Celebrating Marriage on Valentine's Day

My Pastor's letter in the church's February newsletter...

“A bowl of vegetables with someone you love
is better than steak with someone you hate.”
Proverbs 15:17 (NLT)
Among the great holidays that mark our cultural year, Valentine’s Day can sometimes be easily dismissed. After all, it isn’t connected to a great theological event (Easter, Christmas) or associated with ethnic heritage (St. Patrick’s Day) or sentimental about our parents (Mother’s Day, Father’s Day) or wrapped up in patriotic ribbon (Independence Day, Memorial Day). For many, it’s just a reason to buy a card or flowers.

But we miss an opportunity when we treat Valentine’s Day so lightly. This day has become a celebration of romantic love, one of God’s great gifts to humankind. It is also, therefore, a chance to honor & celebrate the covenant of marriage, an institution which the Church believes in & cherishes.

Marriage is perhaps the best example we have to understand the relationship between God & his covenant people. In marriage, a husband and a wife promise to stand with one another in difficult times and in joyous times. That’s not easy! It takes hard work over many, many years to make a successful marriage. When a couple in the church celebrates an anniversary, we should shout for joy and celebrate with them! Marriage is a significant achievement made possible by grace.

Likewise, we read in the Scriptures:
“Be strong…it is the Lord your God who goes with you;
he will not fail you or forsake you…”
Deuteronomy 31:6 (NRSV)
God has promised to stand with his covenant people! It takes hard work, even aided & driven by grace, for us to be faithful and for God to be merciful; it took the work of Jesus on the Cross. But, like marriage, it is worth it.

So, this Valentine’s Day, celebrate love. If you are married, thank God for your spouse! If your spouse has passed away, you have every reason to thank God for the love you still share. If you are not married, then praise God for those in your life who are celebrating.

And know that God loves you with a love more wonderful than the best Valentine chocolate!

For Better, For Worse: 5 Ways Blogging Changed My Life

Allan Bevere has tagged me from a meme created by L.L. Barkat. Here are the rules should you decide to keep them:

1. Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.

2. Link back to the person who tagged you.

3. Link back to the parent post (L.L. Barkat is not so much interested in generating links, but rather in tracking the meme so she can perhaps do a summary post later on that looks at patterns and interesting discoveries.)

4. Tag a few friends or five, or none at all

5. Post these rules — or just have fun breaking them

How blogging has changed me:

1. Blogging has enabled me to converse with folks from across the United Methodist Connection, as well as with folks outside of our Connection. It was very, very interesting to follow the blogosphere a bit during General Conference 2008.

2. It has been a special blessing to connect more regularly (at times) with sisters and brothers in my own Annual Conference who don't live too far away but whom I get to see far too inconsistently.

3. I've managed to pick up some neat ministry ideas and get acquainted with some new worship resources and approaches and am still learning a good deal.

4. I am continually impressed by the great senses of humor out there. We have some extraordinarily funny people in the blogosphere. Thank God for that!

5. I've learned that the best of the blogosphere is inherently relational and generally respectful; the worst of it is nasty beyond all understanding.

I now tag the following individuals:

Bruce Alderman
Michael Daniel
John Meunier
Joe Miller
Dayton Mix
Eric Park
Anyone else who would like to participate

Prayer Collect for the People of Jamaica

Gracious Heavenly Father, who desires mercy for all people, we pray tonight for the people of Jamaica and the islands of the Caribbean, who are suffering in the face of Hurricane Dean. Be with all those in the path of this horrific storm, that the winds may slow and the waters may recede. By the power of your Holy Spirit, strengthen all who are afflicted by the tempest and all those who, in the days and weeks ahead, will be working faithfully to bring relief and help to those in need. In some miraculous way, help your holy Church to embody your compassion, through word and deed, for those who hurt, that the name of your Son might be known more fully as the true name of love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Other Annual Conference reflections...

I think that...

...the fact that the budget passed with no discussion and no controversy is a testament to the diligent faithfulness of the team that put it together, especially Howard Burrell, Larry Homitsky, Pat Morris, and Bob Zilhaver...

...Luella Krieger and Brad Lauster are doing great work, and it was good to see that validated with the Denman Awards...

