To God, though we have lost our way in life, we are never forgotten. God has a way of nudging back on life’s pathway. God utilizes people, providential situations, and circumstances to get our attention. There can always be a “welcome home” party for us in God’s eyes.
Author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien, once wrote,
As the world now knows, the Philadelphia Eagles and Nick Foles won Super Bowl 52. The improbable start of Nick Foles from backup quarterback to Super Bowl champion is the stuff of Rudy-like movies that make you feel good. Everyone loves a good underdog story. In his victory speech, Foles shared something that every church, pastor, and lay leader should listen to.
Nick Foles’ faith has been well documented. He’s a committed Christian, shares his faith publicly, and even took seminary classes. The Eagles as a team have also been public about their Christian faith. If you have followed Foles’ story, you know that he almost gave up professional football altogether. He attributive his faith in God as motivation for sticking with football.
Churches should note the storied season of the Philadelphia Eagles. Faced with losing their starting quarterback, the Eagles had to readjust their game plan with the challenges of injuries and losses they faced mid-season. Foles stated something that all churches, in a time of decline, challenge, and changing religious environment, need to hear: Continue Reading…
I sat down with WSYR Channel 9 here in Syracuse, NY to give some reflection upon the horrible shooting in Sutherland Springs, TX at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. It’s not often we pastors and ministers have a chance to speak into national news stories.
I was very thankful that WSYR wanted to seek out a minister to provide some spiritual and pastoral insight. Click below to watch the video interview: Continue Reading…
Amazon announced a new product and service to their line-up: Amazon Key. Amazon describes their new product as the way to, “get your Amazon packages securely delivered just inside your front door. Plus, grant access to the people you trust, like your family, friends, dog walker, or house cleaner.” This is one of many products that have taken over our lives by Amazon or also known as the Amazonification of retail… and life.
Amazon has started putting large retailers out of business. With their free two-day delivery with Amazon Prime, tablets that push notifications of sales, Echo devices that can order Amazon products, and other devices that can order via their website, Amazon has put their delivery method in the hands and heads of people around the world. Amazon has created a virtual e-commerce ecosystem that we can’t escape. Now, Amazon is testing drones to deliver products faster. Amazon not only sells products but now services of professional cleaning, installation, plumbing and more on their website.
This is a takeover of Amazon’s brand force. It’s the Amazonification of life: a total and complete delivery system of goods, services, and information. Amazon has disrupted the way people get their “stuff”.
Amazon’s virtual staying power taps into something that is happening in every facet of our lives: virtual delivery and engagement of life… including our faith. Amazon shows us how Christianity has been disrupted by factors and forces of our technological and mobile connected world.
“You didn’t visit Susan* in the hospital. You’re not doing your job. You’re not being a good pastor.”
Those words hung in the air for a few moments before I explained on the phone that Susan nor her family told me that she was in the hospital. It didn’t matter. The caller didn’t care. In the caller’s mind, I was responsible for information that I didn’t know about. It was very painful to be accused of not doing my “job”.
I’ve thought about that conversation many times in the years that have passed. So, I worked more hours and harder at being omnipresent. Continue Reading…
Just as we had finished imposing ashes on the foreheads of worshipers to begin Lent, my friend and fellow pastor David Bennett turned to me and said, “Alan, remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” And with those words, David marked me with the sign of the cross with ashes. And that is when it hit me: It’s Lent. Forty plus days of Lenten lunches, Wednesday Bible studies, prayer services, extra time needed to plan extra sermons, meetings, and everything that comes with an already very full plate of ministry. Another year. Another Lent. Will I survive?
On Ash Wednesday, pastors get their hands dirty to impart ashes on the foreheads of parishioners with the words, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Millions of Christians attending services will hear those familiar words and then go home without realizing what is about to take place for their clergy. Ash Wednesday not only marks the beginning of Lent, but also the beginning of a trying time for pastors.
During Lent the church calendar fills up and the pastor’s daily agenda quickly gets full. Pastors and ministry leaders try hard to plan and lead meaningful spiritual encounters. Lent is a time of reflection and examination of our faith. People tend to start visiting their pastors with challenges, problems, concerns, and other needs. Somehow it seems people become more needy during Lent. I mean that in the best possible way. Pastors are called to serve and help people. We are glad to fulfill our calling. However, during Lent, pastors often find that demand for their service increases. People go into the hospital, someone dies, another has a crisis, and a transient is in the pastor’s looking for money but you are late for a meeting. Most pastors know the increased flow of need is coming, but that does not mean your pastor is ready for it. Continue Reading…
As Pope Francis visits the United States, Catholics are full of excitement as the Holy Father visits in Washington, Philadelphia, and New York. It is very clear that his leadership will set a very different tone for the Catholic Church. Pope Francis even known to engage in some selfies on social media and his American visit is no different.
At a time when priest scandals, closing churches, and aging membership threaten the growth of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis started his tenure on a positive note. Francis reminded Catholics that Jesus, not the pope, is at the center of the Church. He added that the center should focus on “poor, and for the poor.” Even the selection of his namesake, Francis of Assisi, invokes compassion, peace, and uplifting the poor.
