the Herald

I must admit that I am usually not a big fan of our church’s offical publication, the Herald. I usually don’t find much value in reading it. Often, I simply scan it for pictures of friends or articles that jump out at me. Unfortunately, not many articles catch my attention. This month was different. I was drawn in by the article Statements of Faith & Beliefs (pg 12-14). At first glance it is nothing more than a statement of basic Christian beliefs about Christ. For me, however, it represents much more. My young adult friends and I often discuss where our church fits in to the larger Christian community. We often struggle with the fact that at times it seems that our church doesn’t stand for anything or it is at least difficult to define what it is we do stand for. Other churches seem to have it easier in some ways by simply telling people what to believe. Personally, I love that our church allows us to freely explore our beliefs. Still, I think a few statements from the world church affirming some core values will go along way for some in answering the question “what does your church believe? I am very excited that the church’s first statement is about Christ. In my discernment about re-designing our worship service at Troy, I have been filled with the sense that our worship needs to get back to being about Christ. On any given week, worship has some elements about Jesus but the service is also filled with many other things that are more for us than for God. I firmly believe that no matter how we worship or what our exact theology is, if Christ is at the center of what we do as a church, then lives will be transformed and our church will flourish. As I continued on through the Herald, I came across an article written by my sister-in-law Julie (pg19). It was a wonderful expression of Christ’s meaning in her life. I echo the sentiment Jesus is our friend, brother, and savior. That’s exactly the message we need to take into the world. I feel so blessed to have Julie as a sister. It’s so wonderful to have family (obviously my wife Sarah included)who share my passion for serving Christ. I’ll leave you with words from our president Steve Veazey, “In response to the question about what we believe, whatever else we say, our answer should obviously always begin and end with, we believe in Jesus Christ.”

Spiritual Gifts

The bible list many spiritual gifts in both Romans and Corinthians. I have long thought that this is far from a complete list. For me, any gift or talent that one chooses to use for God is a spiritual gift. I received affirmation this summer at Sr high camp as to what one of mine is. I relate really well to Sr high kids, I always have. Likely because as Sarah says ” I am a kid at heart”. Since I am able to relate to them I can provide ministry where others can not. As I get older I realize that this is something I shouldn’t take for granted. God has called me to provide ministry to this age group which is often overlooked. Sarah and I are exploring (with other young adults)the possibility of taking over Sr high activities at our congregation. We are excited to see what comes about as a result. I don’t mention any of this to make myself look good but to give praise to God for what he has given me. What spiritual gifts has God given you? Have you praised him for them? It has been a very wonderful experience for me to realize this spiritual gift inside. It is empowering to know God chooses to use all of us in such awesome ways. I pray you will feel empowered in your own giftedness.

baptism

I just had the honor of baptizing my third person on Friday. I think it may be my favorite sacrament. I love all that it represents and the fact that it is a “once in a lifetime” event makes it even more special. There is nothing more exciting than witnessing someone make the decision to follow Christ. It’s a humbling experience to participate in. Each one that I have done is special to me. I love doing my part to live out the “Great Commission.” All glory goes to God for He is the one who really moved in their hearts. I was just fortunate enough to be around when it happened.

One Holy church

My favorite Christian band Third Day has a lyric in one of their songs about all Christians belonging to one Holy Church.  I like the idea of that.  Unfortunately, I know it will never happen until Christ returns.  Proof of that was revealed to me last week.  I atempted to plan an interdenominational worship with another local church ( the church that one of my fellow residents attends).  Sarah and I met with a few young adults from their church and we were all really excited about the possibilities.  We figured we could easily have well over 100 young adults and high school kids come for a BBQ followed by a praise service.  Bands from our church and from theirs would lead music and we would share a few testimonies.  I was upfront about who we are a church today but I did not hide our history either.  They left our meeting excited and wanted to invite their entire church to attend.  When they asked their pastor, he said we should not meet together for worship because we are too theologically different.  I am not even sure he knows anything about what our church believes.  It was very discouraging, honestly I felt like I got punched in the stomach.  I emailed their pastor with my point of view.  I assured him our only reason for meeting was to fellowship & worship Christ together.  That's it. No deep theological discussions or anything.  I told him we wanted to focus on what we have in common as Christians and not on what divides us.  Jesus never wanted to start a new religion let alone one with so many divisions.  In my view, churches exist to serve Christ and fulfill his mission and not the other way around.  Different denominations exist for a reason.  It takes many different worship styles and theology to reach different people.  However, those things should be secondary to the greater call of service to Christ.  The Community of Christ church is not without fault either.  For generations, we professed to be the "one true church".    I am SO glad we no longer collectively have that view.  What message are we as the larger Christian community sending to non-believers?  How are we ever supposed to reach others for Christ if we can't even come together for an hour and focus on Christ in worship? 

my 1st ordination

This past weekend I had the honor of participating in my good friend Kyle's ordination to the office of teacher.  It was a very spiritual and humbling experience.  It got me thinking about the Community of Christ sacraments.  They exist in part to enhance the spiritual life of the church.  What an awesome responsibility and privelege we have as priesthood to participate in them in place of Christ.  It amazes me that in spite of the fact that none of us is truly worthy, God still calls us to these roles. 

Taught by the Holy Spirit

have you ever read a quote that just jumped of the page and you knew it was something you would be saying to others.  I just finished reading a book that Shane & Alli got me about Grace.  I'll do my review in a future blog but I want to focus on a particular quote.  When Jesus was on earth he never promised a written document for his followers (ie Bible) but he did promise the Holy Spirit who would teach us all things.  This lines up perfect with my personal theology.  I have always put more stock in my experiences with the Holy Spirit than I have with my knowledge of scripture.  I have never been a Biblical literalist but we have friends who are.  Next time it comes up I will be able to challenge them with this quote.  Don't get me wrong I think knowledge of the scripture is very important.  It is one place where our generation falls short.  But what scripture reveals to us has to be balanced with what the Holy Spirit reveals to us.  when I thought about it more, it occurred to me that this is also what the Community of Christ affrims.  we are called to be a prophetic people and our D&C is a written account of the the Holy Spirit teaching us.  cool huh?

passionate preaching

I read a book last year that stated to be a really effective preacher you should only preach about things you are passionate about. That was reaffirmed to me yesterday when Sarah spoke. She talked about God’s creation and how we are called to be good stewards over the earth and its resources. This is a topic Sarah is very passionate about and she was able to illustrate it by destroying a painting of a sunset. She is probably the only one I know who could have delivered this message in such an effective manner. For those of us who do preach from time to time, I bet we will find our most effective sermons will be about things we are pasionate about.