Last night I learnt that one of the true modern day saints of the church has died. Eugene Peterson is best known for his modern paraphrase of the Bible called “The Message.” I have used it for years and find that it particularly is useful in shedding new light on particularly well known passages. But he was a very prolific writer producing many books which I believe should be on every minister’s shelf, and possibly every elder in the church too. He has a beautiful quiet, pastoral spirituality and to read his books slowly, just allowing his words and phrases to wash over you gently, like summer waves on a beach, is a wonderful experience. “Five smooth stones for pastoral work,” in particular, is great reading for any elder and should be in every elder training course. “Reversed Thunder” is a wonderful exposition of the book of Revelation and “Living under the Unpredictable Plant.” is a refreshing look at Jonah, to name but a few. Buy them for yourself, borrow them from me – but don’t lose them! I do not mind, but read this person’s wonderful insights, you will never regret it.
Category: From The Manse
Neither do I condemn you. Go your way and sin no more
One of the great debates of our age in the church is how to cope with the changing norms in society. Go to the Perth Kinnoull Parish Church Facebook page to read one person’s thoughts.
Kinnoull Parish Church now has a Facebook page. If you are on Facebook look for Perth Kinnoull Parish Church and there you will find regular updates and inspirational comments to help you through your week. For example this week I have written:-
In my daily reading today I was reminded that Christians do not believe that environment, makes a person a Christian, nor does heredity make a person righteous, nor education makes one moral. Every person makes their own decision for or against God. Every life is an accumulation of those decisions. The choice is free, the decision open. Any one person can choose either way. Joel point out that multitudes are in the valley of decision. That means that every person you meet is making their own decision. Does what you say and what you do help them to make a decision for Jesus Christ?
“Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God.” Philippians 2:12a
Broken Promises
One of the questions that rolls around in my head from time to time is the place of infant baptism in the church. I know all the arguments about the role of the Holy Spirit, the outward sign of an invisible grace and the other theological aspects, but in some ways what is concerning me more is the practical side of things. I am still getting to know my parish. I am still meeting new people on my visits. They have not been in the church for two years, so I have not seen them on a Sunday and I am only now getting to meet them in their home.
As a result I am having conversations such, “I have not been in the church since the kids were christened.” The “kids” are now at University!
I am tempted to always say to people in this situation, “so you promised to bring your children up in the life and worship of the church, and have not followed through in any respect. How can I then believe anything else you now say?”
But then is it all their fault? Has the church ever done as Jesus suggested and “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ In other words, has the church ever followed up with these people and actually taken the promises seriously themselves?
Also has the church done as they promised and supported and helped them in this by providing a well equipped, staffed and functional nursery for the infants when they were very small and then a well planned, and well executed curriculum of discipleship for their children as they grew up and developed?
I will never forget the bored voice and look in my son’s face as he came home on one occasion to tell me that he was doing Noah’s ark for the fourth time! Too often, I think, we are simply looking for a way to keep the kids quiet so that the adults can do church!
I have no easy answer for these problems which are of course compounded these days by the whole raft of children’s activities and sports that now take place on a Sunday which are so much more appealing to the young people.
I have no quick and easy solution for these dilemma. I have no magic wand that I can wave. However I do think that we need to start asking questions, we need to improve how we respond to these promises, as parents and as church members before it is too late, if indeed it is not already too late!
Upcoming events
We have some exciting events coming up over the next few months at Kinnoull Parish Church. During Lent we will be hosting a Lenten Study entitled ‘The Journey,’ based on the book by John Pritchard. This will start on February 14th. We experience the journey with Jesus to Jerusalem and the Cross through the eyes of the disciples via Bible Readings, Poetry, Prayer and Reflection. We apply these reflections to our own lives and our role as disciples of Christ in the environment of today’s challenging world.
I would envisage sessions commencing at 7.45 for around 45 minutes with tea and coffee and chat afterwards for those who wish to stay.
Then during Holy Week itself there will be a series of services starting on the Monday evening with Pontius Pilate, at 7.30 in the church on the characters of Holy Week. This will be every night, including Saturday.
