Family and Friends

Newsletter, July 13, 2008

2008-07-23T07:15:00.000-07:00

“Family and Friends” Business Meeting
Sunday, July 13, 2008

Sign up sheet indicates that next Class Social is being hosted by Tony and Amy Murphy. However, they were not in attendance at the meeting so no details were discussed.

Discussion regarding subsidizing cost of child care during Class Socials.
Historically, Ed and Claire paid Robin $45/night and parents paid $5/child or $10/family while also chipping in to help cover cost of pizza for both staff and children.
Janet will approach John Haney about whether the church would be willing to continue this ministry in the Wheeler’s absence to allow parents with small children to be more able to attend Class Socials.
Janet will also discuss with John the discovery that Robin was inadvertently not compensated for the last 2 events.

Karen will be moving which forces us to nominate a new Class Treasurer.
David McCorvey volunteered and discussions ensued about closing existing account and opening a new account under church’s identification numbers that has free checking and will be easier to access, etc.
ADDENDUM: ERICA LARSH WOULD LIKE TO BE CLASS TREASURER. DAVID WILL GIVE HER THE OFFERING THAT WAS COLLECTED DURING THE MEETING TO BE DEPOSITED IN THE CLASS ACCOUNT.

Discussions continued regarding the class account. Currently, there is only about $8 available due to recent expenditures within the class with the Wheeler’s departure, baby showers, donations to groups within the church, etc.
Carla voiced that she’d like to see us gradually return to having a cushion available in the account. This would allow the class to more easily give appointed funds to appointed individuals to carry out class functions which is preferable over having to raise money among whoever is present as a need arises.
Karen pointed out that historically, any money raised by “passing the hat” during class time was divided with half going into the class account and half going to the church into an account earmarked for Sunday School Classes in general. This is simply historical and class discussion continued regarding whether we’d like to continue that practice or decide to allot our funds in some other manner.
Discussion continued on other ways the class could build up the account through fund raising, etc.
It was further decided that this matter should be considered and discussed with more class members than the number present and discussion should resume at the next class meeting with the intent to come to some conclusion on allotment of class funds.

Rave reviews ensued on what a fantastic job Tony and Amy are doing as they lead our class in study. Carla reminded the class that both Tony and Amy are more than willing to share this experience with anyone who would like to also share in leading the class in study. Several individuals seemed interested and it was stated that anyone who was interested could go to Tony and Amy to discuss options or ideas.
Along those lines, Carla suggested that Amy may want to offer her position as Outreach Coordinator to lighten her load. Amy has been doing a fabulous job and may want to continue, so Carla will talk to her before we solicit volunteers.

Paul expressed that he would like to see the online Blog continue and volunteered to do it. He requests any hand-outs from class studies in order to help him and prefers it to be e-mailed in a Word format when possible.

It was discussed that Newsletters can be generated by anyone in the class as the need arises in order to distribute information in a timely manner. Paul will try to forward the most updated list of e-mail addresses of class members to all class members so that this will be possible.

Paul discussed that the Trustees are seeking to find groups that may be willing to volunteer their services in order to alleviate the need for the church to hire outside help for maintenance and repairs around the building. It was decided that our class would like to first tackle the Resource Room and will meet August 2nd at 9am to do so.
ADDENDUM: ORGANIZATION OF THE RESOURCE ROOM WILL BE RESCHEDULED DUE TO CONFLICTS WITH SCHEDULES OF MEMBERS OF THE CLASS.

Meeting was adjourned. Next meeting date will be determined by next scheduled Class Social.

A Call to Common Courtesy

2008-07-06T09:55:00.000-07:00

Chapter 6 from "A Love Worth Giving" - Max Lucado

"He knocks before he enters. He always brings a gift. Food is served. The table is cleared. Thanks are offered. He knows your name and tells you his, and ...
He pulls out the chair for you."
"People can be so rude. We snatch parking places. We forget names. We interrupt. We fail to show up. Could you use some courtesy? Has it been a while since someone pulled out your chair?
Then let Jesus. Don't hurry through this though. Receive the courtesy of Christ. He's your groom. Does not the groom cherish the bride? Respect the bride? Honor the bride? Let Christ do what he longs to do."
"Common courtesy honors God and his children. 'Do your best to live in peace with everyone.' (Rom. 12: 18). Just do your best. You can't control their attitude, but you can manage yours."
1. When defining what love is not, Paul put rudeness on the list.
a. What's the rudest thing anyone has ever done to you?
b. Describe the rudest thing you've ever done to someone else.
c. How do you feel when someone is rude to you? How do you usually respond?
2. God calls us to a higher, more noble concern. Not "What are my rights?" but "What is more loving?"
a. Be honest: Do you usually think first about your rights or about what is most loving?
b. What does courtesy have to do with love?
c. Describe the most loving thing you did this week.

Healthy Child Rearing - Tony Campolo

2008-06-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

Tony Campolo Introduced

As you know, I had decided in these last three Sundays to use a different resource that might be of interest to the class at some point later in the year. Last week I taught a chapter from Parables from the Back Side by Ellsworth Kalas. This might be one direction you might consider some time this year. Even if you did not use this particular book, a study of Jesus’ parables might be a good basis for a Bible study.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided that for a second book I would teach from a book by Tony Campolo. My interest in Campolo stemmed from four sources:
· Over the years I have heard many pastors reference Campolo in their sermons, and in each case I found the story/insight to be very profound. Most recently, John Haney often uses a Campolo story to good advantage in his sermons.
· My daughter heard Campolo speak several times in her college years and reported being very moved by what she heard.
· I know enough about Campolo to know that he has done a magnificent job of bridging the great divide in the modern church. [See the web lesson with label “Two Missions of the Church” ] Congregations and other Christian communities tend to fall into two categories: churches that focus on “winning people to Christ, leading them to their first commitment to God … evangelical churches.” Churches that focus on the issues of justice, and poverty and peace … and give little attention to leading individual people to conversion experiences. Campolo lives in both worlds. You will find few preachers who more quickly will challenge you to commit your life to Christ; but at the same time he and the organization he sponsors through the proceeds of sales of his books minister actively in urban Philadelphia, Camden, New Jersey, Haiti and elsewhere. In other words he lives out both sides of the Christian gospel.
· Campolo spoke on the Sunday our granddaughter was baptized and led in the baptismal prayer.

Armed with this interest, I ordered a couple of Campolo books and a video and begin to prepare a lesson. It has been a harder task than I expected. Campolo is a prophet in the Old Testament sense:
· Speaks with a great deal of confidence and directness
· Not particularly concerned if he makes you uncomfortable
· Not beyond orchestrating a living dramas to illustrate a truth: prostitute story

All of which makes him a very interesting person; some of which makes it hard for me to teach. Of the two books I ordered, the one I am going to use today is entitled, Following Jesus without Embarrassing God. Sample chapters include
1. How to exhibit a Christian lifestyle without moving to a commune.
2. How to protect yourself from technology without becoming Amish.
3. How to have a devotional life without becoming a monk.
4. How to figure out the will of God without hearing voices from heaven.
5. How to be an environmentalist without becoming a tree-hugger.
6. How to get ready to die without pretending that it is no problem.

The chapter to which we will attend briefly is entitled, “How to raise mentally healthy kids without resorting to pop psychology.” I realize that child rearing is not a priority for some of you … but as Campolo makes clear in his examples, these are principles he uses in his work with other people’s kids … and Campolo would always be an advocate of our being involved with other people’s kids. In the chapter, Campolo makes five points.

It is hard to raise children in a highly mobile society in which many of us are separated from extended family who could give support and counsel.
In the absence of wisdom from a supportive community, we often turn to the popular press and media where we find flawed advice on raising our children.
Flawed Advice 1: The most important issue in raising children is to protect and build their self esteem.
Flawed Advice 2: The most important motivator to use in raising our children is to reward them for every good thing they do.
Important Advice: In rearing your children, give them a sense of mission.

I want to briefly summarize his points on Flawed Advice 1 and Flawed Advice 2 and then I will ask you to read his conversation on Important Advice.

Flawed Advice 1: Building self-esteem solves all problems. Campolo follows three lines of reasoning in debunking this statement.

He first takes on the notion that lack of success in school and poor behavior is always tied to low self esteem. He uses the following arguments:
· He cites the fact that surveys report that Japanese society does not focus on building self esteem in young people, yet their young people exhibit some of the world’s best success and best behavior in school environment.
· He points out that in the homes of the “Great Generation,” the men and women who fought in World War II and built post-war America, that self-esteem was not the focus. Indeed, children were often criticized in order to keep them from becoming “uppity.”
· He points out that in his organization’s work with inner city children that building self esteem under false pretenses can be harmful.
· He then reflects on some work underway in inner-city schools in Philadelphia; under direction of social scientists: focus should be on providing resources so students can succeed and behave well and then build self esteem on basis of good work and good behavior
· He then suggests that as parents, we are wiser to follow the model of these social scientists -- Establish high expectations for your children, then build their self-esteem on the basis of real accomplishments.

Flawed Advice 2: Motivate desired behavior with financial rewards.
Campolo then takes on the notion that we should elicit desired behavior from our children by constantly rewarding them when they do what we want them to do. He points out that to enter the bedrooms of most adolescents is like entering a trophy room. Children have been presented trophy’s for almost every effort, perhaps even trophys for just showing up.
He tells of being on a panel with Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House. Gingrich, very worried about the ability of children in inner cities to read, suggested that we pay children a $1 a book as a reward. Campolo responded that the result might be surprising. Children would lose any sense of reading for the joy of reading. They might comb the stacks of the library looking for the shortest books … to make more money. They may read dull, uninteresting books … to make more money. To tie reading to financial reward may dampen or kill the motivation that would lead them to continue to read after the program was over.

He then suggests more generally that by using financial rewards to motivate children, we suppress other, more important motivations. Hence when payments are not available, children have no interest in continuing. In particular, we must grow in our children the desire to behave well and act well out of love.

He then tells the story of the son of a pastor friend. The little boy, seeing the worry on his father’s face as Saturday evening approached, asked, “what can I do to help.” The father told him that it would be a big help if the boy would shine his shoes on Saturday night. Sure enough, on Sunday morning the shoes showed up in the hallway, shining and ready to go. The daddy was so pleased that he left a thank you note by his son’s bed, with two quarters.

The next Sunday, newly shined shoes were again in the hallway, but when the pastor put them on, there was a quarter in each along with a note that said, “I shined the shoes because I love you.” We dare not corrupt motivation like this with economic incentives.

Now, prophet Tony has spoken. He has debunked two approaches to childrearing (both of which I used in rearing my children from time to time J). However, he not only has negatives, he has a positive. I want you to read his conclusion to this chapter and be prepared to comment on one or more of these issues;

Class reads from bottom of page 223 to end of the chapter.
o An idea from Campolo that you had not had before
o Something from Campolo that you agree with
o Something from Campolo that you disagree with
o Something from Campolo you are not sure about.

Class then reads passage where Tony Campolo argues that a key ingredient in rearing a child well involves helping that child build a sense of mission.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

2008-05-26T06:15:00.000-07:00

Before we get started today, I need you to make notes on the answer to three questions. We will then file the answers away and use them later in the lesson.

