Again! I am out of touch!

Sorry to everyone for my inability to stay on top of my blog and regular communications with you. I quote the old latin, "mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa (forgive me)" My resolution for the rest of 2011 and especially for Lent is to make sure I update this page regularly and remain in touch! Notice how I didn't automatically state that I would blog everyday or even weekly? I am going to start with baby steps and just try to update this routinely ... I will shoot for weekly but at worst every two weeks.

Has anyone else here begun thinking about a lenten discipline? Remember Lent is just about giving things up in order to suffer with our Lord it is also about taking things on. That's right you can take on a new discipline like reading a book every day for 30 minutes instead of watching TV. Or, you could exercise on a regular basis, or .... the possibilities are endless. Let me here from you about what you are thinking about giving up or taking on for Lent?

Peace and Blessings!

Advent 2 - December 4, 2010

John the Baptist reminds me of the old story about the puppy who's chasing a car. When the puppy finally catches up to the car and sinks his teeth into the bumper he suddenly realizes that he has no idea what to do with it! John is passionately chasing and foretelling the coming of the Messiah. He is about to realize the presence of our Lord and his life like everyone else will be forever changed. It's not Christmas yet but it is time for us begin chasing the Messiah. Advent provides us with a time to begin clearing out the clutter in our lives in order to create a place the messiah our Lord Jesus Christ.

Proper 28 - November 14, 2010

I've been blogging with titles like Proper 22 or Proper 24 for several months now and it just occurred to me that many of you may not have any idea what that means or what it corresponds to! Forgive me for my oversight and for not properly explaining those titles! Simply stated those are the lectionary selections from Holy scripture prescribed for the coming Sunday. Henceforth in order to be user friendly and inviting I will simply title my post according to the coming Sunday. There, I feel better already!

Proper 20

God or Wealth? That seems to be the question we're being asked. When I was a kid I hated this lesson. It used to really tick me off that Jesus seems to be saying pick one and only one, God or wealth. Why can't we have both? If we have wealth why can't it be okay to do some good things with that wealth?

I suspect the real issue here is who are you going to worship, God or wealth? Back in the old days, when we used to actually go inside banks, I noticed stained glass in the windows at my bank. I also looked around and noticed high cathedral style ceilings. The bank building looked like a church and contained many of the same trappings you might find in a church. This bank looked like a modern place of worship. I believe Jesus is trying to say worship God not money and wealth.

That's the problem for many particularly in our world where we can have anything we want with one quick mouse click. Many worship their possessions and wealth rather than our Lord. It is so easy to place priority on obtaining things and protecting wealth rather than focus on a relationship with God. It is easy because our world bombards us with "things and stuff." We all want to the latest and the greatest things and the coolest stuff. We work hard for the money we have and want to spend it "our way."

Jesus is telling us that a relationship with God is worth more than all the wealth in the world. He is actually saying pick one, wealth or me. But, it is not so much a referrendum against wealth as much as a highlight of the importance of a life with God. When we place a life in relationship with God as our priority we are being led by the Kingdom and being taught to choose that relationship above and beyond all else.