Weddings

I am officiating my niece's (actually my second cousin but like to think of her as my niece) wedding tonight. It should be fun, they are a very sweet couple, mid 20's, both from Montana, so family members from both sides have come for the wedding...many of my family members will be in attendance as well.

I actually like officiating weddings, whether they are people I know well or don't know at all...for me, it is an honor to be with people as they begin this season of their life. Last weekend I officiated a wedding for a couple I did not know. The week of the wedding the bride's mother passed. They had the memorial on Friday and the wedding on Saturday. They did such a beautiful job under very sad circumstances, it was a beautiful wedding. I think this is why I love pastoring, you get to be with people during the most intimate times of their lives, somehow I find Jesus there, right in the middle of these times...for me these are most holy, sacred times...

Values inventory

Working on trying to define what our community values...how to put those values into words...we have unspoken and spoken values, so doing a bit of inventory to see what currently is the perception of our values....

If you want to take a crack at it, I would love to hear from you...tell me what you think our community values -- just off the top of your head, there is no right or wrong to this...

Noticing 2

I sat with a woman today who is gay. She is in an eight year committed relationship, had a committal service six months ago. As we talked, I couldn't answer how she would be received in our congregation. Would they be welcomed? Would they be accepted? She has faith in God, raised in a Christian tradition but does not feel welcome in most churches....

How are we to be with this? There are so many complexities to think through with this issue...

The issue I see is at some point, in a center set system, where people are welcome at whatever point they are in their journey they will eventually run into our belief that celibate singleness and faithful heterosexual marriage is God's design...what happens then?

I read an article today on Cedar Ridge's site, (Brian McLaren is the founding pastor) you could read their position if you are interested here: http://www.crcc.org/content.php?ContentID=154

I think we will have to wrestle with this issue many times over, don't know how it will look, but what does it really mean to say we welcome and accept all people?

Rambling today...

Noticing

On Sunday I asked folks if they would practice "noticing the Kingdom" this week...pray a prayer daily to notice where God is already...my friends Jim and Barb call it "bumping into God"...so, I have prayed that prayer every morning and I honestly did not have much success in noticing...until this morning, I prayed again, went about getting ready for the day, and in the shower, it came flooding to me, so much I had to keep up with my mind...here are some things that came to me...

I noticed God:
this morning when the sun was shining, I was reminded that there will be a day when the light from God will never stop shining, I felt the future come into my present...

working in my son's first grade class, I noticed God prompted me to pray for each child as I helped them one by one do an art project, I prayed specific things for each of them...

we had dinner with a man this week, who probably would not consider himself a person of faith, as he relayed a story to us, he began to cry, I knew I was sitting with God in that moment, that God was somehow, in some mysterious way, touching this man with His love...

On Sunday I ran into a man in our facility's parking lot that asked me for money, I said no...I didn't have any money on me, and truthfully, I was irritated...

I found out that he had been in the building asking for money, and someone took him over to a box we throw change into for the poor, there was about $6.00 in change, she gave it to the man...that's Kingdom to me, Matthew 25...

Yesterday a.m. I was with a group of women who commit 2 hours a week to pray together for our faith community, a thin space, between heaven and earth happens...

I have been not so great with my husband lately, actually pretty #%@$& with him and he treats me with kindness, respect and trys to find out what's got me so uptight...so Jesus like I think...

There was more that came to me, I think it's cool that after a fews days of asking and paying some attention to trying to notice, it like kicked in and thoughts and images came like a flood...

Have you ever had that experience?

Pharisees

We are teaching through Matthew 5-7 on Sundays. The Sermon on the Mount. Some folk say this is Jesus' inaugural Address for the Kingdom. As much as I was excited to spend time with this Scripture I have to admit, I find it very difficult.

It is difficult because as I study it, meditate on it, pray on it, I realize that in many ways I am a Pharisee. I find it hard to teach, because in faith communities I think it is so easy for us to overlook the Pharisee that might be hanging out in our own hearts.

I also find difficulty in trying to convey Jesus message as a lifestyle, a lifestyle that is empowered by his very Spirit in order to follow him in a way that would produce the kind of person the Sermon speaks of...

I find we so easily resort to the "behavior", "sin" without looking at it as the symptom, the why of the behavior, the sin, and then having the grace and patience within the community to come alongside and walk out sometimes very deep seated brokenness...

One thing I am convinced of, if we don't allow Jesus in to the places of our heart to bring healing, deliverance, salvation that are still dead, or asleep to him, we don't have much hope of real change..it seems to me it is a gradual waking up to the reality of the kingdom...I asked folks to join me in a simple prayer each day this week..

Lord will you show me your kingdom reality today...

I hope we will see it...