2010

Bible

How to Throw Away a Bible

How do you throw away a Bible? After some saints of my church decided to clear out our Sunday School storage area (who wants to do that job?), an unusual question was posed. “What do we do with damaged Bibles?” I was not quite sure how to answer the question. I figured we could donate the Bibles to the Salvation Army or another religious non-profit.

After the damaged Bibles sat in a box outside of my office for a week, another church member asked about the Bibles. I told her that we were going to donate the Holy books. She picked up one of the Bibles and pages started fall out. “We are going to donate these? How do we through away a Bible?” The look on her face told me that these Bibles were not worthy to give to anyone and she was right. How can you tell others about Christ when the end of the book of Luke is missing?

How do you throw away a Bible? That question just seems wrong. I believe the proper question is, “How do you properly dispose of damaged Bibles?” You cannot just burn them. I think. That just evokes images of Nazi Germany and book burning. A nutty pastor recently created a controversial event, “Burn a Koran Day.” Not the route we want to go here folks.

After some research, I discovered the answer to the question, “How do you properly dispose of damaged Bibles? The answer is:

blog

My Sabbatical

I’m taking a short sabbatical from blogging till September (a collective “awwww man”). I have some personal deadlines I need to meet for the book I’m writing on associate pastor ministry for Judson Press. If all goes as planned, the book will be ready for the fall of 2011. I know that seems far away but it will come quickly. If something really pressing comes along in the news that I just have to respond to you may see a post.

Come September, I’ll be back up and running at full speed with blogging.

Jesus

What Would Jesus Wear?

Hmmm... I think I'll wear my "Jesus is my homeboy" shirt today.

Many of us have heard of WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) but how about WWJW (What Would Jesus Wear?) Check out this actual toy , on the right, that is sold in stores. I first thought this was a joke, but then I saw that you can buy this doll action figure for about $15. Based on this action figure, Jesus would wear just about anything. Including a 80’s boom box stereo (look close in the back ground) I’m glad to see a cross is there. I think.

Some may see this as sacrilegious, but I think it is a point of reference for commentary in our culture. No longer is Jesus off limits from commercialization. Sure “Christian” businesses make money of Jesus related digs, but now we see secular businesses making money off Jesus’ likeness. Trademark infringement anyone?

The likeness of Jesus and his apparel may not seem critically important to the average person. Christ spoke a few times about clothing, but never clear on what to wear. There are references to sharing clothing and being watchful of the Pharisees wearing their religious clothing in order to be seen.

Should we be concerned with what we wear?

blog

Shout-outs from Bloggers

Thanks for the shout outs from bloggers who attended smAlbany on Tuesday. (Read the last post for my review) A few bloggers who attended the panel talk I was a part of had some great things to say:

The World Through My Lens wrote,

Mike Huber led a panel called Local Social Media and Your Customers. He asked about blogging and tweeting – why would you want to do it, and why would people care?… My favorite panelist was Rev. Al Rudnick. I am not huge on religion, but he explained how people are using Twitter and Facebook during church and how they encourage it. They even project it on a large screen so people can see it and participate. I think I will try this on Sunday. I bet the people in our church wont be as accepting…

VIP Guest Blogger, dozenroses13 wrote,

“What degree do ethics play in a community?” Rev. Alan Rudnick spoke about people who “hide behind the veil” AKA – Anonymous bloggers. “Be a follower OR have a following.” Your choice. They spoke about the recent “Ding Dong Ditch” incident that happened locally last week. Why did it become such a firestorm? It was a story that contained emotion. It could happen to any home owner. Social Media helped that story spread like wild-fire. So much so that CNN picked up the story.

Albany

A Pastor Goes to smAlbany…

No, it is not the start to a lame joke, but I served as a panelist at smAlbany. smAlbany is a yearly small business gathering put on by Liberteks.com. This year was the 5th Annual smAlbany Small Business Expo. smAlbany focuses on the technology aspect of networking, business, and career development. I quickly discovered that smAlbany is a pejorative term for Albany, NY – “small-bany” The urban dictionary even has an entry for it.

