it to me." And so, right there in the middle of Christmas cheer, we had an hour long discussion about Jeremiah - not one of the simplest books to begin with, but that's where she was. If it were a scene from a movie, this story would end with a group of people gathering around while I waxed eloquently with deep wisdom from the scriptures and charming humor. No movie ending here. She asked lots of questions, some of which stumped me, and anyone that happened to listen in for a few minutes would wander quietly off. But this woman was truly hungry for God.
It doesn't often happen like that, especially at events where people don't know what I do. Normally it goes something like this...
(New acquaintance): "What do you do for a living?"
(Me): "I'm the pastor of a church."
(NA): "Oh."
Sudden awkward silence as the new acquaintance works through confusion about what "pastor" means, fear of impending spiritual attack, and sudden self-consciousness of the drink they are holding.
Such interactions used to bother me. I felt like a spiritual leper. But now I see them as an enjoyable challenge. What can I do to break through the pastor's stereotype and strike up a conversation? What I've found is that most people will bring the talk back to something about God if they find that I'm not going to pounce on them. They really do want to know about godly things, they just don't want to be assaulted.
Perhaps you experience the same sort of thing when people find out you are a Christian, or that you go to church. This week's passage in Isaiah 40 was the one that Luke interpreted as talking about John the Baptist's work to prepare people for Jesus' arrival. John the B was sent to "prepare the way" for the Messiah. This Sunday we'll look at how these old words might apply to our relationships with others - how we can level things out for people to know God. We'll talk about what Isaiah says, what John the B did, and how that might look in our lives today.
- Curtis

Thanks With a Purpose

Ephesians 1:15-23
Unemployment up.
Banks going down.
Fear that this is only the beginning.
At first glance this seems like a time when people don't have as much to give thanks for. I think, though, the opposite is true. When we have less stuff, our thanksgiving comes from a deeper place. We remember that stuff is worthless compared to people. A deposit of self into a true friendship is infinitely safer than a checking account. Eternal deposits are never limited to money.
Maybe Jesus was onto something when he said, "Don't store up treasures on earth where the Dow can sink 46% in eleven months, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven..." (my paraphrase). And maybe Paul was also on target by beginning almost every letter he ever wrote with a prayer of thanks - often for people, even pain in the butt people, for whom God had given him responsibility. Imagine how our relationships would change if, each time we were about to complain about someone, we first gave thanks for that person.

Hmm, I might just try that.

Well, that's not really the exact direction the sermon is heading this week, but what else is new?
My beautiful oldest daughter is coming home from college tonight for the Thanksgiving break and I'm excited to see her and find out how she's changed since going away for school. Time to make an investment. - Curtis

Those Who Have Hope

Click the "play button" for Left Behind promo...

1 Thessalonians 4

A few years back (1995), the first book in the series, Left Behind, was published. They sold about a gazillion books. I don't remember how many there were (14?), but I read two or three to see what all of the stir was about. The books focused on "the rapture." All the Christians in the world were beamed up to heaven in a flash, leaving a bunch of poor saps wandering around on earth with the Antichrist. I enjoyed the first book as titillating, if not well-written, fiction. At the end of the 2nd one I started to feel sick. I fizzled out somewhere in the third book, I think. What bugged me was that the characters were all narcissists.

You really can't blame God for leaving them behind.

Beyond that, I began to realize that I was getting sucked into the shallow theology. "Could this stuff be right?? Hmmm." It is a theology that looks joyfully forward to the evil decay of our world. Even though the books are written as fiction, they invite the reader to start viewing the world from a fatalistic place - but with a great, gleeful, "I know a secret that you don't know" perspective. As if the best way to view our world is, "Wars? Global warming? Terrorism? Hunger & hate? GREAT! Bring it on! Then Jesus will come! Niener, Neiner!" It's all very exciting and sells books.

It also teaches people bad theology.

Think I'm exaggerating? Check out the video at the top of this post, from a recent promo site for the book - (or click here - there's a second "episode" too).
The authors are also writing a new slew of books as well. I think they could accurately be labeled, "fictoprohecy."

Is this the best we Christians can do with the world in it's current shape? More importantly, is that what our Bible teaches us? Hardly. What happened to "salt & light?" Yet this very letter we are studying this week, 1 Thessalonians (4:13-5:11), is one that rapturists point to and say, "Look here - see??!"