I want you to think of someone whom you regard as an enemy … or someone that you dislike strongly.

I want you to think of someone whom you regard as disgusting or perhaps just irritating.

I want you to think of a group or class of people that you don’ t like or don’t trust or are uncomfortable with. {Examples: mathematicians, people over 70, Chinese people, …}

We are going to take a look at a book today that Tony and Amy might want to use for some of the lessons over the summer, the book Parables from the Back Side by Ellsworth Kalas. The Biblical materials involved are the parables of Jesus. That in itself should make the lessons rich. However, in each parable Ellsworth Kalas tries to find a new perspective that can make it possible for the parable to speak to us in new and fresh ways.

Please turn to Luke 10:25-37 and read the parable of the Good Samaritan. This parable is an old friend that you have heard many times. However, it is so important that I often wonder if we should not read it every Sunday in worship, perhaps immediately after we say the Lord’s Prayer together.

Some notes from Kalas on this parable:

· As with most parables, this one was told in the give and take of conversation. In conversation with a group of people, Jesus answers the question of the lawyer.
· A “lawyer” in first century Israel was a theologian. The issue was not how to avoid arrest … but how to live the good life … how to obey the law as given in the first five books of the old testament
· The lawyer digested the law into two pieces: Love God, love your neighbor. This answer was not unique to him. This summary comes from verses in the book of Deuteronomy and these scriptures were probably in a small leather pouch that the lawyer, as a good Jew, wore on his person.
· Lawyer saw the wisdom of the answer, but he wanted to cut the requirements of the law down to manageable size. We can love some people without too much efforts, so the law will be much easier to manage if we restrict the definition of neighbor to just those people … or perhaps just those people and a few more.
· Discussion: How does this parable answer the lawyer’s question?
From the class members present: The parable extends the definition of neighbor to include all racial groups and religious groups and voided the significance of partitions by rank, social standing, and caste.

At this point, I think we have had a profound lesson. Each of us needs to be reminded daily of the truth that the parable holds.

Kalas’ twist: How did the good Jewish man who was mugged feel about being helped by the Samaritan, someone whom he had studiously avoided all of his life?

In order to help us get into the question that Kalas asks, Ed has rewritten the Parable of the Good Samaritan. In the midst of the retelling, you will find three blank spaces. Please refer to the answers you gave to the three questions a the beginning of class. Read Ed’s retelling three times, each time inserting one of the three names into all the blanks in the retelling.

Ed’s Retelling of the Good Samaritan:
I was hurrying though Forsythe Park one evening as twilight fell, and suddenly rough hands grabbed me. Before I could resist I had been struck on the head, I had been pummeled, my face had been beaten and slashed with a knife, my clothes had been half torn from me, my billfold/purse had been taken, and I had been half pushed into a big azalea bush. As I lay there half conscious, I would have chuckled except my broken ribs hurt too much. I looked for all the world like a drunk who had passed out in a public place or woman of the street who had been manhandled by a lover.

But then out of the corner of my eye, I saw Pastor John coming, walking briskly through the park. I tried to call out but my tongue was thick with pain and blood from the broken teeth, and he seemed not to hear. At least, he sped up and slid to the far side of the sidewalk. It seemed hours later, but then I saw a familiar tall, skinny frame. It was old Ed, good old Ed. I surely was glad I had been in Sunday School the last few weeks. “Ed, Ed, I gurgled.” But Ed’s eyes looked frightened, and he kept his face forward, and he walked on past. Then I passed out.

Gentle hands were turning me over. A handkerchief was wiping blood from my face, and drops of water from a Dasani bottle were dribbled on my lips. Only after I had been loaded in the ambulance, did I realize that ________________ was sitting beside me in the ambulance. __________ patted my shoulder and said, “I found you in pretty bad shape. You are ok now. We will have you to the hospital in a minute.” I passed out again but when I awoke in the bed in the hospital, it was ____________ who was sitting beside me. “I have called and left messages on the answering machine at home and I am sure your family will join you soon. But even if they don’t get the message tonight, I will stay until through the night. If you need anything, let me know and I will work with nurse to get what you need.”

How did this exercise feel? Did you learn anything new about the parable by rereading it in the first person, using the names from our exercise at the beginning of class?

Kalas tells of running out of gas in a declining part of Cleveland and having to push his car to the curb. A man sees his difficulty and rushes out of the front door of a building whose faded signage reads, “Exotic Dancing till 2:00 am. Hot babes dance Topless, Bottomless and with Abandon.” The man, the proprietor of this establishment, proceeded to place a hose in his own gas tank, siphon gasoline out of the tank (including getting a mouthful of foul gasoline in the process), put the gas in Kalas’ tank, and then sent him on his way, refusing any attempt to pay.

As Kalas drove away, Kalas wondered why the person who helped him couldn’t have been someone with a bumper sticker that read, “Honk if you love Jesus” or a board member of the YMCA rushing to a meeting. Why did it have to be the proprietor of a “girlie” bar?

Kalas’ comment: I am sure that God has warm and gentle sense of humor. He so often sends blessings into our lives through unlikely channels, folks whom we would prefer to fence out of our lives and our experiences. And in that way, he will teach us, reluctant students that we are, that our definitions of our neighbors are surely not big enough.

Newsletter, May 18, 2008

2008-05-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

Report on Class Meeting: The Families and Friends Class indulged themselves in good food and then did good work as they planned for Ed and Claire’s departure. Several important decisions were made including:

Decision 1: We will have a June social event on the evening of June 14. Details are not yet known, but it will involve eating out and feting the “old folks.” Robin is available to supervise childcare. Please let Kristen Maynard [921-7688 (home) or 657-3634 (cell)] know how many children will need childcare. This event will serve as the June/July social event.

Decision 2: The class will continue to welcome newly baptized children into the Christian community with a letter and a children’s Bible. Janet Everly leads this ministry. [Lois and John presently have 8-9 Bibles that they will donate for class use].

Decision 3: We will not regard Interfaith Hospitality Network as a class outreach. However, we will encourage individual class members to support this ministry as they are able. For the new members of the class, the following information might be useful.
· Interfaith Hospitality Network is an outreach to homeless families
· WBUMC makes its facilities available once every 6-10 weeks for to up to three families who have no place to live. We rotate this responsibility with several other churches.
· Volunteers are needed each evening of the weeklong visit in two shifts.
· Shift One: 5:30 –8:00. Help serve dinner, eat dinner with guests, play with children and/or help with homework as needed.
· Shift Two: 8:00 pm – 7:00 am: Volunteers sleep at church. No specific responsibilities other than problem solve if problems arise.

Decision 4: Although class organization may evolve over time, for the next several months the class will be organized into two leadership directions.
Community Building Leadership:
Class Preparation Leadership:

Decision 5 (The big one!!!):
Part (a): For the foreseeable future (at least the next six months) Carla and David McCorvey will provide leadership in community building efforts. They will invite class members and class attendees to join them in making the class a welcoming place for all who come, providing periodic social events for the class [and families and friends broadly defined], and supporting mission outreach as opportunities arise.

Part (b): For the foreseeable future (at least the next six months), Amy and Tony Murphy will provide leadership in the delivery of class on Sunday mornings. They will invite class members to join them in choosing teaching materials, teaching multi-week units, and listening to the class for issues and needs that need to be addressed by lessons.

Part (c): The rest of the class will join in these two major tasks. As we talked about teaching responsibilities, a number of people nodded that they would be glad to give it a try. Perhaps even more importantly, class members were cognizant that “creating a warm and welcoming place for both frequent attenders and walk-in guests” is a priority to which all contribute … even those with only a few weeks of attendance under their belts.

Other Issues 1: Teaching for the next four Sundays is mapped out as follows.
May 25: Ed
June 1: Ed
June 8: Janet and Mitch
June 15: Ed
By June 15, we will try to have curriculum chosen to carry us through the summer. After June 15 Amy and Tony will begin their “Interim Teaching Supervisor” responsibilities. They will certainly teach some, but with summer travels they will need to hear from those of you who would be willing to share in their responsibilities. [Hawkeye Ed was taking notes of those whose heads bobbed up and down during the teaching conversation and will pass this info to A and T. However, in case Hawkeye missed a bob, it would be good for you to tell A and T yourselves.]

Other Issues 2: Amy had previously committed to teaching in a children’s class this Fall, but will need to take a pass in view of her joint “Interim Teaching Supervisor” role. If you are not comfortable teaching in the Family and Friends class or if you have a special heart for children, you might consider this role this Fall.

Stress of Change

2008-05-09T20:18:00.000-07:00

Read the Abram story: Genesis 12:1-5

Today’s lesson is about change and the stress that accompanies change. As Christians we should know a lot about how to deal with that stress, because the Bible records the lives of people who found themselves immersed in change:

Abram (Abraham) … who left his home to go to a new land
Joseph who moved from favored son to slave to prisoner to potentate
Moses … who was tending sheep and was called by God to lead his people to freedom
David … who was tending sheep and was called by God to go into battle
Mary who was an innocent adolescent … and learned she was to bear God’s son
Joseph who learned that his betrothed was pregnant
Peter who moved from fisherman to fisher of men
Paul who was abruptly moved from chasing Christians to creating Christians
And the list goes on and on

Among the things that the Bible reveals about change is that sometimes astonishingly positive things come from change and the stress that accompanies it. Look again at the list of Biblical characters and what resulted from the change in their lives:

Abraham: A new nation was created that ultimately blessed the world with Jesus.
Moses: His people moved to freedom.
Mary: is honored as the mother of the savior of the world.
Peter: birthed a new church and nurtured it in difficult years.

Change has within it the seeds of good.
· It often calls forth from us growth and creativity and reveals to us new challenges and new opportunities.
· It has the potential to move us closer to God.

But despite the potential positives of change, we remain very ambivalent about it:
Bumper Sticker (put up board): Change is good, you go first.
For most of us, change can be good as long as it happens to someone else … and as long as it does not interrupt our agenda

Now, we have talked about biblical changes … but let’s brainstorm about the changes that characterize our lives: [work on board]
· Life cycle changes
· Vocational Changes
· Relationship changes (engagement, marriage, divorce, parenting, caring for aging parents, …)
· Health changes
· Cultural changes
· Financial changes
· Residential changes

Activity: I want to return to an activity that is parallel to activity that we did last week. Suppose that you were counseling a friend who is immersed in or facing great change. What advice would you give him or her for managing the change … and overcoming the stress of the change:

Here are some ideas on advice from the class discussion:
· To make peace with change we may have to reorder our priorities. To do so may involve not being selfish.
· The stress of change is temporary. We will reach equilibrium. The result may be better than the past, but it will certainly be different.
· Change is inevitable but in the midst of all change, we know that we are not alone … and we are loved
· Even in the midst of negative change, God will help us find good
· Pray and ask God to help us see the good things
· Even when change has laid us low, God helps us see that other people need us and this gives us strength to get up and start again

At this time, I need to take our conversation in a different direction. I need to discuss some major changes in the life that Claire and I share that will create some smaller changes in the life of this class. I want to talk about some pulls and pushes that have been working on our lives over the last 18 months that are resulting in change in our lives.
· A major change occurred some 14 months ago when Claire and I became grandparents. This created a magnet in Decatur, Georgia that has exerted a strong pull on the two of us … and a particularly strong pull on Claire.
· Another change has been occurring over time. My parents, who are 85 and 83, have remained in remarkably good health, but become more frail in body and mind as time passes. As we think about the need to respond to their needs, the seven hours between Birmingham and Savannah loom very large. This has created another pull on the Wheeler family.
· Still another change occurred two years ago when I was helped hire a new boss. Last week Tony talked about some of the perils of being in management … and there are many. But one peril of a manager is that he or she is very dependent on the relationship he has with boss the next level up. Though I have maintained remarkably good relationship with my new boss, we do have different priorities and different styles that some time cause dismay. Further, she is building a completely new leadership team, and though she has been gracious enough to include a place for me, it is not a place where I am completely comfortable. I have experienced these events as a push.
· About a month ago I received a call from a little two year college located just south of Atlanta, asking if I would be interested in serving a year as academic officer at that school. As I laid awake thinking about this call and as I prayed about this call, it seemed to be the right next step in our lives. I will be leaving in a month to move to that area, and Claire will follow as she is able to wrap up her practice.

