Archive for the ‘church’ Category
Encountering the Culture
Filed under: church, evangelism, mission, Morongo Basin, society | Tags: missional
Leave a Comment Then he went about among the villages teaching.
He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two.
—Mark 6:6-7
In AD 100, the worldwide total number of Christians might have been about 25,000. For the next two centuries, Christianity was an an illegal religion, and endured several waves of violent persecution. It had no trained clergy, nor any church buildings as we know them. But in the early 300′s, when Christianity was finally legalized, the number of Christians was about 20 million.
Dictation Software Chuckle
In my work, I use MacSpeech Dictate, a voice-recognition program for the mac, a fair bit. (It’s pretty good software: the kind you swear by as much as you swear at. Most bad software you either throw out or become resigned to. Dictate I like enough to entertain hopes they’d improve it. Another sign of my regard: I’m thinking about getting their new product, MacSpeech Scribe, so I can have non-interactive voice recognition. Think, sermon transcriptions.)
Anyway, one of the ways I use it is to save myself the trouble of typing some of the prayers in the PC(USA) Book of Common Worship. Mostly, the software does a good job, but once in awhile you get something amusing, like this:
Two.
Grant us, O Lord,
the grace always to do in pink
what accords with your purpose;
That’s an interesting image. It was supposed to be “and think.”
Maybe this was an “inspired” error: it’s a lot easier to think about things than to do them. So, to combine two slogans (from Nike and the breast-cancer awareness people): Just do it. In pink.
Looking for Musicians
We’re looking for a musical accompanist and a choir director. The accompanist should be able to play the piano, but we would prefer an organist. The choir director must be able to…, well, direct a choir. If you’d like to know more, or to refer someone else to us, call the church at (760) 365-6331.
Robes
Filed under: chaplaincy, church, education, presbyterian, sermons, service, witness, worship |
Comments (1) “Pastor, when are you going to start wearing your robes again?”
Several of you have asked me that question. As you know, I’ve worn a minister’s robe in worship since arriving at Desert Hills. But I quit this summer. Now fall has come, and soon winter will be here, and I haven’t resumed wearing the robes. Why not?
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Stewardship Information
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.—1 Corinthians 12:4-7
Fall is the traditional time for churches to emphasize stewardship. And while that emphasis may not be limited to a discussion of the church’s finances, it is almost always a part of the discussion.
You may recall our annual congregational meeting back in January, where I laid out a rather sobering assessment of our finances. Since then, we have actually had some encouraging developments. So far this year, we have reduced our average monthly loss almost by half, from more than $2,000 to about $1,200. In fact, we actually made a modest “profit” during August.
I’m looking forward to some occasions where I can share this information with you in more detail, but the short version is this: We aren’t out of the woods yet, but we’re in much better shape than I expected us to be. Partly, this is because the leaders of the church are being very careful about every expenditure. But the main reason for our improving situation is your generosity and commitment to carrying out the mission of this church.
In our stewardship conversation, however, I don’t want to limit our discussion to the church’s finances, however, or even to money. Stewardship is about how we all use God’s gifts to accomplish the work God calls us to do. It’s about money, certainly. But it’s also about what we do with our property, our innate abilities, our likes and dislikes, the skills we’ve acquired—everything. It is about everything we have and everything we are, for it all belongs to God—every penny and every second. We are only its managers, or stewards. (Matthew 25:14-30)
For that reason, I hope that you will do some serious, prayerful consideration about how God might be calling you to use your gifts to support the church’s mission.
Maybe you should join the choir, or volunteer to work in the sound room on Sunday morning. Perhaps you should be doing cleanup after the fellowship time, or greeting people before worship. Possibly you should be serving as a Sunday school teacher, or their helper. You might be called to service in an ordained capacity as a deacon or elder. Or something completely different. I don’t know. Maybe you don’t know either. But God does know.
As we begin our stewardship emphasis this fall, I hope you’ll make a commitment to ask God’s guidance in this area. Don’t wait for the nominating committee to call, because if you do, you’ll probably say the first thing that comes to mind. (“No!”) Instead, put some effort into it. Talk with God about it. Remind God about all the other things you’re trying to get done, and ask God to guide you in setting your priorities.
My prayer for each of us is that God will reveal how he wants us to participate in what he is doing in, and through, Desert Hills church.
Fall Season – Huddles
This post appears, in slightly-altered form, in the September Panorama:
Here it is, almost fall again! Where did the summer go?
