Archive for the ‘The Church’ Category

District Conference

Saturday, May 8th, 2010

This past week I was at our New England District Conference.  The pastors of the LC-MS in New England get together at least twice a year for worship, fellowship/networking, learning and some information/business.  There’s some work involved, but it’s usually fun too.  I really appreciate the other men in our district, and I’m excited by many of the things happening here.

The main presenter was actually a college friend of mine who is now a professor at one of our Lutheran Universities. (My alma mater, Concordia University Wisconsin.)  He was quite good.  He talked with us about the realities of life in the digital world and the implications of this “culture” for ministry.  I hope to write more on that early next week.

We also got updates on various “happenings” in our district.  One exciting presentation was from those working on a church plan in MA.  Check out their web-site, here.

Posted in Being A Pastor, Learning, Technology, The Church | No Comments »

Tied Together

Monday, March 1st, 2010

A couple days ago, two of my boys tied themselves together.  They used a piece of rope and several belts.  They tied their arms, legs, and middle together so that they were side-by side (picture the old “three legged raced.”)  They stayed like this for about an hour and a half.

They fell a lot.  They laughed a lot.  Surprisingly, they didn’t get mad at each other much.

Watching them, I thought this was an interesting experiment and an interesting picture for the Church.  We are “tied together.”  Baptized by One Spirit into the One Body of Christ–we’re in this together.  Each part doing it’s work for the benefit of one another.  Sometimes we fall down in the process, because we are still learning to work together and because we are naturally clumsy.  How great would it be if we singly laughed every time we “fell down” together.  This could also be a good image for married couples!

I am thankful for the Spirit  of Christ in our midst at OSL.  We do get along quite well.  But it’s always good to keep these types of things in mind and to remember not to take ourselves too seriously, to have ample grace for one another, even as Christ showers such grace on us moment by moment.

Posted in The Body of Christ, The Church | No Comments »

New England: The Most “Unchurched” Region of the Country

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

For years, the Northwest was said to be the most “unchurched” area of the U.S.  At our District convention last weekend, I learned that New England now has this distinction.  (Here’s one article that makes note of this in respect to some individual states)  In surveys, a greater number of poeple have identified themselves as having no church affiliation.  I beleive the numbers to be even higher than surveys will reveal.  There are many that “claim” an affiliation with a church but have no real relationship with that faith community, or even God Himself.  Maybe there are some who are just “in between” church homes.   Perhaps there are others in this group that still have a trust in God through Christ, yet, for some reason have chosen to “go their own way” and no longer associate with His Church.   But I imagine that the vast majority do not have such a trust.

What is your reaction to this news?  Is your gut response to this to start griping about “those heathens” and to say, “no wonder our country is in such a state” etc.?  Or, are you filled with compassion for people who do not yet know the forgiveness and love of God in Christ?  I pray the latter.  I pray that rather than grumble about the “Sorry state of affairs” you will see this as an amazing opportunity to demonstrate the love of Jesus.  It may not be easy, but is not that our Call?

Posted in Culture/society, Sharing The Faith, The Church | 1 Comment »

“Nature Is My Church”

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Saw this on a bumper sticker lately:  “Nature Is My Church.”  Now, I’ve been known to worship God in the out-of-doors quite a bit.  If you know me, you know that I love to get out and walk, hike, kayak etc.  I dig a mountain view.  A crisp clear, rushing stream.  The wide expanse of horizon at the shore.  Waterfalls of every shape, size and volume of H2O.  I love to see some critters, too.  From moose, to bison, to little birds, I love to see them all.  And when I see such beautiful creations, I give thanks and praise to God.  I worship.  With awe and gratitude for who God is and what He does.  I reflect on my own smallness and sinfulness in comparison to the Great God that made this vast universe and knows the where-abouts of every one of His creatures.  Nature, and spending time in nature, often evokes from within me, deep and heartfelt praise and adoration and even a good measure of repentance and humility.  In this sense, I “get” what this bumper sticker might be saying.

But.  (You knew there was a “but” coming, didn’t you?) But.  I’m not so sure that is the whole of what the person who stuck this on her car is getting at.  I’m guessing that there is more in this simple phrase than a love for nature. I’m guessing that there is also a DISLIKE of “organized religion” and the “Christian Church” in particular. Again, I can understand such sentiments.

The Church is made up of people. Sinful people. Such people, by definition, do things wrong and even bring hurt and pain into the lives of others. This is very sad. It is very real. People get hurt in the Church.

People also get confused and frustrated in the Church. The Church has been known to make up its own rules from time to time that obscure the actual rules of God Himself and make it hard even to see His loving and forgiving nature shown to us in Jesus. This stinks. It’s caused lots of problems. The Church has caused lots of problems.

But. With all that said, the Church is actually God’s idea. Maybe it’s not supposed to look like it often does today, hidden away in mysterious buildings, sometimes obscured by strange speech, rituals and even dress. But the Church is still God’s thing. God’s people to be exact. And when the Church comes together, God Himself is there in a way that is special, unique and distinct from the way in which He is “there” when I hike a mountain, or kayak on a lake.

Jesus says that when two or more are gathered in His name, there He is with them. And again, Jesus tells us that when we eat His Supper, He is actually present, His body and blood shed for us for the forgiveness of our sins. And the Word of God which is read and sung and preached among us—that Word is living and active; it is God Himself speaking to us even more clearly than He does through the beauty of the created world.

It’s sad that we can make such a mess of things that people wouldn’t want to be part of the Church anymore. That they’d rather be off by themselves doing things their own way. Because being off by ourselves and doing things our own way is not what we were created for. In fact, that can be very harmful. We need the Church. Because we need other people. More importantly, we need God who is revealed in a special way, in the midst of His people through His Word and in The Lord’s Supper.

Posted in Hikes and Walks, The Church, The Creation/Nature | No Comments »