Engaging Scripture

The “D” Word

I hate the “D” word.

I also hate the “A” word.

They are very similar, and they are both painful.

Discipline and Accountability.

(Those are the words you thought I was talking about, right?)

This week as we continue our study of 1st Corinthians, Paul continues confronting the Christians in the church of Corinth. Interestingly, the Lenten Compact intersects with the sermon.

Paul has heard about a pretty dicy situation going on in the church. The situation is racy enough that we decided, even though this is the 5th Sunday of the month and they are supposed to stay in the sanctuary for the sermon, we are dismissing the elementary kids to their normal teaching time. You can preview it if you want. Just read 1 Corinthians 5.

Paul is bold in his response to the situation. It raises all sorts of questions about church discipline, accountability, excommunication. We live in a community where shunning is very much a part of regular conversation because of the Amish. In fact, the Amish use this passage as a basis for how they practice shunning, when they refuse to eat with someone shunned. Maybe you have been privvy to the creative ways they get around this, like saying a shunned member of their church can’t eat at the main table, but can eat at an extension of the table. Sound legalistic?

So how do we practice church discipline and hold each other accountable in a healthy way, in a loving way, in a way that is restorative and faithful to God? As the Lenten Compact devotional suggests, we’re going to have to see what was the potential end of the story in 2 Corinthians 2. Join us!

Spiritual Gifts, Grief Class, Running, 80th Birthday Concert – The Monday Messy Office Report – March 24, 2014

My Friday, tidy office is mysteriously messy by Monday. Here’s what I found today:

1. Spiritual Gifts Tests and a note about a Grief class – I wonder how many of you have taken one a spiritual gifts tests before? You answer some questions, tally up the answers, and voila, you now know how God has uniquely gifted you. Or maybe not. It’s just not that simple. Last week, I was doing some searching online for spiritual gifts tests, and I printed a couple to evaluate. The reason is that the church is having elective classes during the month of April, and I am teaching one about spiritual gifts. I was thinking about looking at the various biblical passages that talk about gifts, but since we’re going to cover that, at least partially, in the 1st Corinthians series later this year, I decided to go a different direction. PLACE Ministries has a very unique, holistic approach to evaluating spiritual giftedness. Each letter of the acronym PLACE stands for an element of who we are as persons: Personality Discovery, Learning Spiritual Gifts, Abilities Awareness, Connecting Passion with Ministry, and Experiences of Life. I think it is going to be a wonderful study. We also have some great other elective classes you can join: a Grief discussion group (which is what the note was about…a planted note, I think!…just to see if it got mentioned in this Monday Messy Office Report???), a video series on the Apostles Creed, and the Multiply Movement.

2. Concert posters – A long-time member of our congregation is turning 80, and instead of celebrating with a party all about her, she decided to have a birthday concert to glorify the Lord! Pretty cool, huh? You’re all invited. On April 12, 2pm, join us at Faith Church for a concert by Brenten MeGee, a Lancaster Bible College music student, as he sings some of the great hymns of the faith. I put up the posters around the church. You may love hymns, but you also might not, which is okay. How about coming to the concert to express support for someone turning 80 who just wants to praise the Lord!

3. Race bib – I wore bib #388 on Saturday at the Buckskin Breakout 5K. Since the spring of 2010 I have been running races, almost all of which have included people from the church. The Buckskin Breakout was no different as my son and a close friend from church ran together. My son beat me! So did my friend, Brandon. We have run countless 5Ks, a half marathon, and two marathons. If you told me five years ago that I would be doing all that running, I would have laughed. Here’s the story of how it all got started. I keep all my race bibs in a file in my office. On the back of each one, I write the date and time. I have two more 5Ks in the next two months, then training begins for the Bird-in-Hand Half Marathon, September 6th, the date of my 40th birthday!

Now it’s time for me to clean up!

Ssshhhhhh! It’s Silent Sunday

For the last couple years we’ve taken one Sunday to worship in near total silence. Aren’t we supposed to erupt in praise to our Savior? Don’t the Psalms remind us to celebrate our Lord in song, with instruments, and loudly?

Yes and yes!

So why would we want silence?

51 out of 52 Sundays we worship the Lord with many different kinds of sounds. Musical instruments, voices in song, the spoken word. We love to get loud!

