Wandering Elder

I have been offering a series of sermons at the church I serve during the month of October utilizing the theme of monsters and what they represent.  I offered a similar set of sermons about four years ago at a previous church.  This time I re-wrote two of those old sermons and added two new ones.  One that I didn't go back and re-work was the one on Werewolves.   As Halloween is closing in, here is the text of that sermon from October of 2011 entitled "The Shadow Knows" taken from Romans 7:15-25 which reads as follows: 15  For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.   16  Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.   17  So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.   18  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to ...

It has been a few weeks since I wrote, dear readers (all three of you).  That has to do more with the fact that I wanted to really get my thoughts together for this one, because it started with a letter I received in the mail a few weeks ago. It was a letter from  a nearby Baptist church inviting me to a “dramatic presentation of the Gospel.”  It then went on to give the title of the presentation, “Heaven’s Gates and Hell’s Flames.” Hmm.   Sounds less like the gospel and more like a scare tactic along the lines of the infamous ‘judgment houses’ that have taken to replace haunted houses and fall festivals in many conservative churches.  So I read on. “’Heaven’s Gates and Hell’s Flames’ is very similar to a ‘Judgment House’ presentation that many youth groups attend during the fall season.” Ahh.  It is a judgment house.  Apparently it  isn't  because instead of moving from room to room, the visitors sit in once place an...

I find myself in a situation of question, which might mean a situation of crisis.  I have been pondering what constitutes a "true" faith.  Mostly because in our struggle with extremist groups, we find that there are a whole lot of people who claim to be the  spokespersons for particular faiths.   I have to wonder if any of them actually are.  Sure, they all believe  themselves to be, but who can say?  I have been one who is not sold on the idea of denominations, mostly because I can't say that one has it all right or another is all wrong.  I the question and/or crisis comes from the fact that in these musings, I have to begin by acknowledging that I   am actually part of a denomination.   And that denomination has rules to govern itself by.   Rules as to what we believe and why.   Herein lies the problem.   Is that “rulebook” based on an understanding of scripture, or has that rulebook become the lens through whi...

I find that in the last few months as I have begun work at a new church setting that there have been moments where I have found myself thinking, "I know you."  The issue at hand is, I don't . At least, I don't know the congregation well enough to feel like I know them as I have parishes that I have served for several years.  So what's the deal? It seems to me that, for whatever reason, this church congregation has me thinking of past parishioners.  More to the point, they have me thinking of attributes  and behaviors  of past parishioners.  For example, as I was talking with one particular person a few weeks ago, I found that I kept thinking about a parishioner from a church I served 4 years ago.  In reflecting on why that past parishioner kept coming to mind, I realized that they share many of the same inflections of voice, the same demeanor, and attitudes. What is surprising to me is just how often this seems to be happening here.  It is a...

With the continued coverage of the ISIS issues, I find myself hearing over and over again that people will defend their actions (atrocious as they are) over and over again by saying, "But they bring us food, they provide electricity, they keep us safe."  They do manage to do that, but they do it in much the same way an abusive person keeps their spouse and/or family in check.  They do  provide and, from time to time, can be kind and seemingly gentle folks. However, they keep their spouse so worked up by already having demonstrated a penchant for abuse (physical, emotional, etc.) that the spouse never knows what the next trigger will be or when the next battering will take place.  So ISIS may  provide in ways the government couldn't, but they do so through corruption, intimidation, and fear and then what they provide is seen as a blessing and the praises are high because to suggest a differing opinion is to risk life and limb. The question becomes with what w...

Two weeks ago, I offered a sermon on the idea of God being love and that Christians are to bear witness to that love through our actions.  After the service, I was approached by several different people who asked how we respond in particular to persons such as the members of the Islamic State (or ISIS), terrorists, or others that we find ourselves truly despising. Here is my response.  It doesn't answer it all, and there was plenty more I would like to have said, but in the context of a sermon and given particular time constraints, this was what I offered. Evil. Evil is a strange, versatile and dangerous word that can describe atrocities or cause them.  Evil, like art, is something we often believe we would know when it was seen.  But evil is an amorphous, shadowy idea that rarely manifests itself in obvious ways.  When it does, it comes to us in forms so horrific, so vile, that we wonder how we missed it. We miss it because we think of evil in ex...

It is in the early hours of the morning that I write.  The flashlight has illumined my steps to the room with the computer, and I find that if I dwell too long on any of the concerns of my life they seem insurmountable.  The problems of the world are more than I bear to consider - the darkness of poor decisions rests like a millstone around my neck; poor decisions of my own and poor decisions of others.  Problems that are not of my making and not of my choosing surround my like a thorn bush, threatening to prick, slice, cut or gouge me should I try to move. The ticking of the clock becomes an all too clear reminder of mortality: it passes too fast the older you become and the more you appreciate it.  Youth is  wasted on the young, but only the recklessness of youth can bring the maturity and understanding of the importance of life and life lived well or the sadness of recognition of life misspent.  Maturity comes at a high cost.  The Apostle Paul men...