As we prepare to leave, there is just one heartache that we cannot calm.
We have loved our work in Savannah, but we will find good work elsewhere
We have loved our house in Savannah, but we will trade grandchild for a house any day
We have loved living on the coast, but it will be good to be nearer mountains
The heartache that remains, however, is that we will miss you. We have enjoyed being in this Christian community, the community in this class, more than any Christian community in our adult lives. We are so very grateful you have shared this part of our life with us.

Stress of Discontent

2008-05-05T04:49:00.001-07:00

Ice Breaker:

Life would be sweet if I was driving a _____________________

I surely would not mind swapping places with ________________ for a week.

This somewhat silly exercise reminds us that we all have aspirations that are not being met in the present. This is both normal and expected. However, sometimes we become so invested and focused on what we don’t have that we lose the joy of the present. This “out-of-control” discontent can fill our lives with stress and sour our relationships with all those around us.

The Stress of Unfulfilled Expectations: The Stress of Discontent

In-Class Exercise: Please read the following scriptures. Do any of them speak to you in a powerful way about the nature of contentment … and how to find it?

Scriptures

Philippians 4:10-13: I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Hebrews 13: 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.

I Timothy 6: 6 – 8: But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

Psalm 63: 1 – 3: O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you, my body longs for your in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your live is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

2 Corinthians 4: 7 - 8: But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Philippians 3:7-8: But whatever ws to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus m Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him.

Matthew 6: 19-21: Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. … For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

In the outline below, I provide you with a summary of the didactic on discontent from the text. Please review and prepare comments that you are willing to share with the class on how these observations dovetail with your experiences.

Read and Respond:

Contentment is not complacency
· Contentment does not mean we don’t pursue goals and seek change
· Contentment does not mean that you don’t have a preference

Contentment allows for disappointment:
· Paul, 2 Corinthians 4:8: We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair.
· In the midst of contentment we can be disappointed and we can grieve
· However, contentment does mean we are not mobilized by despair

Contentment does not dwell on comparisons: What I have versus what I should have.

Contentment does not dwell on comparisons: What I have now versus what I once had.

Contentment does not dwell on comparisons: What I have versus what others have.

Contentment does not depend upon circumstances

Contentment is the fruit of perspective
· Phillipians 1:20, 2: 16-17
· Phillipians 3:20
· Phillipians 3:7-8
· Phillipians 1:15-18

Contentment is learned behavior

The text provides a summary in terms of these Life Change Lessons:
· Make a list of unfulfilled goals and accept disappointment … but do not slip into despair. [Being content is not pretending that everything is the way you wish it would be, it is not acting as though you have no wishes. Rather, it is no longer being ruled by your desires. (John Eldredge)]
· Make a list of new goals based on current circumstances.
· Celebrate the special people, places, and moments in your life.

Managing Anger within Intimate Relationships (families, friends, and within Christian community)

2008-04-22T04:21:00.000-07:00

I. FUNDAMENTAL ASSUMPTIONS

Assumption 1: There is a difference between anger and aggression.

Anger is the emotional response to threat or other negative stimulus.

Aggression is the destructive words or actions that flow from that emotional response.

Anger is not sinful

In many cases, aggression is sinful

Assumption 2: Anger and “blame” have to be untangled.
· Blame is about “who was bad?” (me or you). The only choices when contemplating blame is the Rejection of self or Rejectin of the other
· Anger is about threat and the threat does not always come from a “bad person”
Note: Sometimes the other person IS bad ( a thief , some one with INTENT to harm)
· Most of the time in our intimate relationships, the intent is closeness – not harm.
· We have to be very careful about the place of “get back” when untangling anger and blame
o “Get back” never helps relationships
o If “get back” is often present in your relationship, you need to invite God to help you work with this issue – and perhaps some outside person. “Get back” is damaging. Always.
o Sometimes we can misunderstand and think that something is “get back” when it is not. That usually happens when one of you came from a home where “get back” was a part of the family system. // Then it is very easy to see it when it isn’t there – because you are hurt it becomes very easy to believe the other INTENDED to hurt you.
o “Get back” is definitely inconsistent with the Christian message of Grace – from God and for each other.
Bottom line: When you are in an intimate relationship, it is important that all parties commit to the goal of loving and understanding one another – and to promise to ask God to help u remove any element of “get back” that is in the relationship. It may also be important for some of us to ask God to help us “believe” our partners’ promise that they are not intentionally trying to hurt us.

Assumption 3: Anger is about threat … threat of harm that may be physical, but is as likely to be threat to self-esteem, sense of integrity, reputation or other less tangible “goods”
· Analogy to “running a fever:” The fever is the symptom, not the disease. It is a marker to tell you that you are sick.
· When you understand the threat that makes you angry, you can understand more about how you are vulnerable – a place where you can invite God for self- awareness and healing.
· Sometimes sharing where you felt threatened with another person can help build closeness (in the best of all worlds, this happens in our closest relationships)
· Whether you can share it or not, whether you can share it with the other person or not, confessing it before God and asking for His strength, healing and leadership will be healing

Assumption 4: There is a difference between the “trigger” and the “cause.”
The trigger is external. The cause, the place where the threat is perceived, is internal. Example: My spouse comments on my spending habits. This comment. is the trigger. However, the cause of my sense of threat is my perception that this comment threatens my competence.

Assumption 5: When we have insight into the cause, the place where we feel threatened, we have the possiblitiy of healing:
· we are closer to reducing the number of times we experience the emotion of anger
· and increasing our effectiveness in relating to those with whom we are often angry.

II. Steps for anger management

Know you are mad.
The sooner you know you are mad, the sooner you can begin to work on it
If it is cold anger, you may need to sleep on it, write about it, or pray about it to figure it out.
If it is hot anger, Expend the energy! Take a “time out” to get back in control
Ask God’s help in understanding what feels threatened right now
Problem-solve on the underlying threat: devise strategies for dealing with those threats by either internal adjustments and/or problem solving with the source of the trigger.
Problem solving may or may not involve talking with the person whose behavior triggered the anger
· If the goal is intimacy, you are probably going to share what you discovered about yourself – and it can lead to further closeness in the relationship
· If the goal is to work together, it may involve a much less personal sharing and some negotiation about changes that have to take place.
· In some instances, it may be that talking to the other is pointless – if it is going to get you hit, hurt, damaged, it is a pure waste of energy./ You may be powerless with that person – but you can still take that problem to God and find a new power in your relationship with Him that will help you find a way to heal.

Questions for reflection:

1. Consider the “Fundamental Assumptions”. Is there one that surprises you or that you may want think about? What are your own assumptions about anger?

2. Think about the concept of “blame”.
a. Are you more likely to blame the other person – or to blame yourself?
b. How can we move from focusing on “who is the bad guy?” to “what do I need right now?”
c. How does our understanding of God’s Grace fit into this picture?

3. Look at the steps for anger management. Which of the steps are hardest for you? Which are easiest? How could talking to God about it help you with this process?

4. What is the one thing with which you most need God’s help in your own journey of understanding and handling anger?

Anger and Stress

2008-04-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

Today’s lesson focuses on the stress that clouds our lives when we are angry. I am going to handle this lesson like a radio talk show. Are you familiar with the artifact? An expert is invited into the studio and he or she comes prepared to drone on and on about the area of expertise. However, what the expert really wants is for someone to phone it … with a question … or a comment or example of their own. So today, I am going to masquerade as an expert on anger, prepared to drone on and on, but I will pause periodically for interruptions And by the way, we do have an anger expert with us. Claire has taught on anger many times and had she been in town this week she would have been teaching this lesson. In her absence, I will pretend … but she will help respond to comments.

A Didactic on Anger: So here we go, I will be following the lesson materials closely … and one of the resources that the lesson materials use is the writings of Gary Chapman, the man who did the “Five Languages of Love” video.

Major Point 1: There is nothing sinful about experiencing anger. Indeed, at its root, anger is merely a physiological response to external or internal events in our lives. As when we are afraid, when we are angry our blood pressure goes up, we have available extra amounts of adrenalin and other hormones, and our heart rate increases. For this reason, people who are angry a lot experience a very real physical stress.

Major Point 2: More important than the anger response is the trigger that led us to the anger response. Sometimes the trigger is an internal event. As you worry and brood about your problems, you may attach a meaning to them that makes you angry. For example, as you try to balance your check book, you may get angry at your boss who does not pay you enough or get mad at your spouse who spends too much. More often, however, the trigger event is something external. The actions of the driver in the lane next to you or the comments of a co-worker can set off the anger response. Indeed, the thing that triggers the anger may often be the meaning we attach to the driver’s poor driving or the coworker’s comment.
Common meanings that trigger anger:
We have been rejected … someone we value has been rejected
We have been manipulated … someone we value has been manipulated
We have been ignored
Our character has been impugned
Our rights have been violated
We have been dishonored
Dr. Gary Chapman believes that the most common triggers are connected to injustice, “I have been done wrong.”

Pause for call in:

Major Point 3: Once we realize that anger itself is not sinful, we are able to focus on the most destructive aspects of anger, how we act it out in our life. Chapman suggests that the two main unhealthy/ungodly/sinful ways of expressing anger are two opposite ends of a continuum. On one end, aggressively expressing anger. On the other end passively withholding anger. Chapman calls these explosive anger and implosive anger.

Major Point 4: Implosive anger (anger that is submerged or withheld) is based on a denial of the reality of anger. Common phrases that accompany this approach to anger are: “I am not angry, I am just frustrated.” “I am not mad, I am just disappointed.” [Note from Ed: As someone who uses these phrases occasionally … I feel a need to defend them a bit. Sometimes when I use them it means that I am feeling something like anger ... similar physiological response, but do not yet have a good grip on its meaning. Other times I may know “why” I am angry but I am not sure that it is a very worthy reason for being angry.]
Chapman suggests the following negative consequences for Implosive Anger
Passive-aggressive behavior [getting back at people indirectly without telling them why, rather than confronting them head on]
Displacement of anger onto someone else
Stress … stress … stress
Development of resentment, bitterness, and hatred
Potential for delayed explosion “This is the third time you have done that this week and I am sick and tired of it.”
One of the real problems with implosive anger is that it tends to linger … extending the physical stress … and damaging relationships. Paul is speaking of this when he says, “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.