But on this one Sunday, we worship in silence. In our noisy culture, silence is hard to come by. As I was typing this, it struck me that my iTunes wasn’t playing music. I had paused it while making a phone call a few minutes ago, and forgot to turn it back on. Something didn’t feel right! It was too quiet. I needed music. So I hit the play button, and the tunes are back.

Notice something wrong with that? Do I really need music? Music is probably not the issue. Music is an amazing, wonderful thing on so many levels. What felt amiss was not the lack of music, but instead the quietness, the lack of background noise. When I’m driving in the car I don’t feel right if I’m not listening to something on the stereo. What is missing? Have we become so accustomed to noise in our lives that we have become emotionally dependent on it? Is it possible that this noise may be filtering out the important elements of silence?

Consider the following:

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.” (Psalm 62:5)

“But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” (Habakkuk 2:20)

“Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still.” (Psalm 4:4)

“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15)

“[Elijah] went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him… a gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19:9, 12)

“Because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, [Jesus] said to [his disciples], ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.” (Mark 6:31-32)

When we give ourselves to silence, we listen for the voice of God. Our world is so noisy, his is a voice we rarely hear. So on Silent Sunday, we enter into the silence, we do battle with the unease our bodies feel as they crave noise, and we restrain ourselves that we might hear the Lord.

Here’s a great article with a lot more info about the importance of silence and solitude. Dallas Willard says “we should approach the practice of silence in a prayerful, experimental attitude, confident that we shall be led into its right use for us. It is a powerful and essential discipline. Only silence will allow us life-transforming concentration upon God. It allows us to hear the gentle God whose only Son “shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice above the street noise” (Matthew 12:19).” (The Spirit of the Disciplines, 164)

This year Silent Sunday will be different from previous years. As with previous years it will not be 100% silent, but will include a few calm, audible elements. Will you join us at Faith Church on 9:30 am for Silent Sunday?

Those of you who have experienced a previous Silent Sunday, perhaps you’ll leave a comment about how it has been meaningful to you. What advice do you have to share about how to push aside distraction and enter the silence to hear from the Lord?

WWJD, HDYKWJWDIYDKWJD…or WWPD? – 1 Corinthians 4:6-21

Know what all those letters refer to?

What would Jesus do?

But How do you know what Jesus would do if you don’t know what Jesus did?

Is it as easy as just reading about him in the Bible? That’s a good start, but in our next section of 1st Corinthians, perhaps Paul is saying that we need something more.

We need WWPD. What Would Paul Do?

Credit Card Statement, Thank you note, Check, Letter from England – The Monday Messy Office Report – March 17, 2014

My Friday, tidy office is mysteriously messy by Monday. Here’s what I found today:

1. Credit Card Statement – This came in the mail over the weekend. Four of us staff have church credit cards, and we use them for church ministry expenses. When we make a purchase, we keep the receipts, so that when the statement arrives, we attach the receipts to the statements, matching each purchase with a line item in the church budget. Then we give the statement to the church treasurer, and he pays the bill. Each month as I’m stapling receipts to the statement and scouring the church budget to find the correct line item, I think “Is the church a business or a ministry? Or both?” I’ll admit that I’m not a big fan of the business side of the church. I can spend a lot of time doing paperwork, financial reporting, and the like. I hear people say things like “it’s a necessary part of the church these days.” But is it? I’d be interested in your thoughts.

2. Thank you note – A family that lives in our church’s immediate community had a tragic accident a few months ago. One of our Faith Church families is very close long-time friends with the community family. So the family from our church suggested that the church take up an offering to help with aftermath of the accident. It was an awesome idea, and I’m so proud our Church Council approved it and that our Family of Faith Church responded generously. The community family wrote this in a thank-you card that came in the mail over the weekend: “We cannot thank you enough for the wonderful gift you have given us during this difficult time. It is much needed and greatly appreciated. All of the help and support we have received from not only family and friends but from people such as yourselves who do not even know us has restored our faith in humanity and reassured us that the Lord is constantly working in our lives, even at the most trying and desperate times.” Awesome!

3. Check from sign language class – One of our Family of Faith teaches sign language classes at the church, and she dropped off a check to pay for building use. It reminded me that we have so many groups using our church, and I’m thankful the church is willing to let the building bless people that way. The church is not a building. It is the people who are the church. But our building is a gift from God, a gift that many people over the years have given lots of time and energy and money to build and maintain. So we see our building as a tool through which God can show love to the community. We try to offer the building to groups either free or at a minimal charge. In addition to sign language class, we have martial arts classes, a drama ministry, ballroom dance, Girl Scouts, and an Ethiopian church using our building every week. Many other groups use the church here and there for one-time events throughout the year.