....there were lots of "Believe Again!" reports at Annual Conference, but not a lot of action; I hope we see this tree bear some fruit soon...

...having a cross on the altar in addition to a larger cross elsewhere in the chancel area is redundant imagery, and only accentuates that the cross on the table is, relative to the room, tiny. It also obscures the Bishop while he's handling the bread and the cup while leading the Eucharistic Great Thanksgiving. Traditional worship done well can be a wonderful thing, but that seemed a mite sloppy to me. Next year, I hope we can focus on one cross somewhere in the chancel area and eliminate the smaller one on the table itself...

...going bald doesn't bother me at all, as it's simply one less thing to worry about, and I've already done the long-haired hippie bit; I'm rarely envious of someone's follicular gifts, but, I tell you, our friend Thomas Q. Strandburg has one fine head of hair, thick and red like a good Celt...

...it was disheartening that the Conference rejected the opportunity to call for peace in Iraq while offering the military chaplains a standing ovation (though all three are good guys); the Bishop was right...we have plenty of work to do...

...Alyce Weaver Dunn, Eric Park, Thomas Q. Strandburg, and Bob Zilhaver would all make excellent candidates for the superintendency in the coming years, though they may not enjoy that...

...Randy Roda was largely responsible for the involvement of Renaye and Rich Hoffman in the life of the Church; the fact that one is now our Conference Youth Director and the other is a General Conference delegate is a real affirmation of Randy's ministry; that's some pretty public fruit, as both are having a significant impact on our Conference and in the life of the General Church...

...I noticed that the most quoted theologians at Annual Conference this year - primarily by Bishop Bickerton and Vance Ross - were Martin Luther King, John Ed Mathison, and Howard Thurman. Being a fan of all three, that was nice to hear; maybe next year, we'll hear some Hauerwas...

...I was happy when Dennis Lawton was transferred into our Conference, and even happier to see Jim Kimmel ordained an Elder, as Jim and I both hail from Indiana: Trinity UMC, having entered pastoral ministry (along with fine local pastor Bob Nagy) largely due to the faithful ministry of Deryl Larsen...

...we need to really prioritize in the next few years in terms of reaching out to the African-American population in western Pennsylvania; we are failing these people...

...we also need to focus on creating a culture in which our women clergy can see their leadership opportunities strengthened; 2 on our GC delegation and only 1 more on our JC delegation is a theological travesty...

...Larry Homitsky, Eric Park, and Bob Zilhaver all need to be taken seriously as Episcopal candidates next year; we should be praying for all three...

...the Bishop's "I am not anonymous" speech has gotten mixed reviews, but I really appreciated what he said near the end: "I love you. I love you when I like you, and when I don’t like you. I love you when I agree with you and when I don’t. I love you when you lift me up and when you make me hurt. This is at the center of my theology.” Good stuff. Add a Trinitarian spin, and you've got as solid a theological center as any in Christendom.

Catching Up

I'm very, very busy at JUMC right now, catching up after Annual Conference and getting ready for a youth mission trip next week and our family vacation the week after that, with Bible School upon my return. All of this is happening while continuing work with the local food pantry / social outreach team (though they've gotten the shaft recently, in terms of my time, I'm embarrassed to admit) and trying to get our ministerium off the ground (we're planning a back-to-school prayer service as our first "official" event together, but are having some logistical problems with the school district). Of course, the day-in, day-out ministry grind rolls on...thanks be to God!

On top of everything else, today is the sixth birthday of our son Elliot, so I have some family issues to which I need to attend as well. No time for a meaningful blog post!

One additional note: today is the fourth anniversary of my ordination as an Elder by The United Methodist Church. I'm giving thanks today for the ministry journey, and grateful for the friendship of those ordained alongside me on that special day.

Three things I wanted to quickly note...

...please pray for the Cox/Weigant family in the days ahead. Tracy and Greg Cox are pastors in Western PA Conference; Tracy's father passed away suddenly on the last day of our Conference session. The memorial service is Saturday; please lift them all up before the Lord...