Pause for call in

Major Point 6: At the other end of the continuum is what Chapman calls Explosive anger … uncontrolled fury that may manifest itself in verbal attacks involving screaming, cursing, sarcasm, humiliation, or threats. Explosive anger can seriously damage relationships, and, if it rises to violence, seriously damage other people or property. Exploders sometimes minimize their behavior by blaming it on their victims and/or calling it “getting something off my chest” or “blowing off a little steam.”

Call in … did any of the scriptures you read initially treat address this behavior.

Major Point 7: If both implosive anger and explosive anger are destructive, you might expect that the curriculum recommends something in-between as the desirable way to respond to the physiological experience of feeling angry. They recommend what they call “assertive anger.” I will not attempt to define this carefully but it has these characteristics:
· It is not hidden but expressed
· It is not expressed in a fury
· It is mindful of both the content of the anger (the trigger of the anger) and the relationship
· It attempts to constructively engage with the “reason” why the anger occurred, while at the same time building bridges to the person at whom the anger is directed.
· It is possible to do one without the other … couples may get mad at one another over and over about the same thing … but move pass the anger and make up. However, the trigger is never addressed.
· We may discuss and resolve the problem but remain aloof from the person with whom the problem was experiences. This often happens in the work environment.

Where does stress enter the picture:
Stress builds if you are angry a lot … so finding ways to reduce the number of things that trigger anger is a good strategy
Stress builds if you hold in your anger or if you explode … so learning to manage anger is important to reduce stress.

Newsletter, March 30, 2008

2008-03-31T09:10:00.000-07:00

TexMex Night at White Bluff: The Families and Friends Class invites WBUMC “20-somethings” and “30-somethings” to join us for TexMex night at White Bluff on April 19. Child care is available at 4:30; a shared meal with Mexican themes will be enjoyed at 5:00 pm; a piñata will broken at 6:00; and its contents enjoyed in a shared movie at the church later in the evening. The event is being planned by our true Texan, Paul Snider, and his lovely wife Chrissy. For more information, call Paul at 596-4470 or Chrissy at 596-4469.

Signup list as of March 30:
Chrissy and Paul: Enchiladas with pico sauce + choice of movie(s)
Erica and Curt: Mexican soup
Dasha: Guacamole and chips and piñata
Anna: Chimichangas
Tony and Amy: corn bread
Rhonda and Chris: Salsa and dessert
Kristen: Enchiladas
Claire and Ed: Fruit Salad and candy for piñata

Notes:
· Make sure that Kristen M. knows the number of children from your party who will be participating in the child care. She will make sure that Robyn has sufficient workers and sufficient pizza for children and workers.
· Childcare is $5 a child up to a maximum of $10 per family.

Contributions for Honduran Trip: We will have a box in the classroom in which we are collecting donations for the Honduran Mission trip that members of our church will staff in July. Erica suggests any of the following items as appropriate to donate:
10 Useful Items You Might Have Lying Around Your House
Used children's shoes in good condition
Sample-sized toiletry items (shampoo, lotion, soap, etc.)
Pencils and manual pencil sharpenersS
tickers,
tattoos
Goody bag or Kids-meal type toys (the smaller, the better; no English required)
Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen (non-liquid)
Soccer balls, basketballs or other types of balls that can be deflated (Used condition is fine.)
Old eyeglasses
New children's underwear
New combs

Other business from March 30:
· We re-supplied Janet and Mitch with funds for the baptismal Bible ministry
· We decided that money that was cleared on the class Easter pictures would all be given to the Honduran mission trip
· Kristen promised to refurbish our hallway bulletin board, and we all promised to be quite proud … even if she uses purple and white letters
· Erica asked if the class might be willing to pilot an “outreach” program she is designing for the whole church. As part of that program, Erica is working on “church cards” that can be handed with a personal invitation. She may discuss an incentive plan later.

Stress from Children’s Schedules, March 9, 2008

2008-03-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

As we continue our survey of stress in our lives we have been talking about the stress of excess demands. We referenced a book by physician, Richard Swenson, called Margins in which he uses the metaphor of the margins of a page to describe the dilemma of the modern family. Swenson declares that the margins, the blank spaces, on the printed page are necessary if we are going to read the printed page. He suggests that it is very unpleasant to read a page that is filled from top to bottom, from left to right by print. Further, Swenson suggests that the same is true with our lives. If we fill our lives so fully that that there are no blank spaces, then we will experience our lives as stressful …even if all the content of our days is good. In the curriculum we find this quote:

People often eliminate the margins in their own lives and fill up their schedules from top to bottom and side to side. The result is active but exhausted individuals and busy families with multiple interests but little time for each other.

Our curriculum then reached into scripture to suggest three margins that we need to observe in our lives, margins that will reduce stress and return joy to our Christian living.

Margin 1: The Sabbath – Creating margins through rest and worship
Margin 2: Sharing responsibility – Creating margins through getting more help
Margin 3: Knowing when enough is enough –Creating margins through solitude

Last week we divided into three groups to discuss each of these “margins.” Today I want to talk about an issue that I overheard being discussed as I listened to the groups talking last week. Last week I heard several of you discuss the stress being introduced into your lives by new organized activities in which your children are involved. For example, Paul discussed some new activities that his daughter are pursuing in their karate class that take them out of town for a time. This started me thinking, and the following is the result:

Two of the most rapid sociological changes in the 50 years between my childhood and the childhoods of your children has been (a) the rapid increase in organized activities for children built around sports, performances and interests … (b) and increasingly early ages at which we begin to involve our children in those activities.

Back in the dark ages, when I was a child, the first opportunity to partidcipate in something that was organized came at about age 8 or 9, and that opportunity was Little league baseball. This was a one season sport that typically involved Saturdays for about eight weeks with all games played at a field in the neighborhood. A few children took piano lessons, more were in scouting and church based activities, but by far the most common activity was free play in neighbor’s yards, usually under the watch care of a stay at home mother. By middle school you could play on a school or league team in football or basketball or play in the school band, but again seasons were short and free play was a major part of most children’s days in the extended off-seasons.

By the time my children reached school age (when you were children), opportunities were much wider and occurred much earlier. My son Aaron was playing what could we might generously call soccer by age 5. [Actually, it was a swarm of 18 children following a ball, one child throwing rocks at the goalie and one child talking to his mother]. By age 7 Aaron was playing two soccer seasons a year, and soon sister, Jodi, got the soccer bug and was also playing two season soccer. Not only were there weekly practices for each child; in Wake County, North Carolina the teams played county-wide so that Claire and I each would typically drive 20 miles, in a different direction, on Sunday afternoon. Along the way both children took music lessons from age 5, and Jodi took gymnastics from age 8.

As I have watched the children of my faculty, it seems to be that the movement has accelerated. Indeed, the most recent phenomena seems to be “select teams” or selected individuals who compete perform not in a community context, but regionally or nationally. One close friend has a son in his early teens who plays a regional golf circuit much like the pro circuit with events all across the southeast, others play on city select teams for children that travel further and with longer seasons than my high school basketball team ever traveled. Similar structures exist for performance-oriented activities like music and dance. Almost every activity seems to have a non-local component.

There are several consequences of all this organized and planned activity, some good and some bad. [The class then brainstormed on two lists. I was not taking notes so what appears below are my recollections. I apologize for those that are missing.]

Good Consequences:
1. We give our children the opportunity to excel … helping them build self-confidence and poise that perhaps will help them through the difficult adolescent years
2. We can choose our children’s peer groups and know that their play is supervised. They learn discipline and teamwork and develop critical social skills.
3. Such activities give the children a place to be positively involved when school schedules and parent’s work schedules do not coincide
4. In some rare cases, our children may be talented enough so that with an early start they will be able to use their skill in their adult life … scholarship to college or performance for pay .we give them the chance to be the very best that they can be.

More Questionable Consequences:
1. Children have less down time …and there is some evidence that undirected play plays important role in childrens’ development.
2. Parents pay and enormous toll as they provide transportation and other support for organizations that produce the activity. Making it possible for our children to participate in these activities can contribute to the stress from overload that we feel.
3. Disruptive of family centered activities like evening meals together or family devotionals or simply family in the house at the same time doing different things.
4. Children may get a unwise message about what things are really important. As they see the entire family system turned upside down month after month to facilitate their participation on a select football team or their performance with a regional orchestra, they may draw a conclusion from that that the families do not intend.

My point here is that there is a balance to be struck … .and you will not get much help from your society in striking that balance. I do not know the answer to how much organized activity is the right amount of organized activity; that will depend on both the circumstances of the child and the family. However, it would be unwise to proceed on autopilot and do things just exactly like the other ten families in your neighborhood. I would like to tell you a story from my years as a parent and the place that I decided that balance had to be restored.

My story: As my son began to move from baby to child, I wanted very much for him to enjoy and excel in athletics. There were a couple of reasons for this.
· I had not only enjoyed playing sports, but it had been a crucial bridge for me during adolescents. It will not surprise you that I was a strange child [the child is the father of the man]. I was socially awkward, excelled in school and was serious member of my Christian community … none of which endeared me to my peers. Playing sports was how I connected to my peers. Since I suspected that Aaron might share some of my strangeness, I wanted him to have the same bridge available to him.
· It turned out that when Ed’s genes went head to head with Claire’s genes, Claire’s always won. Hence my son was a very small child. I felt that excelling in a sport would help this small child compensate for the biological fact (and the fact that his father was a hulking giant).

Consequently, when Aaron showed an interest in playing on a soccer team with his five year old friend Jay Thomas, I piled on. For the next seven years we built large parts of our schedule around soccer. There was a fall season, there was a spring season, there was summer soccer camp at North Carolina State University. Along the way Aaron developed some skills, enjoyed the play, and was usually one of the better six players on the team but certainly not the star. When we moved to Savannah, he had a bit of a head start, and was soon on a select team playing across the region. It was then that I finally made the determination that I had gotten things out of balance. We were on a weekend trip to Jacksonville with games on Saturday and then on Sunday. I got up on Sunday morning and realized, “We are not in church today. For years I have communicated to my child that soccer is more important than family life. Now I am communicating that soccer is more important that participation in a Christian community.” We played the Sunday afternoon game, and we quit the select team.

Surprisingly, Aaron’s life did not fall apart. Without me facilitating a week built around soccer, he developed a group of friends who began to work on Odyssey of the Mind projects and spent afternoons in garages building exotic machines. Even without select team preparation he made the high school soccer team and played three seasons on a one of the better teams in the city. But surprisingly, in his senior year in high school, when he would have started at center half back, he elected not to play on a team destined to win the region, and he did not play soccer, but rather spent his time on a rich set of non-sport activities. The father who believed that sports were necessary to secure his son’s future had been totally mistaken.

I don’t tell you this story to suggest that at any point I made the “right” choice. All my choices may have been off the mark. Perhaps I should have never started my son playing soccer, or perhaps I should have continued select team to the end of the season, or perhaps something in between. My only point is that there are decisions to be made … there is a balance to seek … and children will be remarkable resilient, however you proceed.

