Bethel UMC Celebrate 100 years of ministry

Here is an article I wrote for the centenial celebrate of the church of my childhood. I will try to find a picture of the building or the people of Bethel and post it here soon....



The rich heritage of Bethel continues to bear fruit in my life and ministry. There are so many ways that this is true that it is hard to choose merely one to write about.

I was baptized as an infant and entered confirmation class when I was in the 5th grade. Bethel was at that time in the planning and building phase of the current facility. I have vivid memories of that old building. I even remember having worship services in that old chapel. Rev. Brooks Ambose was the pastor at the time and taught confirmation class. I remember that the class met every week throughout Lent. Rev. Ambose insisted that our class learn and understand the meaning behind the seasons of the Christian year. He emphasized observing Lent with serious spiritual disciplines: fasting, confessing, and praying. It may seem a little ridiculous to emphasize these things with 5th graders who are going through the most narcissistic phase of life. At the time, I remember having a myriad of feelings about it. On one hand, I’m certain that I rolled my eyes and said something like: “why do we have to learn this?” Yet, on the other hand, the different symbols and colors and even the Latin words that were hard to pronounce and a bit silly fascinated me. In order to be confirmed in the church, as a final rite of passage into church membership, our whole class observed a 12 hour fast. The evening after Good Friday service our class had a lock in and it was clear that it would not be a “party” but an evening of scripture reading and silence. It was a modified fast and we were allowed to eat a few simple things, a couple crackers and a few grapes. We drank water. It was a powerful time for me. In those hours, I really did contemplate Jesus death on the cross and the great love that it displays.

There are two ways that this experience shaped who I am. First, it planted in me a hunger for God. The rich symbols and traditions of the church invite us into a larger reality than we can contain in our individual lives. They remind us that we are invited into God’s kingdom and that that kingdom transcends our small worlds. Celebrating the differing seasons of the Christian year reminds us that God is in charge. The rhythms of these different seasons reflect God’s greater work. They give us markers along the way in our effort to follow Jesus.

I am so grateful for that seed that was planted. Yet, I am even more grateful that in and through this confirmation class, I learned that tradition is important but it is not really the main thing. All of these “traditions” are not the main thing; they simply point us to the main thing. “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.” (John 3:16)

Kite Runner

This book blew me away. It is a powerful story. The action is narrated through the main character Imir Jan. The invitation that he hears over the phone immediately drew me in: "there is a way to be good again." What an awesome journey it recounts! Isn't there a common desire running through all human life...goodness, beauty, and hope?

You absolutely MUST read this!

MLB and Church- Makings of something Great

We quickly learned that in Southern Illinois people "have" to be Cardinal fans. Yet, one 94 year old woman in my congregation is a die-hard Cubs fan. I suppose no one challenges her because of her advanced years and dedication. No one tries to convince her any more that the Cubs are not going to ever win. (notice that they ARE in first place in their division and currently ahead of the Cards by one game)

As I have been musing about change and how difficult it is for all humans, I wonder if there is a lesson for the church to learn from MLB teams. For instance, the Cards are not doing all that well and some of the sports guys say that it is due to them having so many new(er) players. Perhaps, in spite of their emmense talent, they do not seem to have it all togather....the line up isn't right, the pitching is not all that consistant, they constantly leave lots of runners on base, etc... They are going through a rough adjustment period. They have what it takes to be a great team, they just need more team work and trust in order to make it happen.

Change in the church is often so very difficult. Here at Parkview, they have changed pastors. Other "players" have also changed. The adjustment period is no where near over and yet there is that same unsettleness that I sense with the Cards. In one sense, we have all the makings of a great church, yet, the pieces are not all working in synch yet and the team is not sure how to best work together. The trust that it takes to be a great church is not present.

Impatiently, I resonate with the Psalmist: "How long, O God" ...."search us, O God"

I am hopeful even in the midst of slumps, especially in churches because I know that if the Holy Spirit is calling us and empowering us....anything is possible, even the impossible! For instance: bitterness and grudges can be forgiven, cold hearts can be replaced with compassionate ones, and those who once exchanged hurtful words can shake hands and embrace one another. I know this can happen because I have seen it with my own eyes. I believe God wants to do this kind of miraculous work in our church and I am praying that it be sooner rather than later.

The Cubs have not won the World Series since 1908 and they still have many loyal fans. Like Dan Daley says "Being a Cubs fan has taught me a lot about church reform; for example, any church can have a bad century now and then."

A century is a long to to wait!