...there is a neat new site on the web which is devoted to liturgy. Strong Center Open Doors is facilitated by Dan Benedict and looks to be a place where folks can think outside the box in terms of liturgical structures and resources. While it doesn't use the words "emergent" or "missional", at least as far as I can see, it does talk about post-modern, post-Christian, and post-denominational thinking. Lots of potential with this new site; I'd recommend a look...

...one of the aspects of Annual Conference which astounded me was the number of people who approached me and said, "I love your blog." I really appreciate that, but am frankly surprised that anyone reads this thing, much less that they find it worthwhile. I am humbled and filled with gratitude. God is good...and surprising!

Thoughts before Annual Conference

Tomorrow, I will leave for Western PA Annual Conference, held at beautiful Grove City College in Grove City, PA. I ask all readers of this blog to be in prayer for Bishop Thomas Bickerton and all Conference particpants from June 7-10. Always important theologically and connectionally, this year's Conference has the added importance of electing delegates to General and Jurisdictional Conferences in 2008. May the Spirit reign and bless.

I will probably not be posting until next week. You can follow the proceeedings here.

Some miscellaneous thoughts before leaving for Grove City...

* Inclusiveness is important. We need to be as inclusive as possible, and I pray that our elected delegation reflects our Conference's commitment to diversity. But...inclusiveness is not our primary value. My fear is that many view it as such.

In his response to Judicial Council Decision 1032, theologian William Abraham said, "Inclusivism can sometimes be a good servant, but it is a bad master." In other words, we need to take inclusion seriously, but ought not allow it to become the primary factor in determining our course of action as the Church.

In the May/June 2007 issue of Circuit Rider, Maxie Dunnam writes, "I believe the greatest theological barrier to mission and evangelism is a diminished belief in the uniqueness of Jesus. We have made idols of tolerance and inclusiveness. We speak and act as though diversity itself is redemptive." We need to remember that inclusiveness is a wonderful gospel calling, but that the love of God in Jesus Christ is alone redemptive.

While we need to be aware of inclusivity when it comes to electing delegates, we should be more concerned about missional and theological concerns.

* P22 seems more problematic each time I read it. It is written by well meaning folks who wish to halt the "armband protests" of several members of our Conference. The protests are surely in poor taste and do reflect some theological concerns, but I'm not sure this kind of thing can be (or should be) legislated. An American flag pin, for instance, is an intensely political statement, and could easily be seen as a protest against the Lordship of Christ or the radical calling of his Kingdom. Should these, too, be banned? And how does one enforce this piece of legislation? What are the consequences if one violates this piece, should it become part of our Conference Rules?

* I have been in prayer over my votes for members of our delegation. I think I know the bulk of the group I'll be voting for, but am remaining open to the Spirit's leading when I get to Grove City and we begin our Christian conferencing.

I do have a concern that our delegation might be dominated by District Superintendents. These are fine folks, sincere Christian disciples, but I'm not sure they make the best representatives of our Conference. The Cabinet is almost a constituency unto itself, and doesn't necessarily represent the wishes and desires of the members of Conference...yet they are among our most prominent Elders, due to the public nature of their current appointments. I do intend to vote for some members of the Cabinet, but I really hope that they end up as a minority on our delegation, rather than a dominating factor. (Forgive me if you think this is sharing too much, or is written in bad taste.)

Some interesting reads...

* Here is an excellent post by a member of our Conference, Bill Beatty, who serves First UMC in Warren, PA.

* Here is an excellent article in "Christianity Today" about the failings of "missional theology" from the perspective of Singaporean theologian Simon Chan.

* Here is a fascinating article in "The Christian Century" about Sen. Barack Obama's church, Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ.

* Here is a good commentary on poverty from the United Methodist News Service.

Oscars review

I think that...

...the truly great Martin Scorsese should probably have won a dozen Oscars by now; his failure to win before last night diminishes the Oscars, not his amazing body of work...

...there were no big surprises except for Alan Arkin's upset of Eddie Murphy, which was too bad for Murphy but not a shock or a real heartbreak...

...both Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet seemed to me to be pompous beyond belief, which is really saying something in Hollywood...

...I kinda thought Little Miss Sunshine would pull it off in the end...it's a really warm little movie, though I also liked The Departed...