I want to leave you with three very practical suggestions made at the end of the lesson on Stress from Overload:

1. Create a margin by marking a weekly Sabbath Rest on your calendar and schedule around it.
2. When you are feeling overwhelmed, list and evaluate the activities in which you are involved. Pray about each activity on the list. Ask for wisdom to discern whether or not to eliminate that activity or ask for help in that activity. Note: When asking for help, ask a specific person to do a specific task for a specific time period.
3. Schedule time alone and time with family and friends.

Newsletter, March 9

2008-03-09T11:08:00.000-07:00

Newsletter, March 9, 2008

Just a few dates:

March 22 Church-wide Easter Party, 10:00 am on Saturday,
Class contribution will the Curt and Erica show (photography table)
March 30 Class business meeting during usual class hour. Breakfast and business and prayer will be the order of the day
April 19 Class social event …big ideas provided by Paul and Chrissy,
details to be decided on March 30

Belated special thanks to Tony Murphy for handling teaching chores in late February as Ed and Claire ventured to see Natalie Claire’ baptism.

Stress from Loss: Grieving as a Christian

2008-02-19T13:56:00.000-08:00

Stress in the life of a Christian: Previously on West Wing we have discussed
• Stress related to failure
• Stress related to conflict in relationships
• Stress related to the work place

Today I want to read part of the introductory Biblical passage and ask you to identify for the source of stress we will discuss today: Read Job 1:13-15, 18-21

Stress increases when we are grieving a loss. Before we begin our conversation, I would like to use what the educators among us would call a pre-test.

Post-Test given to class:

1. When we talk about grief, we most often think about our response to the death of some one close to us. However, we often find ourselves grieving other losses that have nothing to do with death. Can you identify some examples other losses that might produce grief in the life of an individual?

2. Prolonged or overly emotional grieving demonstrates a lack of faith. (True or False)

3. Each person’s experience of grief is completely unique. (True or False)

Responses to Question 1:
• loss of relationship by separation … spouse to Iraq, divorce, insurmountable issues that divide from someone you love
• Loss of job
• Loss of health
• Loss of financial security
• Loss of personal safety
• Loss of dream
• Loss of reputation or status or approval

Responses to Question 2: The curriculum is emphatic that it is not a sign of spiritual immaturity for a Christian to experience wrenching grief. Indeed, our response from one moment to the next in the grief process may vary. A moment ago we heard Job’s initial response to his terrible loss. In that response he is somewhat calm and dispassionate. However, as time passes his grief takes many different shapes. Listen to Job in Job 3:1-4, 11-12, 16, , 25-26. Here we hear a man whose grief is intense, yet his faith remains constant.

However, Carla points out that failure to move beyond grief may signify a crisis in faith. We will touch on this in a minute.

Responses to Question 3: True and False. Each person’s grief patterns are unique. And indeed, as we watch another person go through the grief process, we really have no measure of how profound and deep it is. The Bible offers several pictures of persons experiencing grief and in each case they have different characteristics. We watch David lament as his friend Jonathan is killed, we watch the prophets mourn as Israel wanders further from God and consequences follow. We watch Jesus mourn when his cousin and his friend John the Baptist was beheaded. [Read Matthew 14: 9 – 13] Note that the outward manifestation of Jesus’ grief was that he chose to go apart by himself.

On the other hand, although each person’s grief is individual, there are some common patterns in the grief journey that are worth noting:

The curriculum describes this pattern: Shock, Denial, Sadness, Anger, Acceptance. In our two vignettes in the life of Job, his first response was in the period of shock. By Job 3 he was somewhere in anger stage. Another well-respected pattern is the one researched by the physician Elizabeth Kubbler-Ross who identified the following stages in the grief that comes when one learns that one has a terminal illness: Denial, Bargaining, Anger, Depression, Acceptance. What both patterns suggest to us is that grief is a journey though which we must move … and that to resume a life of joy and meaning, we must eventually complete the journey. Knowing the patterns that will characterize our grief may help us monitor ourselves as we experience grief and may also help us as we live with and reach out to friends and family who are immersed in grief.

Our authors emphatically assert that grief is a normal part of the lives of Christians and not a sign of weakness, and they emphatically assert that there is no magic time after which all Christian should have completed their grief journey. However, they suggest that there are some false beliefs that can lead us to get stuck in our grief journey in a place of despair or bitterness. These false beliefs can rob us of some or all of the joy of the Christian life.

Question for Discussion: Accepting for a moment that grief is a journey that each of us must travel to the end, what are some false beliefs that can hold us in bad places?

• I can never forgiven for my part in the loss of X (where X may a passenger in the car I was driving when the wreck occurred, X may be a spouse I had a fight with before he was deployed to Iraq, a job that was lost due to my inattention, a championship game that was lost due to my mistakes, …) . If we get stuck at this place in our grief journey, we forget that God is first and foremost a God of forgiveness. He invites us to bring our pasts to him for healing. He can and will forgive.
• Without X, there is no possibility of joy or happiness or fulfillment in my life. (Remember X may not be a person … lost job, lost dream, …) This false belief assumes we are dependent on our selves or the lost person or thing for joy and happiness. For a Christian, God is the source of true joy.
• Because I lost X, my life has no meaning. Again, this false belief forgets that with or without X, God is the source of meaning in our lives. He has loved us, declared us his children, and we need no other meaning or mission in this life.
• If God really loved me, X would not have been lost. In this false belief we presume there to know more than God and to know more about the direction of God’s will than God does.

Life Change Lessons:
1. Accept your grief: This is a necessary first step, accepting the fact that a loss has occurred and that you are entering a new season of your life, a season of grief. It does not help to declare that grief is not necessary because we are victorious Christians. It is better to admit to God and to ourselves that the loss hurts … a lot.
2. Limit your Grief: To grieve freely and openly is not to give in to an indefinite and debilitating despair. If you find yourself stuck in one of the stages of grief, perhaps being held captive by the mistaken belief that your life has no meaning, you may need help in moving on. Talk to a wise friend about your lack of progress, or seek a Christian counselor.
3. Redeem your grief: Remember that your life can grow larger through suffering. Read I Samuel 9 for an example of how David redeemed his grief from the loss of his beloved friend Jonathan by caring for Jonathan’s crippled son and making him an honored guest at the table of the king.

Pre-Test:

1. When we talk about grief, we most often think about our response to the death of some one close to us. However, we often find ourselves grieving other losses that have nothing to do with death. Can you identify some examples other losses that might produce grief in the life of an individual?

2. Prolonged or overly emotional grieving demonstrates a lack of faith.

3. Each person’s experience of grief is completely unique.

The Stress of Labor

2008-02-04T20:39:00.000-08:00

This is the lesson from February 3, 2008.

Introduction: In past weeks, we have
Looked at stress in general: Our scripture passage centered on Paul’s poetic words in Philippians 4.
Stress that is a result of failure on our own part: Scripture passage was about Peter’s denial during the trial of Jesus
Stress that is a result of conflict: Scripture passage had to do with conflict between tribes of Israel recorded in Joshua

I am going to read the scripture that is cited today … my question for you will be. What source of stress are we discussing today?

Wheeler read Scripture Passage: Exodus 5: 1-2, 10 - 23

Today our focus will be on “The Stress of Labor,” stress that burdens our life that results from our life of work. The quarterly classifies that stress in three categories. responsibilities, relationships, and environment.

In class we created three work groups to work on these three sources of stress. We also asked each workgroup to think about this question: What resources/insights do we have as Christians that assist us as we struggle to keep stress of the workplace from dominating our lives. Below you will find notes from each work group as well as some comments from the quarterly.

Group 1: What are some ways that our responsibilities in the work place may invoke stress?

Multiple tasks that stretch us thin. In our group each of us have more than one “job” and any one of the jobs would be enough for a days work. Tasks beyond our knowledge or skill level
Tasks below our skill level
Tasks that make us responsible for lives or welfare of others
Tasks that put our life or health at risk

What resources/insights do we have as Christians that assist us as we struggle to keep stress of the workplace from dominating our lives.

o In prayer we can go to God for perspective and comfort
o In Christian community we can share and get support for some of the burdens we carry in our work; we are stronger in our minds because of our community
o From our faith we have a framework from which to make decisions
o Our job is not our life: family, Christian community, service to God and his people are other “higher purposes” in our lives
o Our highest good is not to acquire more money or power

Group 2: Identify and discuss the relationships in the workplace that may be sources of stress.

Three kinds of relationship that can lead to stress in workplace: relationships with boss, co-workers, and clients/customers.
A primary source of stress involves co-workers who are either whiners or who blow up at the slightest provocation. Persons who see everything as a “glass half full” can poison a work environment.

What resources/insights do we have as Christians that assist us as we struggle to keep stress of the workplace from dominating our lives?

One of our understandings of work is that we are servants giving gifts to glorify God.
God gives us the perspective to see the glass as “half full” instead of half empty.
We have a broader of perspective because of history and our roots.
We can understand our bosses, coworkers and customers as persons
loved by God

Group 3: What are some aspects of work conditions or environment that may lead to stress.

Physical conditions can be hot, cluttered, disorganized, drab, run-down.
There can be physical hazards: machines, bullets
The environment can be very political
The work environment can be very insecure (threat that job comes to an end)

What resources/insights do we have as Christians that assist us as we struggle to keep stress of the workplace from dominating our lives?

Knowledge that our work is meaningful and part of a bigger purpose.
First Peter

Summary by Ed: We have done a wonderful job of identifying sources of stress in the workplace and resources that Christians have in coping with those stresses. In addition to the resources mentioned above we might add:

The fact that work is affirmed by our faith. In the creation account in Genesis, God is portrayed as working to bring about creation and then resting. When Adam and Eve were put in the garden, their purpose was to “work it and care for it.” In the New Testament work is affirmed in scriptures such as I Thessalonians 3:6- 8 and I Timothy 5:8.

We can understand our bosses, coworker, and customers as persons
Loved by God
Sinful and bearing burdens of our own: One of Claire’s father’s favorite sayings was, “Don’t be too hard on anyone you meet, you never know what burdens they are carrying that day.”

We can understand the work place as a place to which we are called to bring salt and light … a place of ministry … and, in the right circumstances, a place of witness.

Lifechange Lessons [These were not covered in class but are some ideas of “changes” we can bring to bear on our work stress that were given in the book we are using]

1. List the sources of your stress and identify the top three factors that “steal joy” from your job.
2. Identify reasonable, action steps to reduce the stressors.
a. Effective people work within their circle of influence. They realize that there is much beyond their control, but there is also much that they can do within their circle of influence
Example: Relationship with boss
Determine what boss wants: (by asking, listening, observing)
Determine how to deliver what boss wants
Decide if you are willing to pay the cost of delivery
3. Evaluate your compatibility with your job
4. Avoid the urban myth of the perfect job: “Someplace there is a perfect job … I just need to keep moving until I find it.”