Flowers and Roots

These petunias are part of an enormous hanging basket that I bought from a greenhouse owned by a Mennonite family near St. Paul, Illinois. Yesterday, I spent four hours driving some rural roads of Fayette County. Most of these roads are paved (sort of). For example, the road from 51 through St. Peter onto Farina is Fayette County road #23, but it is most often called "St. Peter blacktop." The road goes through Augsburg which used to be a township but is now simply an intersection, church, and cemetery. There were some folks buried in the cemetery in 1918....born 1862, died 1918! Most of these were impossible even to read and pronounce due to my ignorance of things German or Dutch. One family name there was "Ludwig," and some others with "wig" or "wick" on the end. Clearly some of these families have had people buried there spanning three centuries. This kind of thing is incomprehensible to me, being a sojourner as I am. Think about it: the simple, plain clothed young lady who helped me with my flowers can probably tell me the names of her great-great-great grandparents who fist settled that land. She probably sat by the fire while some older saints in their community talked about their roots and how important it is to stay connected to God, family, and the earth. She will be encouraged to marry within that community and her skills at tending flowers and helping customers at the greenhouse will bring smiles to many faces as it did to mine. She may even still speak her ancestors native tongue. Her life is so much different than mine, but I do not pity her. If anything, I am a bit envious of deep roots like that. Perhaps, envious is not exactly the right word. It could be simply this longing that I have to be connected to something-Someone that is bigger and grander than little ol' me.

Can I be a fan of two MLB teams?

"Have you become a Cardinals fan yet?" my neighbor Mike says to me today. My response is "yeah, I'm working that direction." Then I added, "Must say, though, if you are the type that thinks you cannot like two MLB teams....that you MUST choose a favorite, then I don't know what to tell you. Cause if somehow, the Royals made it to the world series against the Cardinals, then I hate to say that I would have to cheer for the Royals."

What are your thoughts on the matter? Is cheering for MLB teams and loyalty tight? Must it be?! Must I have only ONE favorite?

Scripture says: "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other,; you will devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." (Matthew 6:24) So our first and foremost loyalty is to God....and that, in my perspective is clear. But what is not clear is loyalty to just ONE MLB team....Can I love both the Royals and the Cardinals?

(by the way, this photo was taken on my camera phone the first game I went to at Busch Stadium, by the way, they are now calling it "Baseball Heaven!" All I have to say is "O MY!"

Anniversaries

It has been just about a year since we left Kansas City. That house we still own has not sold. It's overwhelming how different life is now. I re-read my posts from around this time last year and remembered how it felt to leave without any idea where we would land.

"Land" is an interesting way to say it. Land is not all that valuable in the city. Our house has become impossible to sell in the last year. There are many reasons for this. One primary reason is that the neighborhood has a bad reputation for being infested with drugs and violence. The real estate market is depressed.

Truly, people in the city are not as connected with "land" as people in rural areas. Around here there is a great appreciation for land. The winter wheat is very green. It's awesome! Since there has been so much rain, most corn fields have not been planted.

Land represents livelihood here. And now that I think about our journey from a place that is the picture of change and chaos to a place that is stable, I wonder if I will ever feel any kind of connection to this place. I think I have definitely landed here, yet I still feel like I am not at home.

So much has changed, yet not so much really. It is still a life of faith that I live with or without a piece of land..."Your statues have been my songs wherever I make my home." (NRSV).... "I set your instructions to music and sing them as I walk this pilgrim way." (the Message) Psalm 119:54

Is it spring yet?

This picture is from my trip in January. I'm pathetically slow at downloading pictures and that is to blame for my recent bad blogging spell. (I'll tell the other reason in a second.) My friend John now lives next to a lake by Rushville, IL. I spent a couple days with them and one of those days was bitterly cold. The picture was taken in the morning, my hair was wet, and it was frozen by the time we returned from the lake. The natives of Rushville were puzzled that I was so excited to walk on the frozen lake. It is no big deal to them. But to me, a native of New Mexico, never having lived that close to water and that far north was spell bound by the massive piece of ice. The other thing that I never experienced was the noise that comes from frozen lakes. A deep mysterious groan came from the frozen water. Maybe someone could comment if they know the name of this phenomenon?! After spend a few days in Rushville, I went to Florida and spent a few days with my feet in that water!! Amazing.