...I can't believe they cut off Jennifer Hudson...why do they think people watch these shows, if not to see beloved stars cry?...

...forgotten in the montage of those who passed away last year was Chris Penn, Sean Penn's brother who had important supporting roles in Footloose and Pale Rider...

...Pan's Labyrinth looks way cool...

...Cars was robbed...

...Clint Eastwood is a legendary actor and one of the greatest directors of all-time...a true pop culture icon...but he sure doesn't do very well "off the cuff"...

...Ellen's best line of the night: "Peter O'Toole's been nominated eight times. Is that right? You know what they say: third time's the charm"...

...Ellen's second best line of the night: "Jennifer Hudson was on 'American Idol', America didn't vote for her, and she's here with an Oscar nomination. That's amazing. And then, Al Gore is here, America did vote for him, and then...very complicated"...

...Best non-Ellen line of the night, by George Clooney: "I was just backstage drinking with Jack Nicholson and Al Gore; I don't think he's running for president"...

...actually, judging by the way Hollywood worships him, Al Gore should probably start running for president today, although, as we saw in 2004, Hollywood's passionate support doesn't amount to much on Election Day...

...the Humanitarian Award is a nice one, but isn't Jerry Lewis long overdue to win one of those?

1 Year

Today marks the first anniversary of this blog. Getting ready for worship now after spending Friday night/Saturday with Robyn...a nice weekend. What an amazing wife I have; God is good!

I Relate in Many Ways

Smart Quiz

"Intellectually" Intelligent You're 'Intellectually Intelligent.' That pretty much means that you're good with theoretical ideas and concepts - but this comes to you naturally. More or less, you're a natural brainiac. Good for you. 30% theoretical intelligence 40% natural intelligence

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Thanks to Chris Kindle (who is "All-Around Smart").

Misc. thoughts...

I think that...

...I felt blessed this morning to have the privilege of voting; I took my daughter Kate to the polls with me...

...regardless of how they are performing so far this season, I am so thankful that the Pittsburgh Steelers won the Super Bowl earlier this year and that I was able to share that joy with my children for the first time...

...Jefferson Church is a voting station, and I hated seeing the building surrounded by signs promoting political candidates...I felt dirty when I left the office today...

...Christians throughout the nation need to be in prayer for Ted Haggard and his family, as late last week Haggard resigned his pastorate at New Life Church in Colorado Springs due to his confessed "sexual immorality"...we also ought to be in prayer for the man who made the allegations, and be careful not to react with spite or bitterness...

...it's Charge Conference season again, and I strongly dislike the paperwork we need to complete, as it emphasizes numbers more than ministry, figures more than transformed human lives...when we do that too much, we become the world...

...I will be very glad when the election is over; I am so tired of the mean discourse (from both sides of the political aisle) and the seemingly endless deceptions masquerading as television commercials, which I can't seem to avoid when all I want to do is watch a football game with my family...

...it was somewhat cowardly for either the Judicial Council or the Council of Bishops (or perhaps both) to delay release of the recent decision regarding General Conference representation by Cote d'Ivoire Methodists until the Bishops were finished with their recent meetings in Africa; good way to avoid answering questions...

...personal character and integrity are the #1 factors in leadership, by far, and Pennsylvanians are blessed to have two decent men (Rick Santorum and Bobby Casey) running for U.S. Senate...

...this month, Rev. Andy Verner of Western PA Conference will lead in the launch of a new faith community in the Pittsburgh Mills Mall, and that seems like one of the neatest ministry settings around...

...the recently announced Genesis reunion tour would be much more fun if original singer Peter Gabriel were onboard...

...too often, when it comes to issues of justice, the Church takes a paternalistic "we'll take care of you" stand rather than a more Jesus-like, fraternalistic "we stand with you" stand, which would be far more difficult and demand a far greater commitment...

...this is the season that Peyton Manning finally gets his Super Bowl ring...

...as I have been prayerfully preparing for the Advent and Christmas seasons, I am once again convinced that Charles Wesley's "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" is the greatest of all Christmas carols...matched with a beautifully majestic tune by Felix Mendelssohn, Wesley's text brilliantly and powerfully tells of the Christmas miracle...the Emmanuel message that "God is with us"...and that Jesus truly is God incarnate in human flesh; no other Christmas carol possesses the theological depth and power of this Methodist classic...