Pope Francis has been known to pay for his own room, rejected lavish apparel, and referred to himself more as a bishop and less as Pope. He’s traveling in a tiny Fiat for this visit. Though these are small things, this type of behavior reflects a Pope that is humble and connected with the average person. Francis is doing more work among Christians in general, not just Catholics. The sex abuse scandals not only eroded the trust of faithful Catholics, but also with the general population. Public polls show that lawyers and bankers are more trusted than clergy. The perception among the “nones”, who make up 20% of Americans, is that churches and organized Christianity is not worthy of their attention.
Pope Francis continues to set a new tone for 1.2 billion Catholics. The tone is not centered in doctrine, Church law, or hierarchy but on bringing unity to the Church and caring for the least of these. The LA Times interviewed one of the faithful and compared the last pope and current pope:
Are we over-scheduling kids?
That was the question posed to me by WNYT’s Dan Bazile in his in-depth interview and piece on the tension between sports and family. Bazile wanted an in-depth take on my thoughts after writing “The Myth of the Elite Young Athlete” with the Albany Times Union.
Here’s the full interview with Dan Bazile:
As millions of Americans travel and look forward to sitting down on this Thanksgiving Day, many will eat until their gut is full. Turkey, ham, and mashed potatoes will be consumed and football will be played or watched. As Americans celebrate this Thanksgiving Day as a holiday, do we really understand the significance of giving thanks?
The origins of Thanksgiving are well storied and documented in our cultural conscience. Picnic tables of Native Americans and European settlers sharing corn, turkey, and bread come to mind. However, the reality of the first Thanksgiving was much more dark and difficult.
Most of those who celebrated the first Thanksgiving were English religious dissenters in 1621. Many traveled to America on just a word or hope of a better life. Long voyages, illness, and harsh winters left many to die. To come through such a journey led to giving thanks. We only have a handful of first hand accounts of what the first Thanksgiving was like. After a drought, William Bradford wrote in 1623:
What do you get when you put a children’s-educational-scientist-teacher with a Bible-believing-Christian-creationist?
Lot’s of confused adults.
I just finished watching the almost 3-hour debate between humanist Bill Nye and creationist Ken Ham and I’m truly confused. I’m confused not because of the content, but how a Christian answered and responded in a formal debate.
Bill Nye (B.S. degree in engineering) and Ken Ham (B.A.S., applied science) decided to meet in a debate format in Kentucky to discuss the merits of each of their positions. Except, Ham seem to follow an illogical process of his argument which relied on a handful of scientists and his website. Nye, on the other hand, relied on a body of evidence and scientific method that is affirmed by both secular and Christian scientists.
What was clear from this debate is that Ham gave a poor argument for a creationist theory of the formation of the earth. Creationists believe in the creation of the Earth that occurred over a period of 6 days. Nye countered that the earth is much older and we know through carbon dating and stellar age estimation. Ham tried to discredit dating methods as conflicted evidence. Even if you discount carbon dating, Nye used examples of dating by core samples and tree rings.
How did the rest of the debate go?
I am not a word smith. A friend of mine who helps me write better blogs reminds me often, less is more. In other words, my writing is too wordy and too long. Authors and poets have a great gift for using just the right combination of words to create powerful images. And they do so with very few words. The trick is using words powerful enough to convey large concepts.
I like words that can do that. Words like; love, redemption, restoration, forgiveness, and Red Sox. Each word carries with it weight and meaning, history and hope. I came across a couple words recently that I am working on making into a concept for ministry.
Coalesce and disperse.
Coalesce means to come together to form one group or mass or to unite for a common end. Disperse means to spread out over a wide area. I like this idea for ministry. The body of Christ comes together for a time to do a specific task with Christ, we serve, then we disperse to coalesce elsewhere and continue the work of Christ.
I like to use the image of a lava lamp for this. Lava lamps work through the Archimedes principle. Basically lava lamps are made with water and wax (lava). Both have very similar densities, but the wax is more dense. As a rule it should always sink. However, when heated by the lamp or coil at the bottom, the wax’s molecules speed up and become less dense and become more buoyant and float to the top of the lamp. Once there it cools and sinks again. The cycle repeats itself over and over.
What does this have to do with coalesce and disperse?
Bill O’Reilly released his book, Killing Jesus which attempts to trace the historical events and movements leading up to Jesus’ earthly life. However, it seems that O’Reilly could have read and study the Gospels more closely when it comes to Jesus and the poor.
On O’Reilly’s program, a video of Rep. Jim McDermott played with McDermott addressing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). O’Reilly went on to say:
The problem I have, as I stated is that you’re helping one group by hurting another group and a bigger group, and so I don’t know if Jesus is going to be down with that…Ok but would he [Jesus] impose a system that hurts one group to help another group? …Some of the people who don’t have enough to eat, it’s their fault they don’t have enough to eat…If you are an alcoholic or a heroin addict or a drug addict and you can’t hold a job and you can’t support your children and that’s the circumstance of millions and millions of people not most but a lot a substantial minority ok.
Here are 3 reasons why Bill O’Reilly just doesn’t understand Jesus and the poor:
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