Then after Easter on April 25th we will begin a series called the God Question, Science, God and the search for truth. This will again last six weeks and take place on the Wednesday evenings looking at God and the cosmos, life and evolution and finally the mind and consciousness. We will explore the basic question, is our existence he consequence of some cosmic lottery or is it because of a creator’s intention?
Come along and explore some really interesting themes over the next few months.
You’ve got a friend in me
Elijah and Elisha, have you ever mixed up their names? If you were asked to distinguish between the two, could you do it? If not, don’t be too hard on yourself. Their names sound so much alike and their careers and ministries so intertwined it is hard not to get confused. Nevertheless, they were two different men with two very distinct ministries and two very distinct messages for today’s believer.
Without a doubt Elisha lived in the shadow of his more famous forebear. In so many ways Elijah came first, followed by Elisha. Elijah blazed the trails that Elisha followed and enlarged. Elijah was a prophet of fire, living in the wilderness, eating strange things, clothed in animal skins. Elisha on the other hand was the son of a wealthy farmer, enjoyed city life and the comforts of home. Throughout most of his life his ministry was eclipsed by Elijah, you will have heard many more sermons on Elijah down through the years than Elisha. Even at the height of his own ministry he was still known as the one who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah. He will forever be the obscure understudy of a great prophet, yet it was a role he did not seem to mind, even although he performed nearly twice as many miracles as his predecessor! Yet he has so much to teach us, even from the very beginning of his time with Elijah.
Elisha’s story begins as Elijah’s public ministry is drawing to a close. The first mention of him is when God is counselling a bone-weary, thoroughly discouraged Elijah. It should have been the greatest moment of Elijah’s career. He had defeated the prophets of Baal, calling down fire on the drenched altar and as the people fell down and worshipped the true of God of Israel Elijah had all 450 prophets of Baal slaughtered. On accomplishing this Elijah again called to God in prayer and brought rain to Samaria where there had been a 3 and a half year drought. As the rain fell he ran a marathon from My Carmel to Jezreel. However once there he learnt that Jezebel was out to murder him and so he ran further into the wilderness of Judea. Exhausted and depressed he crawled under a tree thinking all his effort a waste of time and just begged God to kill him. Put me out of my misery was his cry.
But then God enters the account, he ministers to Elijah, he feeds him, he encourages him, he gives him rest. It is at this point that Elisha first gets mentioned. God knew that Elijah needed a successor to carry on his work, but there were ten more years for that because God knew that even more important than that was the need for Elijah to have a friend. He needed a companion to share the triumphs and defeats, the moments of joy and of despair.
Elisha’s first ministry may not seem to be much, yet it was so important. His first ministry was simply to become Elijah’s friend. To be a listening ear, to offer words of counsel. His first ministry was simply to be there. Yes, it was true, he did pour water over Elijah’s hands, but more importantly he poured the refreshing water of encouragement over Elijah’s heart as his true companion. For ten years, until Elijah went up to be with God Elisha served Elijah, walking the dusty roads with him, listening, encouraging, counselling.
This is a ministry that is easy to overlook. We like the dramatic, the spectacular and this ministry is often not noticed or overlooked as it neither grabs the headlines nor the attention. Think about David and Jonathan. Jonathan was David’s friend at a critical time in David’s life. David went on to take the throne, got all the fame and all the renown, yet it was Jonathan who had stood beside him and encouraged him when David had felt that life was not worth living. In the New Testament we often hold Paul up as a role model, after all he was the greatest of the first century missionaries. But as you read Acts and as you read his letters you begin to wonder, where would he have been without his friends? How able would he have been to carry out his great journeys without Luke, Barnabas, Onesiphorus, Timothy?
