June 2009 Archives
Vacation Bible School
It will be at Monte Vista Elementary School off of Via Mira Mosa the week of July 27-31.
This Sunday there will sign up sheets for both volunteers and your children. We would also encourage you to continue thinking about the children of your neighbors and friends you would like to invite.
Church-Wide Fellowship Lunch
June 28th Volunteer/Hospitality Crew
Trailer: Castle
Hospitality: Gunnerson, Merchant & Landry
Ushers: Castle & Merchant
Nursery: Mallon & Vazzana
Preschool: DeWit Felden
Thank you all for your service to the church!
When the Mighty Fall
The first comes from Mollie Ziegler Hemingway who often writes for the Wall Street Journal and Modern Reformation magazine.
The second comes from the good folks at Mockingbird NYC, a fantastic blog that will feed your soul. You might also get sneak peek at sermon illustrations I borrow from them!
As you read these reactions to public sin, think through the way God reacts to our sin (both in its public and private forms). Thank God for the grace that he has shown us through his Son, Jesus. Pray that God would make that same grace known in the lives of men like Mark Sanford who have sinned so publicly. Extend that grace to those in your life who do not deserve it but who, like you, cannot exist without it.
Predisposed Sins
...it is my earnest prayer that God would use our people to impact this spiritually needy community. I pray for the day when transvestites can walk through our church doors and be greeted with genuinely warm smiles and Christian love. But before that day is likely to happen, they will need a Christian friend whom they have grown to trust; a person they know would never invite them to a place where they are going to be hurt or embarrassed publicly; a place where everyone is on level ground before the cross of Christ because all are sinners; a place where no one person’s sin is made out to be more repugnant than another’s; a place where all sinners can sit under the uncompromised preaching of holy Scripture and hear of the world’s only Savior and salvation in his name alone.
Replace the word "transvestites" above with any of the sins you are generally predisposed to (anger, violence, drunkenness, lust, gossip, fear, etc.) and you will understand my heartbeat for this church and our ministry. May we be a place where sinners are welcome, where WE are welcome.
Another strong point in the article is his description of evangelism. It's an encouragement to me to be more active in this kind of witnessing for Christ and I hope it is for you, too.
The Power of a Father's Words
Ok, that's the introduction to what I really wanted to talk about: rock star Lenny Kravitz (who hasn't sung along to "American Woman" in the car?) gave an interview recently in which he talked about his faith, his struggle as a single man and rock star with celibacy, and the influence his dad's infidelity had on him. Here's the relevant quote:
One day, during the break-up, his father sat down with his mother and Lenny. His mother asked his father, ‘What do you have to say to your son?’ Kravitz expected some kind of apology, or at least some kind of explanation, for the cheating. Instead, the words his father said to his son, looking him in the eye, were something else altogether. Awful words, it seemed, for a father to tell a son. Words that he would struggle to shake off:
‘You’ll do it too.’
‘It took me years to realise how powerful that was. There are things called word curses. You talk to Bahamians out here and if you say something, they’ll say, “Don’t put word on me.” And it was a word curse when he said to me…’ — Kravitz thumps on the table between us to punctuate each word of his father’s curse — ‘… “You’ll … do … it … too.” If you go and look at his history, his dad did it, he hated his dad for doing it. And then he passed the buck to me. He kind of handed that to me. And I had to wrestle with that.’
Kravitz's father gave his son a legacy of guilt and shame. He condemned his son to the same struggles and sins that had destroyed his own family. Surely Kravitz must own his own sins (sin isn't fate, after all), but the influence of his father's words was profound in his life. His father should have been picture of God to him, with words of grace and forgiveness. Instead, he was a picture of the Law, filled with condemnation.
Dads, what words do you speak to your children? Do you give them powerful words of blessing or do you speak words of condemnation? Our children will sin, but in their sin will they hear the words of forgiveness and love that you gave them or will they see their sin as the self-fulfillment of the curses you uttered over them?
