Reflections from the General Assembly

Note:  The General Assembly of the PC(USA) is in its last full day of meeting today.  Many important decisions will be made and I will try to keep you posted on them.  Please remember that the decisions of committee are recommendations to the full Assembly and may not be approved, and that most of the significant decisions of the Assembly must be ratified by the presbyteries between now and the next Assembly in 2010.  The newspapers and television news usually don’t get our process right. Continue reading →

i. 30 Hours to change the world

ii. Let’s Talk

For sixteen years, youth from across America and now the world have participated in something called The 30-Hour Famine (click here and browse for more information) sponsored by World Vision, the Christian relief organization.  To date they have raised over $100 million.  This year a half million teens in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere are expected to raise $12.5 million to combat hunger and its causes.  But a lot more than money has been raised over the years.  Awareness of global hunger and poverty has been raised.  And, for some, faith in Jesus Christ as the one who sends us into the world to feed the hungry and calls us to himself to have our hungry hearts fed has also been raised. 

The 30-Hour Famine has been an LPC event for more than a dozen years, and in many ways it is the hallmark event for the entire year of youth programming.  Barb Chase expects over 140 kids from our church and community and a couple of other partner churches to join us in this year’s famine. Continue reading →

i. Sharing the Life of Jesus?

ii. Let’s Talk

It’s on the homepage of the website.  We see it every Sunday at the top of the bulletin.  It’s on our stationary and business cards.  It’s that wonderful phrase “sharing the life of Jesus.”  But what do we mean when we say it as often as we do?  I’ve been thinking about sharing the life of Jesus.  It’s something the Bible talks about. 

There are a couple of different Greek words used in the New Testament and that are translated as “share.”  One of the words means to give and is also used when speaking of sharing with those in need.  The other word means to join in or participate and reflects one of the deep joys and mysteries of the Christian life. 

Let me give you a “sharing the life of Jesus” sampler from the Scriptures: Continue reading →

Grace and Election (presidential and otherwise)

And then there were four.The winnowing continues and post-Super Tuesday, we’re down to four contenders for two presidential nominations. Okay, Ron Paul fans, I know there may be five, but I’m afraid your guy just might not make it. 

The answer to the question is “yes.”I just don’t know the details.The question, of course, is “should there be some kind of campaign finance reform?”Poor, well not really, Mitt Romney spent $654,000 for each delegate he won in his failed bid for the presidency.And pity Rudy Giuliani who, $48 million later, leaves the store empty handed.(You can read all about it here)Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama have each raised over $100 million and for one of them it will be all for naught.  Continue reading →

Trash Talk and the Gospel

So Plaxico Burress and Tom Brady are doing a little jawing.  What would Super Bowl week be without some trash talk?  And those of us who have a horse in this race (if you’ll pardon the mixed metaphor), say “bring it on.”  By the way, it didn’t take long to discover that there are some LPC folks who most definitely have a horse in this race.  Super Bowl trash talk?  I kind of like it.  All part of the fun.

Then there’s Mitt and John, Hillary and Barak.  They say they’re just clarifying the record, helping us understand the issues.  We know better.  It’s campaign trash talk and it is, and always has been, part of American political life.  Abraham Lincoln’s opponents often caricatured him as an ape, and in its reporting of his address at Gettysburg, The Chicago Times editorialized that “the cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat, and dishwatery utterances of the president.”  Trash talk.

Again, those with a horse in the race, or an elephant, as the case may be, sometimes delight in the sparring and are disappointed when the contestants are just too nice to each other.  Political trash talk?  Like it or not, it’s here to stay.

How about trash talk in the church?  Nothing wrong with some Super Bowl jawing. And, yes, let’s talk politics – if Jesus is Lord of all, he’s lord of the political process and Christians need to be informed and involved, even if the conversation gets a bit heated.  But there’s a difference between good-natured sparring and wrestling with tough issues and trash talk.  In fact, trash talk in the church is forbidden.  Paul tells the Ephesians, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Ephesians 4:29) The word translated as “unwholesome” literally means decaying or rotten and was used to describe decaying fish or fruit no longer fit to eat, the stuff you throw into the trash.

Trash talk and the Gospel just don’t mix.  Among those who know the Good News the standards are edifying and beneficial. 

I still haven’t decided who I’m rooting for on Sunday (feel free to lobby), and I have until November 4 to determine who I’ll vote for (we’ll need to talk together).  In the meantime, no trash talk among the saints.