So how did a pastor end up on a panel for a business expo? Good question. In addition to my blog here, I also blog for the Times Union Newspaper as their protestant religion blogger. Michael Huber, the online content manger, thought it would be a great idea to have me as a panelist on the subject of, “Local Social Media and Your Customers.” In addition to myself, the panel consisted of

Vic Christopher, Assistant General Manager, Tri-City ValleyCats
Merci Miglino, Speaker, trainer, and author
Sonja Stark, Videographer and owner of PilotGirl Productions
Lissa DAquanni, Adjunct Professor and small business owner

As you can see, it is a very eclectic mix of people and professions. I would say the seminar was well attended and provided people loads of information on social media. Alright, enough with the background. You are probably thinking, “What did they talk about?”

Lewis Fellows

Young Clergy Unite

This past week I attended the first gathering of my Lewis Fellows cohort in and around Washington D.C. I blogged about the whole program and the reasons why the Lewis Center for Church Leadership focuses on young clergy. It was a wonderful experience to connect with other young clergy because there are so few of us. Also, ministering in Upstate New York, I do not get opportunities like this. It was extremely affirming to be in a gathering where younger clergy are seen as critical to the present and future Church.

Our sessions were thoughtfully led by experts and leading pastors. Much of our discussion revolved around leadership, vision, practice of ministry, dealing with conflict, and transforming churches. Not only was the theoretical covered in our meetings, but practical learning. We visited churches and talked with pastors who were able to transform their churches or in some cases bring a church back from death.

As I participated in the discussion, it was clear that not only do clergy need to understand leadership, but lay people need to understand certain realities of church leadership: Continue Reading…

Lewis Fellows

Lewis Fellowship

I’m away this Sunday, but our Area Minister Jane Lang will be preaching. Jane serves as the Area Minister for the Capital Area Baptist Association, Fransego, and Mid-Hudson/Union associations and is a former missionary to the Congo. She attended Central Baptist Seminary and graduated with a Master of Divinity degree. Jane served three churches as either Pastor or Interim Pastor and been a chaplain at a nursing home. I have appreciated Jane’s leadership in CABA and for our church.

This Sunday, we will have some lay people involved in worship and leading in different ways. I hope that you will join with the congregation in worshiping this Sunday at FBC.

This week, I will be attending something truly unique and fruitful: The Lewis Fellows. The Lewis Fellows Program is a post-graduate, post-ordination leadership development opportunity for young clergy offered by the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary through a grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. The Lewis Fellows program brings together outstanding young clergy persons from across North America (under the age of 35) for intensive leadership development activities and sustained peer interaction. The fellowship lasts for two years and is fully funded from a grant by the Lilly Endowment.

Many ask, “Why all this attention on younger clergy?”

sacrament

Guest Blogger: Tripp Hudgins the AngloBaptist

Part III: Sacrament vs. Ordinance: Guest Blogger, Tripp Hudgins (AngloBaptist). Check out Part I & Part II.

Alan generously asked me to participate in this blog series on Baptist sacramentality and immediately I said yes. I wanted to chime in. But it took me a while to figure out how I could share my thoughts. As a baptist, I think the testimony might be the best mode of communication in this instance. I hope you will all bear with me.

I was in seminary listening to a lecture on the Eucharistic Prayer, that traditional prayer that many denominations use when celebrating the Lord’s Supper. We were walking through some of the history, form, and theological function of the prayer and when we got to the epiclesis I had an epiphany. Really, one hopes for an epiphany at the epiclesis, but how often does that happen? And yet, there it was. Whammo!