...after ten years of pastoral ministry in Western PA Conference, I still avoid going to our Conference Center whenever possible, because I still get the creeps when I'm too close to the "institutional" side of the Church, and I'm not sure why that is; I'm theologically pretty "High Church" for a United Methodist, but still maintain this strange paranoia when it comes to the institutionalization of the Body of Christ...

...the Church really needs to be doing more for and with the poor...numbers don't matter at all unless we're being faithful to God and our sisters and brothers regarding this absolutely essential ministry area.

How Many of Me?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 7 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Thanks to Gavin Richardson at Hit the Back Button to Move Forward

Misc. thoughts

I think...

...Massachusetts Republican Gov. Mitt Romney looks more and more impressive as a presidential candidate...

...With respect to Peyton Manning, a great player whom I admire, Tom Brady is the best player in the NFL and, when he finally does retire someday, may be considered the best ever at his position (QB), which is arguably the most difficult position in sports...

...I find it appalling and completely disrespectful that Harvard University, perhaps the finest school in the world, has invited former Iranian president Mohammed Khatami to speak on the issue of tolerance (!) on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary...

...Pittsburgh lost a fine man upon the passing of Mayor Bob O'Connor last Friday, a "man of the people" if ever there was one...

...the notion of current Iranian President Ahmadinejad speaking to the United Nations later this month is repulsive...

...Steelers QB Charlie Batch, a Pittsburgh native and graduate of Steel Valley HS, will get the job done tonight against Miami, providing the Steelers' great offensive line can contain Dolphins DE Jason Taylor, a Pittsburgh native and graduate of Woodland Hills HS...

...Tony Blair deserves better...

...Sen. Rick Santorum soundly defeated Senate candidate Bob Casey, Jr. in their first debate last Sunday, though both seem like decent men, not that far apart politically in many ways...

...Bill Clinton is not to blame for 9/11; President Bush is not to blame for 9/11; Bin Laden and radical evil are to blame; if either Clinton or Bush thought anything like 9/11 was ahead, they would have done anything to prevent it...the new ABC "documdrama" to be shown this weekend alleges that Clinton was so distracted by the Monica Lewinsky scandal that he failed to address Bin Laden and Al Qaeda; while that may be true, I cannot believe that Bill Clinton, as self-serving as he was, would not have addressed the issue had he known about the 9/11 plans...it's categorically unfair to blame Clinton for the tragedy, as flawed as his presidency was...

...Bob Dylan's new album is #1 on the charts, a well-deserved sign of hope, given the horrible state of contemporary music...

...Katie Couric is a professional celebrity and entertainer, not a journalist, and to expect her show to be "hard news" is unrealistic and unfair...

...the Pittsburgh Penguins, with Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, will be real contenders this year.

Misc. thoughts...

I think...

...Delaware Democrat Sen. Joseph Biden looks more and more impressive as a presidential candidate...

...Marvin Olasky's 1999 book The American Leadership Tradition, despite an obvious rightward slant, is right on regarding the relationship between personal ethics/morality and leadership...I'd love to write a Church version of this book, focusing on great leaders in Christian history rather than American presidents...

...Ray Nagin, Democrat Mayor of New Orleans, already proven to be one of the most incompetent leaders in history, may also be one of the most insensitive men on the planet...

...John Karr, whether or not he's guilty of killing Jon Benet Ramsey, is one of the creepiest looking men I've ever seen...if he smiled, I bet he'd look like the Joker...

...the jailing of human rights activist Chen Guangcheng is a tragedy, showing that China has a long way to go...

...Tom Cruise may be a looney tune, but he's still an amazingly talented and underrated actor...

...I love him, and he's got the vote of all faithful Steelers fans, but the campaign of PA gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann seems dead in the water...

...AFC contenders: Pittsburgh, New England, and Indianapolis, with Denver, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Miami, and possibly Kansas City and San Diego challenging...NFC contenders: Dallas, Philadelphia, Carolina, and Seattle, with the NY Giants and Chicago also making some noise...and, while I'm rooting for a Black and Gold repeat, this could be Peyton Manning's year...