Stress in Relation to Conflict

2008-01-24T20:54:00.000-08:00

This is the lesson from January 20, 2008

Things to look forward to:
Lesson by John Haney next week (January 27)
Lesson by Tony Murphy on February 24

Baselines for today’s lessons:
• There are no genuine relationships without conflict.
Marriages, Christian communities, Sunday school classes, families, work communities, and neighborhoods
• One of the sources of stress in our lives is unresolved conflict.
• As Christians, we are called to seek resolution and reconciliation for the conflicts of which we are a part. {Can you think of scriptural calls for this perspective}
Love our enemies, pray for those who persecute you
Forgive those who trespass against us
Love one another as I have loved you
Romans: 12:18 If possible, in as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Love your neighbor even as you love yourself.
Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted forgiving each other

Wake-Up Exercise: Five principles related to conflicts and their resolutions. Use words on the right to complete statements on the left.

1. Unity is not the __________ of conflict but the result of __________ conflict.

2. Faulty _________ almost always leads to flawed interpretation that provoke wrong __________ with potentially disastrous __________.

3. Resolution is not possible without __________.

4. Good conflict resolutions nearly always begin with __________ rather than __________.

5. ___________ is not possible without cooperation. Use the words at most once. Some will not be used.

Cooperation
Communication
Carbohydrates
Information
Questions
Interpretations
Absence
Accusations
Lawyers
Resolved
Conclusions
Pork pie hats
Results
Reconciliation

The authors of our materials claim that we can see evidence of these principles in the following story. I am going to tell the story and as I tell it, I want you to listen for examples of the five principles.

Tell story from Joshua 22:

As the twelve tribes of Israel entered the Promised Land, 10 of the tribes crossed to the Western Side of the Jordan river while 2 of the tribes (Gad and Reuben) located on the eastern side. The tabernacle, an elaborate tent structure that housed the central place of worship of God, crossed the Jordan with the majority and was located at Shiloh. This was designated the official place of worship of God.

A rumor arrived at Shiloh. The two tribes who stayed on the eastern side of the Jordan were building a huge altar. As the weeks passed, the rumors became more excited. Not only were they building a large altar. On this altar they were going to start burning sacrifices to Gods other than Jehovah. That really caused a stir. Before long, the ten tribes were forming an army to cross the Jordan, tear down the altar, and punish the wayward tribes. However, some wise head intervened, and before the armies crossed the Jordan, a delegation was sent led by a man named Phineas.

The delegation arrived from Shiloh and faced the elders of the two eastern tribes. Phineas asked these questions:
How could you break faith with God like this?
How could you build this altar in rebellion to God?
Don’t you know that your sin will result in punishment for us all?
He then offered a compromise: If this land is causing you to sin, come on over to our side of Jordan. We will squeeze together and make room for you. Only don’t continue to rebel against God.

Then the leaders of the two eastern tribes answered. “You don’t understand. This altar is not for sacrifice to other Gods. This altar is to remind our children of the God that we all serve. We built it to be a witness between your people and our people, that we serve the same God. The altar is not for the purpose of rebelling against the Lord, but as a witness to the power of God.

When the delegation from Shiloh returned home with the news, everyone was relieved. “The report pleased the Israelites and the Israelites blessed God and no longer talked of war.” The altar on the eastern side of the Jordan was called Witness.

Did you detect any of the five principles in this story?

Questions For Reflection:

1. Do any of the principles connect with your experience?
• Have you seen one of the principles acted out in real life?
• Can you think of a circumstance in which thinking about the principle could be useful?
2. Sometimes conflicts cannot be resolved because one or more parties won’t communicate and won’t cooperate.
• How should we respond as Christians to this circumstance in our work place
• How should we respond as Christians to this circumstance in our Christian community?

Stress: Lesson 2

2008-01-22T10:17:00.000-08:00

Lesson from January 13

This week, I had a conversation with a young friend who reminded me of some of the stresses of families of persons of your stage of life. In this particular family, both husband and wife have executive positions, they have several small children, they have strong connections to extended family … and in the midst of their life together, it is hard to find a moment of personal time. In thinking about this family, I remembered my own family in the mid-eighties. We lived in Cary, North Carolina. Every morning we saw a 6 year old and eight year old off to school, Claire began a 25 mile commute to Chapel Hill, North Carolina where she was a graduate student, and I drove 8 miles to my first supervisory job, a job in which I supervised 4 women 20 years older than myself. Along the side, we were trying to care for Claire’s parents who were in ill health in north Georgia. It was a time of life filled with stress. We are going to spend a little time for the next several weeks seeking God’s guidance on ways to lower the level of that stress and at the least, make it more productive in our lives.

In the first lesson on Stress that Karen Clarke taught on December 30, the lesson turned around one of my favorite passages in the Bible;

“Rejoice in the Lord always.” Again I say, “Rejoice!”
Let your gentleness be shown to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your wishes be known to God.
And the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Phillipians 4:4-7

Three points:
· Paul’s prescription for anxiety is reliable. He is in prison facing execution at the time he writes the letter of Phillipians. He knows what stress is!
· The prescription works because when we come into the presence of God in prayer, we find the Lord of Peace who is a good listener.
· The prescription works because in prayer we gain perspective and truth.

End of Review of Last Lesson and Beginning of Lesson 2: Failure Leads to Stress

Although the authors will try to suggest perspectives to help us cope with stress … to overcome stress … they will certainly not act as if stress is not real. Indeed, that is a major point. Stress is real and will severely impact our lives if we do not make progress toward mastering it.

In today’s lesson they go right to a major source of stress … out failures. Sometimes life is stressful, not because of external circumstances, but because of our own failures and errors. And failure is stressful, not just because it is humbling and embarrassing, but because it often has concrete consequences.

The authors then take us to one of the most painful moments of embarrassment and failure in the New Testament.

Reader 1: Matthew 26: 31-35

Reader 2: Matthew 26: 69-75
Before we think further about this scripture, let’s see if we can see ourselves in it.

Reader 3: Read John 21:15 – 17

Our authors believe that in these scripturse we get important perspectives about how God sees our failures:
· While Jesus does not affirm our failures … he nonetheless anticipates them. He knows who we are.
· Jesus believes in us despite our failures.
· Jesus sees our failure and shame.
· Jesus forgives us our failure.

Conclusion:
The quarterly tells a very poignant story from the 1996 Olympics. The long jump gold medalist from the 1992 Olympics, Mike Powell, is competing against Carl Lewis. Powell is behind and is coming up for his last jump. In the previous jump he pulled a muscle so he can only limp as he rushes toward the board. In an instant, Powell lifts off and then due to a wave of pain, crashes face down in the sand far from the point he needed to reach. The camera focuses on Powell as he grimaces with pain and as he pulled himself out of the sand. Then the camera follows him as he limps away from the competition, dragging his injured leg. No coach comes to console him, no trainer comes to provide atowel to wipe sand and grime from his face. It was a very telling picture of a man buried deep in his failure with no hope for redemption or reconciliation.

This is our antidote against the stress induced by our failure. We are not necessarily insured against the natural consequences of our failure. We may lose relationship with other people, we may lose the gold medal, but we do not lose relationship with God. God will meet us with towel and comfort as we limp away from the fray. God comes to us in our failure and offers forgiveness … but also offers reconciliation.

Jan 6, 2008: Class Meeting

2008-01-09T17:56:00.000-08:00

Class Social: January 19, “Recycled Christmas”: In the class meeting today, the class decided to revisit a class tradition: The Recycled Christmas Party. Here are the details on the party:
Date and Place: January 19 at home of David and Carla McCorvey
Time: Nursery at church open at 4:30, food laid out at McCorvey's at 5:00 pm
Activities: Shared meal, Exchange of recycled gifts, ... and perhaps visits by noted rock groups!
Food: Chicken Fingers provided by McCorveys. Other dishes provided by guests. [Note: If you are non-cooker, come anyway. You need what your classmates will provide.]

Here are the dishes that were pledged at the class meeting today:
Hagan- dessert

Linton - main dish

Wheeler- fruit salad

McDowell- let them know what is needed [Sarah and John, just make a choice in view of what your see here]

Snider- potatoes or veggies

Everly- Dessert

Murphy- side dish

Larsh- side dish
For More Info: Call Carla or David at 920-8080.

What is a “Recycled Gift?” A “recycled gift” is that unusual Christmas gift that you are not quite sure what to do with. In some cases it will be a very nice gift that just does not fit your persona/your interests/your décor. In other cases, all may have cause to wonder, “why would anyone give this?” The gifts will be exchanged using a very confusing set of rules that you will only understand after you have lost the gift your heart desires (unless Tony Murphy manages to impose order on chaos.)
Final Note: This social will take the place of the Super Bowl social that had been tentatively discussed several weeks ago.

Birthday Info to be posted: In class meeting today, we passed around the roster for the class to get updates on emails, phone numbers, and addresses. [If any class member would like to have your own personalized copy of this roster, email Ed and he will provide it to you]. One piece of information that is on the roster for some families is information about family birthdays. Paul Snider is going to take that information and produce a birthday posting on our class Blog. [It will live under the label Birthdays]. In class today, we gave people the opportunity to signal that they did not want birthdays posted by removing them from the roster. However, several folks (Alfords, Hicks, Maynard, Minceys, West) were not there to remove their birthdays.

Safe Sanctuary Training: Safe Sanctuary training for the Southern Conference of UMC will be held on Saturday, January 26, 2008 at Pittman Park UMC in Statesboro and on Saturday, February 16, 2008 at Waycross First UMC in Waycross. Claire hopes to attend the February 16 training and then work with Amy, Carla, Chrissy and others to produce a training session for the entire church. Before the end of this year, all members of WBUMC who work with children will need to have completed this training.

Curriculum: Many thanks to Karen Clarke for getting us started on the curriculum entitled: Intentional Choices: discovering contentment in stressful times. We will be in this curriculum over the next several weeks.

Special Things Ahead:
We are pleased that on January 27, Pastor John Haney will be our guest teacher.
We are pleased that, should the Wheeler grandchild Natalie be baptized on February 24, Professor Tony Murphy will take the podium to teach that day.
Ski trip is tentatively scheduled for Feb 5-10. Anyone interested, talk to Mitch.

Newsletter, December 23

2007-12-23T16:50:00.000-08:00

Newsletter
December 23, 2007

Note from Ed and Claire: Dear Friends, thank you for starting our Christmas celebration with the two generous and thoughtful gift cards. Claire and I have long had the Bone Fish Grill on our “wish to eat there” list, and we will enjoy wandering the aisles of Barnes and Nobel with treasure in hand.

Thank you also the many cards and notes with which you have enriched our lives over the last several days. The door of our refrigerator is brightly adorned with pictures of many of you and your children, and we often pause in wonder and prayer before them.

And finally, thank you for honoring us by allowing us to teach your Sunday School class. Our lives are immeasurably richer because you permit us this opportunity. May the peace and joy that is the promise of the season color every minute of your Christmas celebration. May you experience the fact that “God is with us” in a special way.

e and c

Coming Events:
December 24: “Come and Go” Communion for families will be served at the church at 7:30 am and 11:30 pm. There will be candlelight Christmas eve service at 5:00 pm.

December 30: Karen Clark will teach the lesson in class. This will be a special Sunday in which there is no 8:30 service, Sunday School will be at usual time, and at the 11:00 service, the worship will turn around sharing some of the wonderful music of the season and the stories behind the music.