In some reading today, I came across this complaint by a seminary president:
Because the PCA welcomes members solely on the basis of a profession of faith and not on the basis of absolute doctrinal agreement in every detail, we should be LESS inclined toward this particular form of narcissism, but I fear that we're not. This Sunday, we'll be reading the Apostles' Creed together again as a witness against theological narcissism, reminding ourselves of the central and common tenets of the Faith. What other actions could we take to keep from emphasizing small differences within our own exile community and between our community and others?
Each summer, the PCA (our denomination) convenes its General Assembly: part courtroom, part legislative body, part continuing education, part social hour, part fashion show (you've never seen so many seersucker suits!). Although I didn't go this year, I've been keeping up with developments via Twitter (#pcaga) and several interesting things have already happened.
Every GA has at least one major issue that will be debated and voted upon. This year it was the role of women in ministry, particularly in mercy ministries and the ordained office of the diaconate. Although my views on this subject have shifted a bit, I still think that for the purity and peace of the church we should abide by the rules set down in our Book of Church Order which stipulate that only men can be elected and ordained as deacons. Women and other men can be appointed to assist the deacons by the church's elders. The problem comes in that many churches are disregarding the exact wording of the Book of Church Order and allowing the congregation to elect women to a status of "deaconess" and then commissioning women to that role. So, there is a confusion in office and procedure that has led to a lot of mistrust among different churches and presbyteries.
Several proposals were sent up to General Assembly this year that would have clarified our beliefs and practices or set up structures to clarify belief and practice regarding women in ministry. All of the proposals (also called "overtures") have failed, though one might come back as a minority report later this week. For all intents and purposes, the denomination is settling for the status quo over and against taking up a potentially divisive issue.
There are good reasons for approving this course of action, but it will mean that those who oppose what certain churches and presbyteries are doing will have to take the difficult stance of bringing charges against them for actions not in keeping with our book of church order. While harder and potentially messier, it's probably better to look at these issues on a case by case basis especially since the BCO does seem to pretty clear on this issue.
All in all, I'm grateful to be in the PCA where we are talking about these issues. Sadly, many of our older Presbyterian churches (the Church of Scotland and the Presbyterian Church USA, to name two) are racked by other controversies that threaten to scuttle their very existence. May it never be so for the PCA.
Starting this Sunday and continuing through the rest of the summer is our new sermon series in First Peter, "Exile." Twice in the first chapter of his letter, the apostle Peter calls his readers exiles. For those of us living comfortably in the southern California exurbs, exile has been a difficult concept to understand. But now that the bedrocks of our comfortable existence (family, economy, finances, health, peace) are being shaken, we have quickly begun to understand the bittersweet tension between satisfaction and longing, which is so characteristic of the Christian's life in this world.
Take time to invite a friend to consider their own exile with you and be introduced to the man Jesus, who was himself exiled for our sins but has now entered into the heavenly city as our forerunner.
New Youth Bible Study Beginning June 17th
This summer all junior and senior high school students are invited to join us for a new Bible study focusing upon reading the Bible with Christ at the center. We will be opening up one of the more challenging books of the Old Testament, the Book of Judges, or better translated: "The Book of Warlords." We will be exploring how this exciting and often graphic book of the Bible points us to the perfect person and work of Christ as well as learning to grasp the fact that this ancient historical book was in fact also written for the us, the church.
So join us June 17th from 7pm to 9pm at the Gunnersons home for a time of fellowship and study.
Look forward to seeing your there!
This Fathers' Day, as you enjoy the new tie or the crazy coffee cup or just a quiet moment in the backyard, think about reciprocating to your children and your wife with words of blessing: words that remind our children of the promises and grace of our Heavenly Father.