...political analyst Dick Morris is absolutely correct most of the time...

...Ohio State and Notre Dame will play in the BCS title game in January 2007 to determine the College Football National Champion...

...Pluto deserved better...

...Hillary Clinton's chances of winning the White House in '08 are very, very slim, despite what the "Big Media" preaches...McCain, Giuliani, Gore...it will be one of those men (but, again, Biden's looking strong), with Clinton, Kerry, Gingrich, Edwards, and others far, far behind...

...the odds of the Pittsburgh Steelers repeating as Super Bowl champions may be slim, but they are still an awfully good football team...

...Allegheny County (PA) Chief Executive Dan Onorato has a bright future in PA politics; he's an independently-minded Democrat not beholden to party orthodoxy, who seems more interested in doing the right thing than pandering...

...after 66 years, Hawkman is still the coolest superhero on the planet...

...Pennsylvanians are blessed to have two decent men running for Senate this year...both Rick Santorum and Bob Casey, Jr. seem like upstanding, principled men (both devoted Roman Catholics), and we are truly blessed to be able to choose between two fine citizens for U.S. Senate...

...I'm proud of the United Methodists in Illinois offering sanctuary to an illegal immigrant and her son, but I wonder what's really being done to resolve the situation...

...the Thomas Jefferson Jaguars will win the PA title in AAA High School football...the Woodland Hills Wolverines will win it at the AAAA level...

...The Nativity Story, a movie due out in December, looks really cool.

Happy Birthday, Nessie!

On this date in 1933, Nessie, the so-called "Loch Ness Monster", was sited for the first time in the modern era.

Now, I am a natural skeptic. I don't believe in Bigfoot or the Yeti, as much I'd love it if they really existed. Nessie, however, is quite real. I have excellent reasons for affirming her existence.

First, I am a Scottish-American. Both my father's family and my mother's family are Scot and, while, there is also some German and a few other things, I have proudly embraced my Highlands heritage. I would never say or do anything to hurt Scotland or its economy, so I'll support the idea that Nessie is real.

Second, Nessie brings to mind a quote by the eminently quotable G.K. Chesterton, a great early 20th century English Catholic writer who was a huge influence on figures such as filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, writers Neil Gaiman and J.R.R. Tolkien, and theologian C.S. Lewis.

Chesterton once said, "Fairy tales are more than true - not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."

The quote is a reminder to me that Christians need fairy tales...we need wonder...we need magnificent tales of heroes and monsters and the fantastic. Nessie, for me, represents the mystery of creation and the amazement of the unknown. I need these things to remind me of the greatness of God, to remind me that there is still much "out there" that remains unknown, and to remind me that, as in every good fairy tale, good does triumph over evil in the end.

Misc.

Here are some good articles I found on the web recently...

"Leading from the Margins" by Len Hjalmarson. This article from The Ooze urges a new style of Church leadership.

"The Holy Spirit Calls Women to Lead" by Andrew Thompson, an Elder in the Arkansas Conference. This article (from The United Methodist Reporter) is a good brief overview of why we have (and should celebrate) female clergy.

"He is not here" by Fred Craddock, one of the greatest preachers of the past 100 years. This article from The Christian Century gives a fine brief summation of the account of Jesus' Resurrection found in Mark 16:1-8.

"Church Politics" by Andrew Odom, from Relevant Magazine, argues for a more relational, less program-oriented ecclesiastical polity.

"Saddleback Church celebrates 20,000th Baptism" by Kristine Noelle,
in The Christian Examiner. Rick Warren may have several theological problems, but his sincerity and devotion have certainly borne much fruit.

"Betrayed Again" by John Wilson explains the bizarre nature of the so-called "Gospel of Judas". It's taken from Christianity Today.

Sambora...Kwan...Bono

Richie Sambora must be the stupidest man alive...Michelle Kwan may be the most gracious and graceful athlete in American sports history...Bono still rocks.

Second Post

I'm learning a bit more and hope to be able to have some real content on this blog soon. Thanks to my wife...the world's most beautiful lady.

First Post

This is my first post...my wife is an avid blogger, so she'll have to show me the ins and outs of all this. More later.