The epiclesis is the part of the longer Eucharistic Prayer (aka anaphora) where the presider (priest or pastor, typically) prays for the Holy Spirit to be present in the elements at the table. I was listening with Baptist ears on as my Episcopal professor explained the historical use of this prayer. I was on the lookout for magical thinking, or mechanistic ballyhoo. None. Zilch. Nada. Then…Then it hit me.

Hold on! What are all the elements present at the table for communion? Bread, wine (or juice), a presider of some sort, and, well…the people. The gathered faithful, The Body of Christ, are present at the table of the Lord! Don’t baptists believe that the Holy Spirit transforms us? Don’t we believe that we are somehow renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit? Don’t we pray that God would be present in our hearts? Isn’t this the same thing? Is this baptist sacramentality?

Generation Y, Millennials

Shocker: Young Adults Want ‘Religion’

In churches, we often hear the warning giving to youth off to college, “You’ll lose your faith in college.” All those competing ideas about religion, philosophy, and knowledge working against everything a church has built up! I once had an old timer in my home church tell me right before I left for seminary, “Be careful, you can lose your faith in seminary!” Is there something about education and youth that are dangerous? Sordid stories of youth going wild in early adulthood often lead people to think that young people want nothing to do with church, God, religion or faith.

In a surprising new study, we have learned that young adults/youth actually want a life of faith and religious practices. Duke Divinity’s Faith and Leadership blog sums up the study:

In the National Study of Youth and Religion, 72 percent of young adults said they had positive feelings about the religious tradition in which they were raised. And nearly half of the young adults in the religion panel study said they would like to attend worship services more often.

The fact that most young people have “positive feelings” towards their religious tradition and nearly half of respondents want to go to church more, should tell us something about Generation Y.

So, how can churches reach these young people?

Baptists

Early Baptist Use of Sacraments

Much to the ignorance of many modern day Baptists, the word “sacrament” or sacraments was used by Baptist framers in their creeds and confessions. Yes, I said it. I used the words “Baptist” and “creed” in the same sentence. Recent Baptist history upholds that Baptists are non-creedal, however it is clear that Baptists in the 17th and 18th centuries used creeds. Later, Baptists called these creeds “confessions of faith” as did many other protestant groups.

Baptists affirm the theological statements in the creeds but do not use them to be identified as a “Baptist.” But, some Baptists used

confessions of faith as creeds. This is the paradoxical nature of Baptists and their confessions of faith because their statements were directed at excluding other completing theologies. That is exactly what the creeds do, among with affirm what people believe. We receive the word “creed” from the Greek word credo meaning “to believe.” Clearly, the Baptists were using creedal statements and formulas, but many Baptists did not want to call these doctrinal statements creeds in reaction to the creeds of the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church.

Alright, on to the use of the word “sacrament” in early Baptist thought and writings. William Joseph McGlothlin compiled a collection of early creeds and confessions of faith that our modern day Baptist life is modeled from. McGlothin’s, Baptist Confessions of Faith, was written in 1911 is a very helpful source book to understand how Baptists used “sacraments.”

The following are excerpts from, Baptist Confession of Faith, of the “English” living in Amsterdam in 1614, who desired to correct John Smyth‘s “errors” :

Discipleship

Traveling Light

I did not have my regular video camera with me but I wanted to share a few thoughts about the scriptures for this Sunday. I hope this works.

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20. After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. 3Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” 6And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.”* 10But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11“Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.”

prayer

Prayer for Our Nation

Prayer for Our Nation, July 4th Prayer

Almighty God, you rule all the people of the earth.
Inspire the minds of all women and men
to whom you have committed the responsibility of government and leadership in the nations of the world.
Give to them the vision of truth and justice,
that by their counsel all nations
and peoples may work together.
Give to the people of our country zeal
for justice and strength or forbearance,
that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will.
Forgive our shortcomings as a nation;
purify our hearts to see and love the truth.
We pray all these things through Jesus Christ. Amen.

(Amy Langford, USA 20th cent.)

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