A highlight of the summer for me was our brief trip to the Navajo Nation in Arizona. We were privileged to visit St. Michael’s Association for Special Education and the evangelical (Protestant) church at Hunter’s Point, along with several others from our church.
This type of ministry is the essence of what Jesus meant when he told us to be his witnesses (Acts 1:8). Too often, we assume that someone else will do it for us. “The church does that,” we think. But “the church” can’t go on mission trips. The church can’t visit someone in the hospital. The church can’t tutor someone who’s trying to learn to read or to speak English. People have to do those things, and I’m so happy that people who do, call this church home.
The church, of course, has a role in carrying out the mission of Christ in this world. Sometimes, we have to partner with others in our church to achieve what Christ calls us to do. As just one example, there are homeless people in our community who could actually afford to rent an apartment–except for the startup costs (first and last month’s rent, utility hookups, etc.). Believers at Desert Hills help to address that need by giving A.R.C.H. money through their contributions to the church’s mission budget. (For another example, see the article in this issue. We support the food pantry individually by donating food, and together as a church with our contributions.)
The second thing our church does is equip the saints (you and me) for ministry (Ephesians 4:11-16). The things we do as the gathered church–our Sunday worship, fellowship activities, and education programs –all function like the “huddle” a football team goes into before each play. When we’re finished with our “huddle” we disperse, going back into the world to carry out our Commission.
With summer winding down, we will be resuming our second worship service. Last spring, our two services were practically identical; the only significant difference was that the choir sang in the first service. This fall, we’re going to be looking for ways to give each service its own flavor. The choir will participate in the first service, as before. In the second service, I’m going to begin using multimedia (i.e., a projector). I have some ideas about how that can enhance the worship experience. This will give me a “laboratory” to experiment, by projecting scriptures and prayers on the screen, referring to other scriptures, including visual aids, and so forth.
No matter which worship service you prefer, you will be able to participate in a Bible Study this fall. If you come for the first service, stay for a Bible study afterwards. Or come for a Bible study during the first service, then join us in worship afterward.
It’s always exciting in the fall as we shake off our summer doldrums and ramp up our programs. I think our “huddles” will be even more helpful to us this fall. But nobody goes to a game to watch the huddle. What really matters is what we do after the huddle. If you’ve got ideas about things we can do as a church to help one another carry out the Great Commission between Sundays, give me a call. I’d love to talk with you about them. And until next time, be a blessing!
The future of retirement
A thought-provoking discussion of retirement that I came across had some amazing statistics:
Studies show that retirement is no good for you. Even if you hate the job you go to every day, sudden abrupt inactivity is a bad idea. A working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research entitled “The Effects of Retirement on Physical and Mental Health Outcomes” studied people in complete retirement over six years. It found that retirement led to a 5 to 6 percent increase in illness, a 6 to 9 percent decline in mental health, and a 5 to 16 percent increase in mobility difficulties.
It made me think of this video from Mosaic:
(If you’re curious, I was directed to the WaPo item quoted above from a different type of discussion in the Atlantic; the point there was the strain put on society when retirement ages are falling even as lifespans are increasing and birthrates falling.)
Catalyst West Coast 2009 (More)
Filed under: church, conference, Ecumenical, education, wisdom |
Leave a Comment There were a number of great talks over the two days of the Catalyst Conference, but in some ways the first was the best. (For me as a pastor. Another talk was the best for me as a follower of Christ; I’ll write about that in a few days.)
The talk was by Andy Stanley, who spoke about leading a church in uncertainty (e.g., the economy). There was a lot of good advice in his talk, but the best piece of advice was — duh! — you’ll do better in uncertain times if you know what you’re trying to accomplish.
What is your mission?
Our church does have a mission statement, but I doubt if anybody knows what it says. I don’t. Developing one we can all take to heart is something our Session needs to devote some serious time to discussing and praying about.
Catalyst West Coast 2009 (More)
There was a great slate of speakers at the conference, including some “big names” like Rick Warren and Andy Stanley and Ravi Zacharias. There was also a great presentation by Erwin McManus (whose book Unstoppable Force we just studied in the Wednesday class). But one of the most impressive speakers was someone I’d never heard of: Nick Vujicic. I can’t link to his presentation at the conference, but here’s a sample to give you an idea:
Catalyst West Coast 2009
Filed under: church, conference, Ecumenical, education, music |
Leave a Comment This is the first year that Catalyst has had a west-coast event. I’m glad I went.
That’s the worship (or, Presbyterians would say, the “worship music”). The band is Hillsong United, from Australia.