4. Letter from England – This one came in the mail too. A prisoner incarcerated in England wrote me wanting to know more about the Amish. The funny thing is that he seems to think that I am Amish. I kid you not. I have no idea how he found out about me or why he thinks I’m Amish, except that visitors sometimes assume that about us Lancastrians. I wonder if he found my accident story online? I plan on writing him back. We’ll see where this goes…

Now it’s time for me to clean up!

HDYKWJWDIYDKWJD?

Who do you act like?

Would you say there is someone that you are trying to be like?

Jesus? That’s always a safe answer.

Remember that phrase WWJD? What Would Jesus Do? In the last twenty years it has undergone many adaptations, including What Would Jesus Drive? and recently What Would Jesus Bake? I did an image search of WWJD, and it is hilarious. There is “What wouldn’t Jesus do?” “What would Jesus do for a Klondike bar?” and the more serious “What would Jesus hate?” Go ahead and Google “What What Jesus Do” and see the millions of results. You’ll find books, a movie, of course bracelets, loads of t-shirts and more. Here is one of my favorite pictures:

What Would Jesus Do. .. Well the bible does allow 'righteous anger' - getting angry for a good reason.

For me years ago, WWJD as a concept sounded good. Basically the idea was that if we are trying to be like Jesus, we just ask ourselves in any situation “What Would Jesus Do?”, come up with the answer, and then do it. Here are a couple examples:

You’re angry at your favorite sports team for bombing a game, you want to curse at the TV? What would Jesus do?

You feel a little hungry before bed time, and you know that extra piece of pie would taste so good. You pat your growing waistline, and wonder “What would Jesus do?”

Your car has been acting up for months. You see a cool car commercial, and you think how good it would feel behind the wheel of a new one. What would Jesus do?

Sometimes it is hard to know what Jesus would do. He was never married, never had to deal with the internet, and was only 33 years old or thereabouts when he died. How in the world are we supposed to know what we he would do all the time? It’s a good question, I think, and one that is not easy to answer. But in our next sermon in the 1st Corinthians series, Paul talks about WWJD, and how to know just what it is Jesus would do. Kinda. Okay, he doesn’t mention WWJD at all, but I think you’ll see why I brought it up. Brace yourselves. Paul is done playing nice, and with this section of 1st Corinthians, he gets fired up. You actually might not be all that happy with Paul when you read this. I know I was thinking “Whoa…is he allowed to talk like that?” WWJD? Would Jesus talk like that?

See for yourselves: 1 Corinthians 4:6-21

Stewards of God’s Mysteries – 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Miss this past Sunday’s sermon? Phil walked us through 1st Corinthians 4:1-5, and we learned what it means to steward God’s mysteries. Sound curious? Find a quiet place, turn to 1 Corinthians 4 in your Bible, and ask the Lord to speak you. Remember 1 Corinthians 2:12? “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given.” Ask the Spirit to help you understand God’s word and it to your life.

Fasting for Freedom – The Monday Messy Office report…on Tuesday…again – March 11, 2014

Truth be told, my office didn’t get very messy over the weekend. I have to admit that I was a bit bummed about that because I like being surprised when I when in here on Monday mornings. And I’ve enjoyed telling you about what I find.

But this week there were no surprises. Just the regular stuff, like the reports and mail.

The one exception to that is my copies of the 2014 Lenten Compact devotions. Each year for the past five years Faith Church has joined with our brothers and sisters at Kimball Avenue Church in Chicago for a Compact. What is a compact? Here is a brief description from this year’s edition:

A compact is a covenantal agreement among a group of people. Those who voluntarily enter a compact bind themselves to a set of guidelines and standards for the purpose of accomplishing personal and corporate goals.