The other thing that has caused me to be a bad blogger: FACEBOOK! Yes, I thought I never would give in, but I have and absolutely love it. Go fetch me there! Very soon I will have something a little more thoughtful to put here. Like someday when I download that picture of my cheap Wal-Mart theomometer showing that it was 100 degrees. It has been doing that a lot lately. I will also post the first signs of spring as I am enjoying them in my yard....daphodils, tulips, mini irises, and a wonderfully bloomed Jane Magnolia tree.

Is it spring yet?

Take a quiz about spring?

All Things Spring Quiz - MSN Encarta

I only got 6 out of 10 and I was sure I was smarter than that.

Things to Wonder about on Easter Monday

Why does Vandalia decide to turn off my water just when I want to make buffalo chicken?

Why do I forget how necessary hot water is when preparing buffalo chicken?

Is the fear of raw chicken overblown or real? Do you know anyone who has actually died from salmonella?

Buttermilk never goes bad, right? According to some cooking message board on-line, unless it is green, it is good;) Hope they are right?

Why do Will and I crave buffalo chicken two or three times a week when we (specifically me) NEVER craved such a thing?

Why are electronic communications replacing paper communications? And will it change the history of communications? Is it improving communication or is it inhibiting real communication? Those who keep electronic files also seem to keep paper files, so we will not really ever be a paperless society?

Are thugs in small town rural IL more similar than different than those in inner-city ghettos....differing only in the clothes they wear and the types of weapons they use?

Would the world be better or worse if we could all agree on some basic ideas about life, values, beauty?

Why would we enjoy such wonderful Christmas snow on Easter?

Wouldn't campaigns money be better spent if the candidates wouldn't spend all that on slandering their opponents? Doesn't this show exactly how broke our country is? Nastiness has replaced basic respect from top-down or from bottom-up?

Are there other times besides March that "madness" is considered good?

Why can't the average Joe or Joy download some of these recent outstanding commercials, such as a few of my favorites: laughing cow cheese, sheridan (we belong), nationwide insurance where boy gets to go to the bank where his mom works, allstate where the narrator says: "isn't it about time that we treat people on freeway more like they are guests in our home rather than obstacles that are in our way." Now, that can preach! Where can I get a copy of that?

Is spring ever going to spring here?

Doesn't the "Party Girl" episode of Without a Trace bear an uncanny similarity to the Diane Lane thriller "Untraceable?"

Isn't the import of Easter enough to arrest our attention and send us running to tell the whole world rather than spinning our wheels discrediting and infusing suspicions and ill-will against other believers?

How has the most loving and beautiful person's name been turned into a bad word?

Are "off days" more a curse or blessing?

During Lent, I fasted from inappropriate complaining, so my question is: have I allowed God to remove my inappropriate complaining? Would a complaint free world be a real world or would people be reduced to phoniness? Don't we all know at least a few people who would have vertually never talk if they were to fast from complaining?

When they tell you to boil your water before you consume it, what exactly will happen if you don't? Is the brown water coming from my faucet now going to do more harm to me than the raw chicken slime that is strewn about my kitchen?

These are just sort of random questions that really do not have any answers, unless you are among the people in this world that think you should take the title "answer man"....is there anything better than having at least a few of those around? So, if you happen to be one of them, please, answer my questions!?

Jesus' first words after the resurrection: "Do not be afraid!" Fear not doubt is the major enemy of faith....if we are frozen by fear (fear of other people, fear of being hurt, fear of change, fear of the future or unknown, fear of conflict, fear of death or abandonment, then we cannot run to proclaim the good news of the gospel?

All the Way Jayhawks!

Now, I know that it is NOT popular to be cheering for the Jaywawks now that I live in Vandalia, IL. But, look at the facts....they rock! While living in Kansas City, I went to several KU lady jayhawks play volleyball. So sad that I never made it to a basketball game. We are working on our brackets right now.

Tumbling down the stairs

Yesterday I took a tumble down at least five stairs at my house. In my hand was my huge coffee mug of Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. I actually was fine besides feeling a little bit banged up (bruises, scratches, etc). The coffee ended up everywhere and Mike was fine (small chip around the rim). I suppose it is just like in the cartoons, characters always get banged up but rarely actually die;) Do you think I'll get lead poisoning if I continue to drink coffee from Mike?

Ice Pellets

I am not complaining, simply stating the way things are....icy, wet and everything is cancelled! While consulting a couple different weather sites on-line this morning, I discovered a couple terms that were unfamiliar: ice chunks and ice pellets. So happens that I was talking to my mom on the phone during this and she said "do they not know the term sleet?" Little did we know that when I walked on that dangerous patch of earth (100 yards or less) between my house and the church, I saw this "pellet and chunk" stuff coming down from the sky. Huge pieces of stuff coming down.