January 6: Carla McCorvey will lead us in a business meeting. For the uninitiated, this also means we will have a several wonderful dishes to sample along with juice, water, and coffee.

January 27: We could still use a teacher on this Sunday. Ed and Claire will be combining business trip to Washington D. C. with celebration of their XX anniversary (no, we are not telling). Call/email Ed if you are interested/willing.

February 3: Superbowl party at the McCorvey’s house. More details revealed at January 6 business meeting.

Surprises for Christmas

2007-12-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

Opening Question: We have been talking about Christmas now for three weeks … and you have heard sermons about Christmas … and music about Christmas. Have you read or heard or thought anything new this year? Have you had any surprises as you prepared for Christmas this year?

In a sense, each of our Christmas lessons has been about surprises. Tony started with a lesson that featured the surprise that Zachariah and Elizabeth received. Then a lesson on Gabriel’s surprise visit to Mary. Then a lesson on the surprises that greeted the shepherds in the field near Bethlehem. In our lesson today Mary and Joseph have yet more surprises. Even as they are actors in the first Christmas, they continue to learn its meaning. Let me give you the setting for the surprises we will discuss today:

Jesus was born into a devout Jewish family, and, shortly after his birth, his parents carry him to Jerusalem to participate in some part of the ritual in which devout families participated around the births. There were three:
· Jesus needed to undergo the rite of circumcision
· Jesus’ parents needed pay a temple tax to buy back their son. [In the Hebrew mind, every male child was sacred to God … belonged to God in a special way … and the family paid a temple tax of five shekels to release him to their family.]
· Mary needed to undergo a rite of purification. After the birth she was ceremonially unclean for 40 days, after which time she was to offer a lamb and a pigeon as an offering. [This was a pretty stiff offering. If you were poor, you could offer two pigeons and you will note that this is the offering that Mary and Joseph provided]
So, as the family traveled to Jerusalem to take care of one or more of these obligations, they were met by two old people, Simeon and Anna. [I must tell you that it gives Claire and me comfort to see old folks at the center of this exciting story.]

Both Simeon and Anna are waiting quietly but confidently for the arrival of the messiah. Before I turn you loose to read their part in the story, let me remind you of the two strains of messianic hope that filled the hearts of the Jewish people.

A substantial party of people believed that when the messiah came, he would lead the Jews to triumph over all nations. They harkened back to their memory of King David, a time in which their nation had some military success. In the messianic period, they believed that Israel would rule and all nations would be subservient. In particular, Israel would throw off the shackles of Rome. There were some of this party who were not content to wait for the messiah and constantly maintained a low grade warfare against the Romans. They were called Zealots. This low grade guerilla war occasionally flared into open rebellion, and one such flare-up led to the destruction of Jerusalem about 62 years after the events of the first Christmas.

Another group’s ideas about the messiah came from other sources. In God’s original promises to Abraham in Genesis 12, part of the promise was that “all the peoples of the earth will be blessed through you and the nation that comes from your people.” And this theme is repeated in other parts of the old testament. This group, called “The Quiet in the Land” by Barclay, were less certain about what the messianic period would look like, but were sure that when it happened, God would bless not only the Jews, but others as well. They waited for the Messiah, attempting to live exemplary lives and saturate their lives in prayer and obedience. Out of this group come Simeon and Anna.

Read Luke 2: 21 – 36 and think about these questions.

What might have surprised Joseph and Mary about what Simeon had to say?
§ A light of revelation to the Gentiles
§ This child will cause the falling and rising of many
§ The thoughts of many hearts will be revealed
§ A sword will pierce your heart
Why was/is Jesus good news for some and bad news for others?
How did/does the light that Jesus represents expose their/our hearts?

And the surprises were not over, for no sooner than the old man had departed than the old woman Anna came trotting up. Read Luke 2: 36- 38.

In Barclay’s study of Luke he makes three insightful comments about Anna:
Anna had known sorrow … but had not grown bitter because
She had never ceased to worship
She never ceased to pray

A Christmas To-Do List

2007-12-15T08:26:00.000-08:00

What’s at the top of your list this season?

In our first week of study, Tony led us as we looked to the story of Zachariah and Elizabeth and the question of how we prepare for Christmas.

Last week, the authors of our series suggested to us an important part of that preparation involves finding the spirit for Christmas. In search of that spirit they led us to the example of Mary who responded to an unexpected crisis in her life with humility …
I am the Lord’s servant, let me serve him in the way that he asks.

Before we leave Mary and her spirit of humility, I want us to hear young Mary in her own words. As the story is told in Luke, after Mary becomes pregnant she goes to visit her relative Elizabeth who she has heard is also expecting an unexpected child. While there, Elizabeth provides Mary with some much needed support. When Mary enters the room, Elizabeth exclaims, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child that you bear.” With this encouragement, Luke records that Mary launched into her own prayer of praise: a verse that became one of the hymns of the early church and is known as the Magnificat. I would like you to read the Magnificat (Luke 1: 46- 55). I want you to again listen to Mary’s humility but I also want you to listen for something else. Our authors say that the theme of this passage is the great reversal. As you read the passage I want you to look for three great reversals.

Barclay’s Versions of the Three Reversals:

He has scattered the proud: Jesus leads a moral revolution. Our prideful visions of ourselves as moral creatures without blemish are destroyed when we examine ourselves by the light that Jesus brings into the world.

He casts down the mighty and exalts the humble: Jesus leads a social revolution …the old labels of class, caste, gender, prestige are rendered moot.

He has filled those who are hungry … those who are rich are sent empty away: Jesus leads an economic revolution.

Our authors: Some have taken this as a political manifesto of liberation for the poor and oppressed of the Earth. It was never meant to be that. The liberation Mary describes is not political or economic, but spiritual. Mary will be called blessed not because she’ll get a new Mercedes, but because her Son will save her and others from sin. The liberation is not for the poor, period—but for the poor who fear God, trust God, and look to God for salvation.
I am not so sure about this as are our authors. As I mentioned in my discussion of stewardship a couple of weeks ago, I think that in any careful reading of the Gospels we come away understanding that Jesus had a special heart in his ministry for the poor --- and that he was not exclusively concerned for their spiritual poverty. I don’t think Jesus special concern for the poor in itself determines our politics or our advocacy on issues. It has never been clear to me what political system or policies best serve the poor. However, the Magnificat and many scriptures like it do mean this: Whatever political system and policies a Christian advocates … we cannot forget the poor in that advocacy.

I want to shift gears now and move into the next lesson. In this lesson, the authors want to talk to us about our to-do list. I don’t know about your house, but my house is littered with them. As we try to remain faithful to obligations of work and family and friends … and execute the plans required by the Christmas season, we compose list after list of things that must be done … and reminders of the deadlines for doing them. In this next lesson, our authors want to add something to our lists. Well, that is not exactly correct, what they want to do is suggest some things that may in fact shorten our lists because they will put all of our other todo’s into perspective.
Our authors remind us that when we read Luke 1 and 2 we are not reading about one birth but two … and they claim that between the two births we get some important insights into things that should come first on our to do list for the Christmas season. They claim that in these chapters we often find the actors involved in these activities:
1. Believe.
2. Obey.
Ed Note: This entry in the list reminds us of a real temptation in the Christmas season, the temptation to keep Jesus in the manger. In the movie Talledega nights, the protagonist offers his dinner time blessing not to God but to the baby Jesus. When his wife protests, Ricky Bobby says, I like him better when I think of him that way, a cute little baby. Who knows what was in Ricky Bobby’s tortured mind, but it may have been the fact that when we let Jesus grow up, he makes more significant calls on our lives … he calls on us to obey him.
3. Tell others

4. Experience holy wonder
Mary: My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices
Mary: Mary treasured up all of these things and pondered them in her heart
Zachariah: The rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in the darkness to guide our feet to the path of peace

Of four items on the list, the one that was most appealing for me in this Christmas season was the notion of finding time to pause in holy wonder. Our authors suggest the following ways to escape the busyness of the season and experience holy wonder. Can you extend their list?

In the middle of my shopping, stop, pull out my Bible, and read the Christmas story.
Gather your children around a Nativity scene each night to unwrap a different piece, and talk about the role it plays in the Christmas story.
Wake up early one morning and find a place to watch the sun rise and meditate on Zechariah’s words: “The rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
Write the words of the angel on a 3x5 card and pull it out every time I eat: “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

The True Spirit of Christmas

2007-12-05T15:23:00.000-08:00

Are you where God wants you to be this Christmas season?

We began our discussion by each class member writing a definition of humility. After some conversation about these definitions, Ed launched the following lesson.

In last week’s lesson, our writers emphasized that if our Christmas is to be spiritually successful, we must prepare for it. Today they are going to tell us that a critical part of that preparation will be to develop the correct attitude … and the attitude they suggest will prepare us for Christmas is … humility. We have taken a stab at definitions, but oftentimes definitions of attitudes and emotions are pretty theoretical until we see them clothed in human flesh. So for the next few minutes, we are going to see some living definitions of humility.

The first definition is found in the first chapter of Luke. It is the story of a little girl named Mary and her response to an event in her life that was bigger than she could possibly comprehend. Mary was probably 13 or 14 years old. She was probably amore mature than the 13 or 14 year old that we were … but she was still very young. And, as was the custom for girls her age, she was betrothed to be married to a carpenter named Joseph … said a little more precisely, her family had made a contractual arrangement with Joseph or Joseph’s family and to exit that arrangement would effectively be as serious as ending a marriage.

Suddenly, one day as this little girl works around the house, probably daydreaming about marriage … wondering how it would be to live with Joseph, she is visited by someone … someone whom Luke identifies as the angel Gabriel … who turns her world upside down. “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Gabriel goes on to tell her a disturbing story. She will become pregnant, she will give birth, the son she will bear will be extraordinary. These are not things that were part of the world she knew 15 minutes earlier.

But Mary puzzles. This story does not mesh well with what her mother had been telling her about how babies got started. “How can this be, … for I am a virgin?”

Then the most startling news. The pregnancy will come from God …” For nothing is impossible to God.”

Mary sat quietly for a long time, trying to recover the world that had been hers only minutes earlier … and failing totally. Then she provided us with a definition of humility:

I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.

Our authors tell us that we find within this story the incarnation of humility in the person of this little girl Mary. And they say that at the heart of humility is surrender … I am the Lord’s servant, let me serve him in the way that he asks.

In a minute, we will take some time and respond to this notion … that a spirit of humility lies at the heart of preparation for the Christmas. But first, I would like us to hear two more stories that will help us define humility.

The first is a story from the life of Corrie Ten Boom. The Ten Boom story is in itself a rich and inspiring story, the story of a Christian Dutch family who had distinguished itself in the service of the weak and marginalized prior to World War II. During the war, the family began to shelter Dutch Jews who were pursued by the Gestapo. Hundreds of persons were saved by their efforts, but in 1944 the family was arrested and sent to concentration camps. The Ten Boom father died almost immediately after incarceration and the two unmarried middle aged women, Corrie and her sister, were subjected to every possible indignity and deprivation including being paraded in the nude before the male guards at the camp. Corrie’s sister died; Corrie was released due to a clerical error shortly before she was to be gassed. After the war Corrie began an international career as a teacher and preacher. This is the story of what occurred when after a preaching service, Corrie came face to face with one of the guards who had humiliated Corrie and her sister at the Ravensbruck concentration camp.