Some people are called to a background ministry of encouragement. I wonder if that is you? Has God given you the gift by his Spirit to be able to come alongside other people and strengthen them by your presence. If so, do not despise that gift. Don’t allow yourself to feel that yours is a lesser calling. Sure, you might never bask in the spotlight of fame and acclaim. You maybe do not have the aggressive, dynamic personality of a David, Elijah or Paul, but these are famous in part because they are few and far between. There are far more who have the gift of encouragement, there are more of these needed who quietly work behind the scenes far from the acclaim of other people. So, do not worry, but instead remember that the real evaluation of a person’s life is when the good Lord tallies up your life, and when that happens many who were first will be last. Many of those who are in starring roles will have to take a step back in wonder at a man or woman who emerges from obscurity to receive the acclaim of heaven for being a friend to those who need encouragement. Who knows, that might even be you!
Thanksgiving
On Facebook this morning appeared a post which simply says, “Black Friday, because only in America do people trample each other for sales exactly one day after they have been thankful for what they already have.” Tomorrow is thanksgiving in America. A time when families get together to remember and give thanks for the year that is past. it is similar to our Harvest Thanksgiving in that it occurs after the harvest is gathered in but with the added nuance that if it had not been for the aboriginal Americans sharing their produce with the first immigrants then in all likelihood they would not have survived their first year in North America. So table decorations, rich in the colours of autumn, reds, oranges and browns, also feature pilgrims and Native Americans and the table is spread with pumpkin, turkey, pecans and all manner of delicious food.
Unlike Britain, Christmas decorations in the stores are held back until this week. It is all about Thanksgiving until Thursday, but then as midnight strikes the gloves are off, stores transformed into red, green and white fling open their doors and the worst excesses of consumerism rear their ugly heads. And so Black Friday was born, a time for huge sales in preparation for Christmas and commercialism of the worst kind.
Sadly now, because of global companies such as Amazon, Black Friday has migrated to the UK. However because we do not have Thanksgiving I have actually seen some shops advertise a week of Black Friday sales, as if that somehow makes sense!
It does make me ask the question, why is it that in our increasingly global village we seem to only adopt the worst excesses of each other’s cultures rather than the best? Is there a way that the church can provide sanctuary from the madness? We cannot just stop the world because we want to get off but can we echo Jesus words and say, I want to show you a better way…..
I wear the ring.
“I wear the ring.” That is the opening line of a book entitled “The Lords of Discipline,” written by Pat Conroy. It is a novel based on his experiences at The Citadel along with the experiences of others who attended similar colleges in the 1960’s such as The Virginia Military Institute, Annapolis, West Point and The Air Force Academy. The ring he refers to is the class ring worn by graduates of The Citadel who have not only survived the tough educational and physical requirements of the college but also adhered to the honour code which states that a Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal or condone anyone who does. Thus if you wear the ring you have proved yourself mentally, physically and morally. Those who are adjudged to have broken the honour code are dismissed from the college. The honour court can even demand the ring back from graduates if, in their business life, they break the code.
However on this eve of All -Saints, when we remember those who have kept the faith over the centuries and transmitted it down for us to keep, there is another aspect to The Ring. A Citadel graduate can stipulate, in their will, that upon their death their ring be given back to the ring foundation, melted down and the gold then added to the new gold being used to create the next class rings. There were actually six rings added to this year’s class, including Pat Conroy’s, as he died this past year. Thus there is a continuity, a communion of cadets which mirrors the communion of the saints in the church.
To wear the ring is a great honour and a great responsibility As the Foundation President stated in his address at this year’s ceremony, you may take off the uniform, but you never take off the ring. When people see that ring on a person’s hand it means something, it carries weight for it says something about the person wearing it.
We may not wear a ring to distinguish ourselves as Christians, we may not have any visible signal at all that we are part of the great army of saints who have faithfully and patiently kept the faith down through the generations but people are still aware of who we are and we are still ambassadors for Christ, just as Citadel graduates are ambassadors for their college. So as we remember this week the saints who have kept the faith and handed it down through the generations, let us dedicate ourselves once more to be loyal ambassadors in our generation. We may not wear a ring, but we carry a cross.
