Today is Cecilia Clemence’s first day alone in the office. To keep things simple she’s going to be using Julie’s old email address: julie@abilenefirstumc.org. Feel free to drop her a line.
Hate is Too Great a Burden to Bear
Today’s quotable is widely attributed to Coretta Scott King, but I haven’t been able to nail that down for sure.
Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated. — Coretta Scott King (Attributed)
Whether or not Mrs. King spoke them, the words are true and need to be heard.
A Thank You from the D.S.
We received a thank you card from Rev. Dee Williamston, Salina District Superintendent:
Thank you so much for your commitment to paying 100% of your 2017 mission shares. May God continue to Bless your Ministries.
To Wait for Christ
This is how we should wait for Christ’s return in glory:
To wait for Christ to come in his fullness is not just a passive thing, a pious, prayerful, churchly thing. On the contrary, to wait for Christ to come in his fullness is above all else to act in Christ’s stead as fully as we know how. — Frederick Buechner
Amen.
Frederick Buechner, “Waiting,” in Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons (New York, NY: HarperOne, 2006).
The Danger of Deifying the State
I believe that I’ve mentioned this before, but for me, the most important phrase in the Pledge of Allegiance is “under God.” The reason I place such importance on this is that:
All political power is the gift of God; but when men deify the state, either directly by a religious cult or indirectly by demanding for it the total loyalty and obedience that are due to God alone, it ceases to be human and become bestial. — G. B. Caird
We must place our nation “under God” for its own good and for ours.
G. B. Caird as cited by Colin E. Gunton, Actuality of Atonement: A Study of Metaphor, Rationality and the Christian Tradition (Edinburgh, Scotland: T&T Clark, 1988), 73.
Scripture as a Single Story
The Breakfast Club book study is gearing up for a discussion of Eight Life-Enriching Practices of United Methodists by Hal (Henry H.) Knight. Hal has a great penchant for explaining and summarizing. Here’s a great summary of the nature and purpose of scripture:
The Bible, for all its diverse components, can be seen as a single story, beginning with creation and culminating with a new heaven and earth, telling all that God has done in creation and redemption. Scripture shows us our world from God’s perspective, which is very different from our normal way of looking at things. It tells us who we were created to be, provides a diagnosis of our problem, and shows what God is doing to bring us and our world new life. — Hal Knight
Henry H. Knight III, Eight Life-Enriching Practices of United Methodists (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2001), 47-48.
Tweet of the Day
This tweet popped up on my Twitter feed this morning:
Stella was in big church tonight. She told me at supper, “Papa, your sermon was super boring!” — Adam Hamilton [1]
Good. It really does happen to everyone.
[1] Adam Hamilton. Twitter post, January 21, 2018, 7:31 p.m., https://twitter.com/RevAdamHamilton/status/955251502851022848.
No Place Where We Are More Like God
Today, I have another quote from Mike Slaughter’s lecture.
“There is no place where we are more like God than when we are giving.” — Mike Slaughter [1]
It’s true. God is Love and God’s gift of love (grace) flows out into the world (including human beings, made in God’s image) on a constant basis.
[1] Mike Slaughter, “The Heart of the Matter” (lecture, Orders and Fellowship Meeting, Younes Conference Center, Kearney, Nebraska, January 17, 2018).
Cecilia Clemence Started Today
With Everett Everson’s approval (he chairs the Staff-Parish Relations Committee), Jenny and I have made arrangements for Cecilia Clemence to serve as a short-term, part-time, Office Administrator. The hope is that this will give the Staff-Parish Relations Committee time to make a permanent hire at a measured and deliberate pace. She began training today.
Good News for the Poor
Jenny and I are in Kearney Nebraska for a clergy conference. I wanted to share this quip from Mike Slaughter:
“If it is not good news for the poor, it is not the gospel.” — Mike Slaughter [1]
Amen.
[1] Mike Slaughter, “The Heart of the Matter” (lecture, Orders and Fellowship Meeting, Younes Conference Center, Kearney, Nebraska, January 17, 2018).
Life-Enriching Practices
Our Next Breakfast Club meeting will be Saturday, February 24, 2018, at 8:30 a.m. We’ll be discussing the first half of Eight Life-Enriching Practices of United Methodists by Hal Knight. This is a great book about how we can draw closer to God. (I had a layperson in this church read it—and she has confirmed this.) I can’t make any promises, but Jenny is talking about making crepes.
Copies of the book will be available in the Narthex (next to the table where we sign congregational cards).
We’re in Kearney, Nebraska
Jenny and I are in Kearney, Nebraska for a (mandatory) Great Plains Conference Clergy meeting. We’ll be back Friday afternoon, in the meantime, we can be reached by cell phone, text, or email.