I think we miss the point of most passages that talk about Jesus' return (and where did we ever get the phrase "2nd Coming" - he already came back a few times after the resurrection - so we have to be looking at at least his 7th coming by now). Jesus and Paul both seem to focus on how to live now, not when Christ will return or how we should be freaking out with glee when things get bad. And the Bible speaks of Jesus' return, not mainly in terms of destruction, but as a grand re-creation and restoration. Yes, evil will be wiped out at last. Justice will be done. There will be a judgment. And all things will be made right. Finally. But when it comes and what it looks like -who knows?

The words of all the OT prophets, of Jesus, Paul and John all point in one direction: Turn to God now while there is time; live justly; be ready; forgive; remember God is in control; share the Gospel; love God and one another.
We are to be a people who live with hope in a physical resurrection. - Curtis

American Idols

What would it be like if we really handled things the way the Old Testament tells us to? Take idols for instance - anything that becomes a god for us instead of The God. We live in a pluralistic society where people worship all sorts of things and come from all kinds of faith traditions. Most of us have family members, perhaps under our own roof, who don't share our Christian faith. Should we follow the Old Testament law about how to deal with them? Deuteronomy 13:6-11 gives this guidance:

If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.

Ouch! Today that would mean 25 million teens and tweens who watch a tired American Idol would be stoned in ways they aren't already!
Most of us prefer, "Love your neighbor" and we hope people from other faiths do too.
The truth is, there's a lot of historical and cultural context that must be understood when reading passages like that. But perhaps the core truth we can still take away is that God takes our worship, love and service of him VERY seriously. Nothing else is to get in the way. And yet, all too often, everything else gets in the way. Idols abound, especially in the land of plenty. In times of economic trouble, one of the big blessings that might come is a return to God as God. Having the plenty stripped away, even in part, leads to a potential revelation of what idols we have been serving - and who God really is. - Curtis

Simple Greatness

Matthew 23

If anyone ever tells you that the Jesus of the Bible is too mamby-pamby for their liking, have them read Matthew 23. There Jesus lays into the Pharisees, a very pious and dedicated religious group, more than he ever nailed any other group. He calls them "white-washed tombs...hyprocrites (6 times)...blind guides...a brood of vipers." This isn't the same guy who's having PBJ's with little American kids on my children's bible, is it? It's revealing that Jesus saved his harshest words, not for those who were far from God, but those who seemed to be the closest - religious people.

What might that say to us? What do you suppose Jesus would say about the ways we seek to follow God? What sorts of holy habits do we have that would irk him? We'll discuss how Jesus' warnings to the Pharisees can help us to have a more genuine faith that impacts our community and world.
Remember to VOTE!
- Curtis

Deposits Insured

Psalm 90
You remember Chicken Little. Stupid chicken. She thought the sky was falling because an acorn fell on her head. She convinces every other critter she knows that the sky is falling and they all go to tell the King who, apparently, they think is too dumb to notice the imminent end of the world himself. Foxy Woxy (or Loxy, depending on the version of the story) comes along and nearly eats all of them (a metaphor for corporate takeover?). I sort of wish he had eaten CL. A tasty little fried chicken nugget. Is that wrong?

Well, anyway... it's more than an acorn that's been falling lately in the world economy. It has hit everyone and there is a sense that this might just be the beginning. A family member lost their home in California already. I have a friend who is on the verge of losing his formerly very successful business. He's laid off all of his employees, cut his own pay to bare-bones, and brought his daughter home from OSU to attend PSU and work to contribute to the family. In our neighborhood we've seen the calls for help with utility bills and rent go from one every couple of weeks to almost daily now.

Is the sky falling? Who knows. But a bit of perspective is in order. Most of us still have jobs, homes, cars, toasters and pop-tarts. Maybe even 401Ks and nest-eggs, though they've become significantly smaller. The truth is, we've lost some our abundance, while others are losing much more. [How rich are you? Find out here] We don't yet have a clear idea of how a global downturn will impact poor nations who rely on the American economic engine, money sent back to home countries, and richer governments who cease to provide aid and debt forgiveness.

So what's our response as Christians? Do we hunker down and protect? Do we look for ways to help? Do we temper our generosity with caution? I assume we help those who need help. Responsibly, of course. But what I've noticed just this month is that people who are hurting are not only looking for tangible help, they're looking for someone who will simply listen to them. I confess I don't always want to listen; I grow callous and suspicious; I wonder if I'm being manipulated; I ... have to stop and pray. Pray for wisdom, for the mind of Christ, and the compassion of Jesus. Then I can start to respond constructively.
How about it? What can we do for each other, for those who need our support and help? I don't think the sky is falling, but there aren't as many acorns on the tree as there used to be. That might be a good thing in the long run.
Check out this site - Mustard Seed Associates - for some creative ideas others have come up with.
- Curtis