You have reached your destination
As you can guess from the lack of recent posts, I have been away. We were back in the USA visiting my son in college and Jane’s family in South Carolina. It was a great trip and we met up with some old friends and met new ones as well. The journey home however was a bit of a nightmare as our plane for the first leg broke down and so the airlines had to reroute us. That would have been OK except at every stage, and we had three flights, we were told that we were not booked on to the flight and it took the agent at the gate a while to sort things out although we had our boarding passes. it made it all quite stressful. However, we did get home eventually safe and sound which is, after all, what really matters.
It made me think about our journey through life and the different routes we all take. Some grow up in the church and have been in the church all their days. Others grow up in the church, drift away for a while before coming back. Others still have no church background but through friendships, sometimes because of events or because of having an enquiring mind they find their way to faith. They are all very different journeys with very different experiences yet they allow each of us to get to our final destination which is a relationship with God the father through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.
I think one of the big challenges for the church today is to be a church where every journey is encouraged and affirmed. Where people, no matter what their background, feel at home and cherished. For each journey brings its own rewards and blessings to fellow travellers. So if you are looking for people to support you on your journey, why not come along to Kinnoull Parish Church and join your fellow pilgrims. You never know, you might just decide that through Kinnoull you can reach your final destination.
Go in love
Go in love is this year’s theme at the Guild. I have a story that comes from a Sunday school ministry in the part of New York City that has been rated the “most likely place to get killed.” Pastor Bill Wilson has been stabbed twice, shot at, and had a member of his team killed: He tells this story,
One Puerto Rican lady, after getting saved in church, came to me with an urgent request. She didn’t speak a word of English, so she told me through an interpreter, “I want to do something for God, please.”
“I don’t know what you can do,” I answered.
“Please, let me do something,” she said in Spanish.
“Okay. I’ll put you on a bus. Ride a different bus every week and just love the kids.”
So every week she rode a different bus—we have fifty of them which go around the neighbourhoods picking up kids on a Sunday afternoon for Sunday school. —and loved the children. She would find the worst-looking kid on the bus, put him on her lap, and whisper over and over the only words she had learned in English: “I love you. Jesus loves you.”
After several months, she became attached to one little boy in particular. “I don’t want to change buses anymore. I want to stay on this one bus,” she said.
The boy didn’t speak. He came to Sunday school every week with his sister and sat on the woman’s lap, but he never made a sound. Each week she would tell him all the way to Sunday school and all the way home, “I love you and Jesus loves you.”
One day, to her amazement, the little boy turned around and stammered, “I—I love you, too.” Then he put his arms around her and gave her a big hug.
That was 2:30 on a Saturday afternoon. At 6:30 that night, the boy was found dead in a garbage bag under a fire escape. His mother had beaten him to death and thrown his body in the trash.
“I love you and Jesus loves you.” Those were some of the last words he heard in his short life—from the lips of a Puerto Rican woman who could barely speak English.
Who among us is qualified to minister? Who among us even knows what to do? Not you; not me. But I ran to an altar once, and I got some fire and just went.
So did this woman who couldn’t speak English. And so can you.
If you want to make a real difference in this world, you do not have to invent some amazing contraption, you do not need to come up with a theory on everything. You do not need a university degree or a bank account that looks like a telephone number. All you need to do is love.
Will your heart get broken?
Many times, I’m afraid.
Will it heal, in the power of God it will.
Will you love again?
With God’s help you will.
God wants to bless each one of us with his gift of love so that we can go out and tow many stranded souls into his kingdom.
Before Paul sets out his wonderful hymn of love, he says to the Corinthians, “eagerly desire the better gifts for now I will show you the better way.” If you want the gift of love, you have to earnestly seek it, you have to ask God for it, you have to pray that God will bless you with that gift. If Kinnoull is going to be known as the church which is full of God’s love we need to ask God to bless it with the gift of love, divine love, most excellent love. When you get to the pearly gates and Peter welcomes you in do you want to be able to say, well, I was a member of a church with a beautiful stained glass window, or I was a member of a church that went out and loved people into the kingdom of God? Which do you think Peter will appreciate more?