Sanctuary Pulse

Time September 3, 2009

Time happens. Faster than I expect. It is relentless; definitely the turtle in the race with the hare. I’m the hare, running fast, always thinking I’m ahead of the game. What I know though, is that time always wins. It beats me to the finish line. It gets done before I’m finished with all I have to do. So I have to prioritize what I have to do and eliminate the stuff that will only bring a nickel at the garage sale of my life. (more…)

What We Brag About! August 26, 2009

If “pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” as that wise old sage, Solomon, says, then we may be in big trouble. Now if you’re at all like me, you probably never intend to be proud, it just kind of sneaks up on you. One moment you’re walking humbly along, talking away, and the next moment you’re bragging. I hate that, but maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe if I’ll just pay attention to what I’m bragging about, I can get a grip on the next thing I’m going to trip over.

I think it might be wise for us to listen carefully to our culture as a whole. Is there a popular “bragging” topic that everyone seems to be bragging about?

I think I know what it is. It goes something this: “My life is so busy I don’t know which way is up”, “I’m sorry I’m late, I just had too many things to do”, “Can you hold?, I’ve got another call coming in”, “I’ve got so many balls I’m juggling, I’m having trouble keeping them in the air”, “I have a month’s worth of work to do this week”, “With all I’m responsible for, it requires an 80 hour work week”. (more…)

Eternal Life? August 18, 2009

So there was this guy who was an expert in how people who belonged to the institutional church were supposed to act. He had enough degrees behind his name to school Jesus, so he decided to test him and see if he really knew enough to hang with the big boys. (a little inside humor here; I think John Vaughan, recently passed father of Betsy Graff, might have said to this much puffed expert; “You’re not too bright, are you?”).  First deeply significant theologically astute question: “What (ahem, ahem) should I do to inherit eternal life? You know that stuff that starts after you die? But Jesus bounces the ball back. After all, this man was the expert. “How do you read it? What does the rule book say?” The testor becomes the testee. But he’s good; he knows the answer, so he can’t help himself; he fires it back. “You must love God totally, and you should love your neighbor in the same way you love yourself”. “Great answer”, Jesus says, Do this and you won’t have to wait until you die to live, you can start now”. (more…)

Flags, Patriotism, Nationalism, First Amendment, Idolatry, the catholic church and God’s Kingdom August 12, 2009

Hi Everybody,

What do you think of that title? Does it sound like I’m going to do a political/religious diatribe of some kind?

Not to worry. We’re going to have fun and learn a great deal. In the last few years the question has come up rather often about why we don’t have a United States flag up in the sanctuary. One outside source has even wondered why any “real” Christian would attend a church without a flag. Now we tend to be a patriotic bunch, so anyone who has been here very long knows that we will have services honoring our country or our soldiers in which we display flags, so why do you think we don’t leave a flag on display on a regular basis? (more…)

The Top Half August 7, 2009

Hi Everybody,

I’m finally back in the blog world!

Bill wrote this poem just for me. Well, not exactly, but when I read it, it might as well have been mine, I just couldn’t have done as good a job putting it into words.

(more…)

Songs July 21, 2009

Hi Everybody,

Did you notice that four of the responses on the blog last week quoted lyrics to songs? It started this “how important is music to our well-being” thought process going in my mind. Now, I’m no musical genius or expert, so these thoughts are just vanilla ordinary. But maybe that’s best, so I can represent those who love to sing in the shower and play their MP3 players.

Now, back to those four responses. Their variety caught me by surprise. The first one was Brenda’s; she quoted lyrics from an ancient song that we simply know as Psalm 139. Cheryl was next with a Casting Crowns song-“Stained Glass Masquerade”. Then Wordnerd quoted from “The Wall”, an old Kansas song. Finally, Tertia shared the first song she ever wrote, which spoke powerfully to the personal struggle of surrender to God; who was freeing her to be the real her.

All of this led me to use some of the music in my message that goes straight to my heart without passing “Go”. So you had to listen to Tim Hardin’s “If I Were A Carpenter” and Leonard Cohen’s “That Don’t Make It Junk”. It made me wonder why “my” music became mine and why it gets to go straight to my heart and doesn’t have get permission from my head to get there. But enough of that rambling, even though I’ve got some thoughts there, that’s not where I want to go today. (more…)

Masquerade July 14, 2009

Hi Everybody,

In all this talk about becoming the person God designed you to be, does it sometimes frustrate you that that person seems so hard to find?

I think the reason it is so difficult is that we have invented another person that masquerades as us. We have gotten so used to this masquerade that we actually think it is the real us. (more…)

Moments July 11, 2009

Bill sent this newly written piece yesterday. I so needed to “Listen”. I thought you might feel that way too. He gave me permission to share it.

Thanks, Bill!

Pastor Ben

Moments!

There was a moment, a few days ago, when the worried

thoughts, that seem to entangle me all too much as of late,

stopped, and I felt peace. (more…)

Experts July 9, 2009

Hi Everybody!

I don’t want to be the expert in everything. It takes way too much time and most of it I’m just not interested in. Insurance, for example. It doesn’t intrigue me even slightly. The thought of becoming an insurance agent makes me want to lay down and take a nap so I can uncross my eyes and wash the glaze away. Now mind you, I love my insurance agents. I love them because I know how important insurance is, and they keep me from having to spend all my time uncrossing my eyes. I am so glad they are the insurance experts and I don’t have to be. All I want is a good agent who likes what he/she is doing,  is honest, is growing in their field and makes sure I am covered adequately. I want him/her to keep up on what is going on in the insurance field so I don’t have to. I’m constantly being tempted away by advertisements that assure me that they can save me a few dollars if I’ll only take back the control and buy insurance from them. But I’m not easily tempted. I don’t want to spend my life feeling like I need another nap, so I choose an agent that I trust, who loves insurance work, and pay them for their work. (more…)

Active Prayer July 3, 2009

Hi Everybody,

This Sunday we will join with thousands of churches across the country in a joint prayer effort, “Call to Fall”. Its purpose is to have as many people as possible on their knees for several minutes of repentance and prayer for God’s Blessing on our nation. I believe strongly that Jesus led us toward a non-political/power mode of prayer and thinking that leads us beyond “national” interests to actually taking part in bringing His Kingdom to earth by the way we live. This way of thinking leads us out of the comfort zone of “having it our way” to the purpose filled but less comfortable “doing God’s will” within the circumstances we find ourselves in.We see ourselves as ambassadors of God’s good will even when it would be more comfortable not to be. Jesus emphasizes this with the portion “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”. We find ourselves in the “active” mode of having to forgive for our own prayer of forgiveness to be answered. (more…)