Theological Narcissism
I grew up in an extended family that was divided church-wise between two Dutch Reformed denominations. My grandmother switched from one to the other when she married my grandfather. In making the switch, she experienced no change in her theology or pattern of worship. But her birth family saw her as having crossed a wide divide—and the tensions never completely disappeared. To be sure, there were some small differences between the two groups over some issues. But the way in which those issues were taken to be matters of deep division would puzzle an outsider, even someone fairly familiar with Reformed thought and practice.
In my ecclesiastical travels I have seen similar patterns in other theological-denominational settings: Parents who come close to disowning their daughter because she left their Wisconsin-Synod Lutheran denomination to marry a husband from the Missouri-Synod Lutherans. Baptists who see another group of Baptists as their worst enemies. Wesleyan versus Wesleyan, Orthodox versus Orthodox, Mennonite versus Mennonite.
The Freudians have a label for this kind of thing: “the narcissism of minor differences”—where two individuals or groups are so close to each other that what are in reality rather small differences between them become very large in their imaginations. But, of course, the label doesn’t really explain anything. It is just another way of pointing to a puzzling pattern.
I love that line, "the narcissism of minor differences." And it goes to the point I tried to make this past Sunday when speaking about our "exile community." If we rely on factors other than the gospel to define our exile, we are guilty of self-segregation--or, to use the new term, we are guilty of the narcissism of minor differences.Because the PCA welcomes members solely on the basis of a profession of faith and not on the basis of absolute doctrinal agreement in every detail, we should be LESS inclined toward this particular form of narcissism, but I fear that we're not. This Sunday, we'll be reading the Apostles' Creed together again as a witness against theological narcissism, reminding ourselves of the central and common tenets of the Faith. What other actions could we take to keep from emphasizing small differences within our own exile community and between our community and others?
General Assembly
Every GA has at least one major issue that will be debated and voted upon. This year it was the role of women in ministry, particularly in mercy ministries and the ordained office of the diaconate. Although my views on this subject have shifted a bit, I still think that for the purity and peace of the church we should abide by the rules set down in our Book of Church Order which stipulate that only men can be elected and ordained as deacons. Women and other men can be appointed to assist the deacons by the church's elders. The problem comes in that many churches are disregarding the exact wording of the Book of Church Order and allowing the congregation to elect women to a status of "deaconess" and then commissioning women to that role. So, there is a confusion in office and procedure that has led to a lot of mistrust among different churches and presbyteries.
Several proposals were sent up to General Assembly this year that would have clarified our beliefs and practices or set up structures to clarify belief and practice regarding women in ministry. All of the proposals (also called "overtures") have failed, though one might come back as a minority report later this week. For all intents and purposes, the denomination is settling for the status quo over and against taking up a potentially divisive issue.
There are good reasons for approving this course of action, but it will mean that those who oppose what certain churches and presbyteries are doing will have to take the difficult stance of bringing charges against them for actions not in keeping with our book of church order. While harder and potentially messier, it's probably better to look at these issues on a case by case basis especially since the BCO does seem to pretty clear on this issue.
All in all, I'm grateful to be in the PCA where we are talking about these issues. Sadly, many of our older Presbyterian churches (the Church of Scotland and the Presbyterian Church USA, to name two) are racked by other controversies that threaten to scuttle their very existence. May it never be so for the PCA.
New Sermon Series: Exile
Take time to invite a friend to consider their own exile with you and be introduced to the man Jesus, who was himself exiled for our sins but has now entered into the heavenly city as our forerunner.
Warlords & Kings
New Youth Bible Study Beginning June 17thThis summer all junior and senior high school students are invited to join us for a new Bible study focusing upon reading the Bible with Christ at the center. We will be opening up one of the more challenging books of the Old Testament, the Book of Judges, or better translated: "The Book of Warlords." We will be exploring how this exciting and often graphic book of the Bible points us to the perfect person and work of Christ as well as learning to grasp the fact that this ancient historical book was in fact also written for the us, the church.
So join us June 17th from 7pm to 9pm at the Gunnersons home for a time of fellowship and study.
Look forward to seeing your there!