WOW!

So, I raise my cup of coffee and say a hearty cheers to those weather experts out there while I bundle up with my fuzzy socks and attempt to put together a sermon on the quentessential disciple Peter and his confession to Jesus "you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!"

Also, there will be no pictures of this weather phenomenon because my camera would not adequately capture it.

Stuck on Todd Agnew

My i-pod "menu" button is not funtioning. Thankfully, it is stuck on my new favorite CD, "Better Questions" by Todd Agnew. I highly recommend it. Those of you out there that are more techy than me, what do I do when my i-pod malfunctions? I have never heard of an anyone else breaking their i-pod, am I the first? Am I really so much of an i-idiot that I will forever be listening to only Todd Agnew.

Here are some of my favorite lyrics from the CD:

I'll admit I'm glad I'm not John the Baptist
In a jail cell waiting for my day to die
'Cause at least down here I know what we're chasing
And it's hard to trust Your dreams
Are so much better than mine

Chorus 3
If You wanted me to die to myself
Why'd You make me fall so deeply in love with life

Chorus 4
If You wanted me to surrender
Why'd You make these hands able to hold on so tight

Chorus 5
And if You wanted me to be like You
Why'd You make me like me

Look at toddagnew.com for more or buy it in the store or on i-tunes.

Special Visit

One of my dearest friends came to see me. She now lives in China, so it was such a precious and rare treat. Thank you, Kara, for being faithful to Jesus! I am one among many who are eternally grateful!

Praying for Our Enemies

"The first thing we are called to do when we think of others as enemies is to pray for them. This is certainly not easy. It requires discipline to allow those who hate us or those toward whom we have hostile feelings to come into the intimate center of our hearts. People who make our lives difficult and cause us frustration, pain, or even harm are least likey to receive a place in our hearts. Yet every time we overcome this impatience with our opponets and are willing to listen to the cry of those who persectue us, we will recognize them as brothers and sisters too. Praying for our enemies is therefore a real event, the event of reconciliation. It is impossible to lift our enemies up in the presence of God and at the same time continue to hate them...Prayer conversts the enemy into a friend and thus the beginning of a new relationship. There is probably no prayer as powerful as the prayer for our enemies. But it is also the most difficult prayer since it is most contrary to our impulses. This explains why some saints consider prayer for enemies the main criterion of holiness."

Henri J.M. Nouwen, Compassion

i-idiots

Am I the only one on the planet that has trouble syncing an i-pod?!

After having asked for one for the last two Christmases...I finally got an i-pod. I absolutely love it! Within a few hours of owning it, I put almost 2,000 songs on it. A lot of these were crazy sound bites that were stashed on my computer un-be-knownst to me.

Will's grandparents and his mother (Joyce) have been with us since last Saturday. We have had a wonderful time with them.

Grandpa enjoyed the i-pod as much as anyone. He wasn't able to help me sync it though!!! RATS.

Christmas Fun

Basil was given a toy that she left at Joyce, my mother-in-law's house last Christmas. It is a sock monkey. Now, as you can see from the video, it has been reduced to fluff.

Who could resist such Christmas fun?

Ice

The sun is shining and the snow and ice look like they should be melting. After cancelling church this morning, we are hoping to have the parking lot clear enough so that people will not slip and slide....break something, etc!

Here is a picture of the ice hanging from the awning on the front of the church building. After venturing out early this morning in order to figure out about the weather, I stayed in the house until I went out to take pictures of the snow and ice.

I'm totally glad we cancelled church because even with boots on I was slipping and slidding!

Patience with the weather

Today is a sleet-snow day and I am finally making time to blog.

I would like to hear some comments about that last blog and would welcome all....any....comments about patience. Obviously this video is very ammature. Nancy O. who was running the video camera didn't even know that she really had video capabilities on her camera. Brian O., her husband, was caught totally unaware that we were going to video him and he is a bit camera shy;) All of that being said, I really appreciate their help.

Ironically enough, this is one of the texts for tomorrow and who knows if I will even have the opportunity to preach cause it is snowy and icy and they are predicting that it will be getting even worse. So, at this very moment, I am feeling a bit impatient about the weather.

The text (NRSV): "Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and late rains. You must also be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near."

What kinds of things try our patience? How does one become patience? What does strength have to do with patience? Does this strength come from us or is it given to us by God.

James 5:7-11