Friends, no post today. Managed with hubby’s help to get home from Minneapolis late yesterday afternoon/evening on a non-stop flight. But it wiped out my blogging time, so I’ll pick up again today. Vertigo is no picnic, as some of you well know. Keep the prayers coming, and inspiration will strike me in God’s good time. Since I missed Friday’s sessions all together, I have some catching up to do!
One More Day . . . Read More »
“Life’s messy; clean it up!” is one of my all-time favorite product slogans. It is normal in anyone’s house to discover elements dirtied by use, misplaced through inattention, broken by accident, or jumbled in a frenzy to get something else done. Life is also messy because hurricanes swirl, earthquakes shake, fires roar. In these cases, Plan A becomes suddenly irrelevant, Plan B looks anemic, and Plan C is all one has left to fall back on. Life is messy, and cleaning it up is, well, complicated. Cleaning up requires a careful look at what constitutes the mess. Dirtied things must
Life Is Messy in the Presbyterian House Read More »
So sorry I ditched you, dear readers…a full-blown vertigo attack hit me while waiting for breakfast at the hotel restaurant yesterday morning, and I’ve been out for the count since. Was taken to the ER of a local hospital, given excellent care, and midafternoon today (Saturday) I’m just about ready to be discharged. Must stay in town til Monday to get my sea legs back, but then I’ll finally be able to fly home. I had prayed before the event started, “Lord, help me to stay out of the way and trust you to do your work.” He answered me
With All the Best Intentions Read More »
The Fellowship of Presbyterians has gathered approximately 1950 Presbyterian pastors, elders, observers, and Louisville staffers to discuss a new way of doing church. This process of discernment is designed to prepare primarily evangelicals dissatisfied with the status quo for next steps into a new reality. Today the informational groundwork was laid with presentations on an organizational umbrella—a new entity called “Fellowship of Presbyterians”—under which a variety of options will be shepherded to full realization. Ranging from “staying in place as missional agents” all the way to separating into a “new Reformed Body (NRB),” these options recognize the reality that there
A Gathering of Presbyterians: Part 2 Read More »
Almost 2000 Presbyterians, brought together by concerns for the direction of the denomination, are meeting in Minneapolis, MN, through Friday. I am among them, listening and hoping that a unified vision will emerge as we spend the next two days together. To start things off, an astonishing crowd of about 1000 gathered Wednesday evening for a pre-conference time of worship and prayer. The evening was organized around the six Great Ends of the Church, with Scripture, guided prayer, and songs related to each theme. Afterwards, 195 small group leaders gathered for a mini-preparation session. The organizational effort has been immense
A Gathering of Presbyterians: Part I Read More »
No time to write this morning…on my way to Minneapolis to join 2000 Presbyterians in conversation about our future together. I’ll be leading in worship tonight, so see you there! Prayers of relinquishment; prayers of hope; prayers for wisdom . . .
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb 11:1). For the last four days, I have been on the great Half Dome Adventure. I was accompanied by two backpacking companions, who stepped up to the challenge when my husband had to bow out due to an injury. One fellow hiker wanted to use our trail time to talk about faith, and in particular how I could be “so certain” about “my position” on the issues that were tested in the PCUSA ecclesiastical trial and appeal last month. These questions were intended to
Faith: Between a Rock and a Hard Place Read More »
Today I simply offer two different methods for equipping the saints with discernment skills: Hot Off the Press—A Sunday School Class for Adults The idea is to engage in discussion of world and national events from a faith perspective. The agenda is to model and teach “ordinary” Christians how to think, in a world that often values feelings more than rationality. Each week the facilitator brings a current news story that begs for a Christian response. We read it together and brainstorm the issues it raises. • What are the facts of the situation?—We try to distinguish between information and
Two Models of Discernment Process Read More »
The ability to discern God’s will amid the clamor of the world, the flesh, and the devil is something that can be cultivated through spiritual disciplines. In an earlier post (http://wordtolife.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/the-spiritual-gift-of-discernment/) I observed that “the discerning of spirits” is a spiritual gift, and it is given by the Holy Spirit as God wills. But the Church as a whole relies not only on the particularly gifted, who are much needed, but also on the entire Body learning discernment as a discipline of its life together. This corporate practice emerges out of the faithful submission of its individuals to the knowledge
Discernment as a Fruit of Spiritual Disciplines Read More »
Since switching lanes from the pastorate to academia (albeit teaching ministry skills in a seminary) four years ago, I have had occasion to answer the question, “What do you miss about serving a congregation as pastor?” Believe it or not, I miss the meetings. Meetings are those gatherings of “two or three in Christ’s name” to address the work we have been assigned, to translate vision into intent and means, to consider mid-course corrections, and otherwise to lead the people of God in faithful worship and mission. My office was arranged with the conversation area front and center, to illustrate
Discernment, Cont.: Why I Love Meetings Read More »