Lent is time of fasting, so during Lent we agree together to fast for a purpose, and it is Isaiah 58 where we learn about one of God’s main purposes for calling his people to a fast:

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”

I would encourage you to take a look at the entire compact and consider joining us. This year we are specifically learning about what it means to loose the chains of injustice for the millions who are incarcerated in our nation’s prisons. We are talking about a distinctly Christian response to unjust incarceration, mercy for prisoners, hoping to open our eyes to their plight. But if you do the crime, you should do the time, right? Perhaps there is a lot more to it than what it might seem. For instance, have you heard about Kids for Cash, a scandal that happened right here in Pennsylvania where a corrupt judge unlawfully sent 3000 kids to jail. Interestingly the judge was paid millions for this. Sadly there are many more instances of corruption in our justice system.

Will you join us in learning more? If Jesus said that he came to set the prisoners free, we would do well to give time for serious consideration of the issues.

Also, anyone can participate in the online discussion of the compact’s daily devotions at the Lenten Compact blog site. We’ve been having a wonderful time hearing from one another. May this Lent be a very meaningful time for you of learning about God’s heart for the oppressed and what we can do to help set them free.

What do you do when a leader messes up?

People talk about leaders a lot. We love to evaluate them and discuss how good, or how bad they are. They are more public, and so when they mess up, the mess up is usually known to a lot of people. Today’s new is filled with President Obama’s slip-up on an Aretha Franklin song. Tomorrow’s news might be a slip-up that is far more consequential, like the recent antics of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. How do you talk about your leaders? Do you judge them? Gossip about them? Encourage them? Support them? And what should we do when leaders do screw up? Clearly they most certainly will make mistakes, and sometimes big ones. How should we respond? Turn a blind eye? Tell someone else about it?

What would love do?

Join us on Sunday to learn what Paul has to say about this. This week Phil Bartelt will take us into chapter four of our study of 1st Corinthians. Take a moment to read 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 to get reading for Phil’s teaching. Let’s just say that what we have studied so far in chapters 1-3 has been the calm before the storm. It’s about to get wild.

USB Flash Drive, Employee Salary Audit – The Monday Messy Office Report – March 3, 2014

My Friday, tidy office is mysteriously messy by Monday. Here’s what I found today:

1. A USB Flash Drive. A nice one too. 32GB. But truth be told, I know why it is here because I put it here. Kinda. I did receive it from someone yesterday, and I put it in my office for safekeeping. We’re having another Family Night on Wednesday, and after the meal, a lady from Faith Church, Terry, will be talking about her recent trip to Boone, North Carolina where she and a couple friends served with Operation Christmas Child (OCC) at their distribution center. One of those friends made a PowerPoint that we’re going to show on Wednesday, and she loaded it onto the flash drive. Are you familiar with OCC? You know the shoeboxes that a lot of churches fill for children in need around the world? That’s Operation Christmas Child. Do you know what happens to all those boxes? Maybe you filled one last year? I’m excited to hear what happens when the shoeboxes leave the church. Terry has told me a bit of the story, and it is amazing, especially the part about the impact shoeboxes, filled with love, can make in the lives of kids around the world. How about joining us Wednesday night to learn more?

2. Employee Salary Audit. Booooooooooring. I really wrestle with the business elements of being a church in our era. This audit is a form that our denomination asks us to fill out each year. It’s not that complicated, really. We just have to write down the list of everyone we paid salary to this year and how much. Frankly, the business side of the church doesn’t interest me all that much. I have a hard time caring why my denomination would want to know that, but I trust them that there is a good reason. Thankfully, I don’t have to fill out that paper. We have dedicated volunteers that are much more talented at managing the finances of the church than I am. I praise the Lord for the way he has gifted people in different ways, such as having a business or financial mind. What scares me, though, is when the church is so business-oriented that we can be side-tracked from the mission of God’s Kingdom.

3. Mail. I have a couple pieces of Saturday’s mail sitting on my counter: a packet from International Christian Concern (ICC), and a newsletter from Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF). Lots of acronyms today. ICC is an org that documents the persecution of Christians around the world. Many of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the globe face hardship and personal violence that no one, no matter what they believe, should face. It is hard for me to read ICC’s publications sometimes because the stories are so painful. We need to remember, pray for, and advocate on behalf our our persecuted brothers and sisters. CEF is the group that gives oversight to Good News Clubs (GNC) in elementary schools around the county. We have a great group of volunteers that run the GNC in our local elementary school, Smoketown. In fact GNC for spring 2014 starts today! It is a great way to reach out to kids in our community, and we are quite thankful for the generosity of our school district to allow us to meet after school in Smoketown’s large group room.

Now it’s time for me to clean up!