July 2008

Some valuable worship practices have become so time-laden they are in danger of becoming commonplace. The public reading of Scripture is one such practice. Paul commended it to Timothy: “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture” (I Tim. 4: 13). On occasion I’ve been asked to help persons prepare for such ministry. Here’s what I shared with them. Maybe it will be useful to you and others in your church. Continue reading …

Last year Peggy Hanson, who works in employee relations at Friendsview Retirement Community, asked if I could fashion for her a “talking stick.” As part Cherokee and a tribal member, she knew of this Native American practice, and that I fashioned assorted wooden things, like talking sticks, clocks, mottoes and stumps. Along with other native peoples, during a powwow, traditionally, a Cherokee chief would give the stick in turn to persons who would speak to an issue. When one held the stick others kept quiet and listened. A stick was often carved artistically, or enhanced by an eagle feather secured by leather thong or fur strip.

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May 2008

Last fall Reedwood Friends (Portland) held a class on “How can Friends recover successful outreach?” I led a session based on this Scripture text:

“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps’.” (John 4:35-37 NKJV)

Let’s consider together four kinds of “white unto harvest” situations in which both Gospel sowing and reaping occur: Continue reading …

April 2008
Some nights I worry. Not often, but occasionally. Maybe I’m hyper from too much activity, food, or ego stroking. I should drift off to sleep, but I don’t. Did I lock the car? Do I hear a faucet dripping or is it rain pattering the windowpane? Will the war ever stop? Why don’t they return my call? This pain in my back, is it angina, arthritis, or acid reflux?
So I flip- flop side-to-side seeking to get more comfortable. I fluff pillows and untangle blankets. Then I opt for practical strategies, like staring at the sky until I get drowsy. Like munching a cracker, which often works (whether physical or psychological, who knows)! Continue reading …

March 2008

Scoffing at believers has become a spectator sport in some circles. The press gleefully gibes at evangelical foibles– like multi-dyed hairdos on televangelists or churchy glitz, and, more hurtfully, heaps scorn upon Christianity whenever well-known leaders get snared in sexual or financial sins. In contrast, media often eulogize pop stars whose heralded infidelities they cloak in indulgent adulation. Tolerance for evil can be an effective social tool.

Thankfully, media taunting has temporal limits. Continue reading …

“Gospel Teams” February 2008

Sometimes for valid reasons we abandon useful things and effective practices, i.e., they’ve become dysfunctional, we lack resources, or we find something better. Sometimes for invalid reasons we abandon useful things and effective practices, i.e., we’ve misused them, we don’t want to put forth the effort, we accommodate uncritically to cultural fads. Fortunately, old things often get refurbished and function effectively again, like the oak chairs from which I scrape off gobs of green paint, restore luster, and make useful again. I’m not sure why “Gospel team” ministry declined. Continue reading …

The governor of Georgia made national headlines last November for convening a meeting at which he led citizens in praying for rain. Some rain fell the next day, which scoffers said had been predicted anyway; then an inch or more fell the following week. Was it divine intervention? Believers opined it might have been; in any case they praised God for it. (Rain-drenched folks elsewhere would gladly have shared their over-oversupply!) Continue reading …

Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, echoing Psalm 23, uttered a prophetic word about the Messianic calling: “to guide our feet into the path of peace” (Luke 1: 79 NIV). Divine guidance may mean replacing an old path with a new one. Consider how this applies to discernment. We often, and rightly, view discernment as a call to intervene with Spirit-guided words or deeds in lives or situations of other folks. But it also means knowing when to move away in order not to impede God’s work. Organizationally, we “stand aside” from an approved judgment. Personally, we give another person space from our influence. Continue reading …

While cleaning up my library I found a lecture by George H. Williams, “Friends of God and the Prophets” (Harvard Divinity Bulletin, 1965). Professor Williams tutored me in church history one semester, 1952, in Boston. Some the insights of this Anabaptist historian and Harvard Professor shaped my holistic formulations in “New Call to Holiness” and Exploring Heaven. He uses the word “pietism”, a word that with cognates such as “piety”, has strong historical significance, but, alas, got trashed. In Europe Pietists such as Franke, Spener, and Zinzendorf complemented Quaker and Wesleyan teachings about crucifying the self and experiencing ecstatic joy in Christ’s presence within. So, ponder two citations from Williams and reflect upon God’s call to holiness—a solid and challenging theological term.

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Do you recall an old idiom, “Don’t steal my thunder”? It protests one person carelessly or maliciously misappropriating another’s idea, invention, or particular social role. Curious about its origin, I did a bit of research and here’s what I found. Two hundred years ago dramatist John Dennis devised a way to simulate a thunderclap for his play performed at the Drury Lane Theatre in London. He had metal balls roll around in a mustard bowl to achieve this special effect. Well, the play flopped. Sometime later he attended a Shakespearean play during which his thunder-making devise was employed. Considerably agitated, he yelled, reportedly, “They will not let my play run, but they steal my thunder!” (Martin, PhraseFinder)

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