Corrie Ten Boom tells the story of when she was speaking in a church and recognized a man who was a guard at the concentration camp she and her sister were in during World War II. Memories of the concentration camp came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past the man. Now this former guard was in front of her with his hand thrust out: “A fine message, fraulein. How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!”
It was the first time since her release that she had been face to face with one of her captors. She froze. “You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk,” he said. “I was a guard there. But since that time, I’ve become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I’d like to hear it from your lips as well.” Again the hand came out—“Will you forgive me?” She stood there—and couldn’t do it. Her sister had died in that place. Hours seemed to pass as the man stood there with his hand held out, and Corrie wrestled with the most difficult thing she ever had to do. She knew she didn’t really have a choice. Jesus commanded it. So she prayed: “Jesus, help me! I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.” And so, mechanically, she thrust her hand into his. As she did, she said a current started in her shoulder, raced down her arm, and sprang into their joined hands. And then a healing warmth seemed to flood her whole being, bringing tears to her eyes. “I forgive you, brother!” she cried. “With all my heart!”

For a long moment, they grasped each other’s hands—the former guard and the former prisoner. Corrie made the same choice Mary did. Those are hard choices to make, but could it be that, as with Mary, our greatest gifts come disguised as intrusions demanding our surrender?

I have one last story I would like for you to hear before we begin discussion. It turns around one of my favorite basketball players of all time, David Robinson. You may or may not remember that Robinson did not play high school basketball until his senior year in high school, as a consequence was not recruited by major colleges, went to the Naval Academy with a 1365 SAT to study mathematics, and as an afterthought, decided to play basketball there. He became one of the dominant players in college ball, graduated to serve two years in the Navy, then became a San Antonio Spur where he immediately became a force in professional basket ball, harvesting all awards from Rookie of the Year to MVP of the league. However, during an extraordinary ten year career, the Spurs never won a championship. Late in his career he was seriously injured, the Spurs had a 20-50 season, and hence got the opportunity to draft Tim Duncan out of Wake Forest University. The next year, with Robinson in the post and Duncan at power forward, the Spurs owned the league and Robinson finally earned his championship. But Tim Duncan was chosen as tournament Most Valuable Player.

In Sports Illustrated, Robinson reflected on what this was like for him:
I can’t overstate how important my faith has been to me as an athlete and as a person. It’s helped me deal with so many things, including matters of ego and pride. For instance, I can’t deny that it felt weird to see Tim standing on the podium with the finals MVP trophy. I was thinking, Man, never have I come to the end of a tournament and not been the one holding up that trophy. It was hard.
But I thought about the Bible story of David and Goliath. David helped King Saul win a battle, but the king wasn’t happy because he had killed thousands of men while David had killed tens of thousands. So King Saul couldn’t enjoy the victory because he was thinking about David’s getting more credit than he was.
I’m blessed that God has given me the ability to just enjoy the victory. So Tim killed the tens of thousands. That’s great. I’m for him.
That’s the spirit of Christmas—knowing you’re accepting your role in God’s plan. Thomas Merton once said, “Give me humility, in which alone is rest, and deliver me from pride, which is the heaviest of burdens.”

Three Questions for Reflection:
1. The authors have asserted that if we correctly understand Christmas, we understand that humility is the true spirit of Chistmas. Do you agree? In what way might this understanding make this Christmas season more powerful for you?
2. In our efforts to understand a spirit of humility, we have looked at humility as it has manifest itself in the lives of three persons. Mary, mother of Jesus, Corrie Ten Boom, David Robinson. Was there any one of those three stories that spoke to you especially powerfully?
3. In each of our examples, we have seen persons who had plans for their lives, found their plans changed, and understood that change as requiring surrender to the will of God.
· Mary planned to wed Joseph and settle down to quiet, traditional life in Nazareth … but was called to another vocation
· Corrie Ten Boom planned to preach her sermon, shake the hands of friends and supporters, and go on her way … but was faced with an unexpected encounter.
· David Robinson had planned to lead his team to a championship as the star … and found himself there, but in a supporting role
(a) Have you ever had to surrender something to God and found it difficult? If so, tell us about it: What was the hardest thing about it? What was the outcome?
(b) Have you ever refused to surrender something to God? If so, what was the outcome of that?

Stewardship on November 20

2007-12-01T07:54:00.000-08:00

Since we have spent a lot of “church time” over the past four weeks talking about stewardship, it seemed we ought to spend a little time on the topic in class, especially since I have not paused at this topic often over the six years Claire and I have been teaching this class. I would like to talk about three important themes that have shaped my own commitments relative to stewardship.

My first understanding of stewardship was developed in the home of my childhood, in a family in which tithing was understood to be one of the most important ways that Christians would serve their God. My father was always eager for my brother and I to earn money, and he kept a list of chores that could be completed for the princely sum of 20 cents an hour. When payday came I was always careful to sequester 2 cents per hour to carry to church the next Sunday. Thus tithing became a habit and continued to be the way Claire and I did things from the first year of marriage when we lived in a mobile home and I earned $3500 a year as a teaching assistant at University of Virginia to later days when my take home pay was more substantial. I am very grateful to my family of origin for this practice and would commend it to any family with young children. It has been a good way to support God’s work in the churches I have attended, but it has had another important effect. In a society in which nearly everyone needs to make 10% more than their paycheck, just to break even, it has been a very powerful thing to live on 90% of that paycheck. This power has given us flexibility and options when making some of life’s hard decisions.

Though tithing has continued to be a guideline for our family, as I became an adult, it no longer functioned as the law I had understood it to be as a child. I needed another principle to help me understand how I was to give. I understood this principle while listening to a miscellaneous devotional on stewardship some years ago. The speaker showed up with an armload of shoe boxes, nine of which were wrapped in black paper and one of which was wrapped in white. After he arranged the boxes across the front of the room, he addressed the group with this question, “Imagine that these ten boxes represent all your worldly possessions, the funds in your bank account, your cars, boats and houses, the contents of your 401K. Which part of this wealth belongs to God?” Given my tithing inclination, my eyes focused on the one white box, but the speaker swept his hand across all ten boxes. “All that you possess, you possess only because God made it available to you. All you think of as yours is rightfully God’s. You are a good steward when the contents of all ten boxes are used in a way that glorifies God.”

This gave me a whole new perspective on stewardship. It was not just about the 10%; it was about a life style and a way of being in the world. As I have attempted to follow God’s leadership on this matter, the per cents of giving have changed. 10% has not always been large enough for my family,but I can imagine many family circumstances in which a much small per cent than 10% would be understood by God as giving from the heart. The more important issue is that the remainder also be used to God’s glory.

The third important theme in my giving came as my reading of New Testament and Old Testament convinced me that it is the special responsibility of Christians to be attentive to the needs of the poor. This realization has led me to give special attention in my giving to ministries of the church that minister to the physical needs of others. In circumstances when my church was not heavily involved with this kind of ministry, it has led me to find and support Christian ministries in both community and world that give “a cup of cold water in Jesus’s name”

Thanks for letting fillibuster a bit about the Wheeler view of stewardship.

Summary: Romans 14-16

2007-11-20T11:47:00.000-08:00

Next week Tony will begin a new series that will prepare us for the celebration of Christmas. Today Ed wants to do two things … talk a bit about stewardship … and finish our study of Romans. [Note: Ed's thought on stewardship are found in a separate post titled, Stewardship on November 20.]

Now we must attend to Romans: In a minute I will turn you loose on Romans 14:1-23, but first a word of preparation:

This section of Romans is a very important section for us to read because it has to do with how Christians will relate to one another when they differ in terms of personal convictions. To understand this scripture best, we need to remmeber that two very different groups populated the early church: some were converts from Judaism … others were converts from belief in the polytheism of the Greek/Roman traditional religions (Zeus and Aphrodite and crew) or one of the Greek mystery religions.

Some of the converts from Judaism believed that the dietary restrictions of Judaism should still be observed as part of the Christian faith.

Some of the converts from Greek cults believed that it was still important to observe dietary restrictions (the Pythagoreans did not eat meat)

Some converts from Judaism continued to observe the Sabbath and other Jewish feast days.

Some converts from paganism and some Jewish converts did not want to drink wine or eat meat that had been offered as sacrifice to idols.

Paul was part of a group that believed that Christ had freed us from the need to justify ourselves before God by observing certain diets or rituals. In his sacrificial death, Christ had freed us from these burdens.

The various groups described faced different temptations:
Those who kept rigorous dietary and ritual practice were tempted to look down on those who did not [They were strong because they keep the practice; others were weak because they did not.]
Those who felt they had been freed from dietary and ritual laws were tempted to look down on those who still felt they need to do this stuff. [They were strong because they did not need this crutch any more; others were weak]

Now with this background, read Roman 14: 1- 23. However, as you read, think a bit about convictions that you have with whom you differ with brothers and sisters … in this room, in this church, in other churches

Read Romans 14: 1 – 23As you read, make notes in the following columns.
Thoughts, surprises, insights, questions Think about these questions:
• According to Paul’s teachings, how should we treat one another regardless of our convictions
• What is Paul’s answer to the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
• How do we find out if something we are doing is a stumbling block to other Christians?
• What should we do if another Christian’s choices are causing us to stumble?
• Paul is dealing with dietary laws and ritual practice. Were you able to think of other convictions on which you have seen Christians differ?

In view of the short time remaining and the fact that we need to finish Romans today, I will briefly summarize Romans 15:
1 – 6: An exhortation to create within the Christian community in Rome six essential characteristics: consideration of others, study of scriptures, encouragement, hope, harmony and praise. It begins with this notable verse:

It is the duty of the strong to bear the burden of those who are not strong.

7-13: An appeal that within the church we eliminate the bounds of nationality and race and become as one. Built around by quotes from Old Testament in which writers predicted that God’s blessings would flow from the Jews to all the nations. This prediction was important to Paul as he launched his ministry to the Gentiles

14-33: Paul defines his ministry and indicates his next steps. He says that his goal has always been to proclaim the gospel in places where the gospel has not been heard. He has finished his work in Greece and Turkey and wants to move west. He will first visit the church in Jerusalem with a love offering from the Gentile congregations, he then hopes to come to Rome … to visit, to rest, and to obtain support to travel on to Spain. He then asks for prayers that his offerings in Jerusalem would be accepted and that he would be “rescued from unbelievers in Jerusalem.”

What we know: He went to Jerusalem, presented his offering, was later arrested and tried by unbelievers, and appealed to Rome. Ultimately he arrived in Rome as a prisoner … and to the best of our knowledge, he died in that state;

Romans 16: A beautiful chapter of greetings in which we hear a role call of the heroes of the Roman church.

Phoebe …wealthy woman who delivered the letter and probably provided some of the support for Paul
Priscilla and Acquila: banished from Rome by Claudius, met Paul in Ephesus, traveled to Corinth with him, now back in Rome
Rufus [Mark 15:21 Simon of Cyrene, father of Alexander and Rufus, called upon to carry cross of Jesus … this member of the church at Rome was likely the son of Simon.]
6 of 20 greetings go to women … one of whom is called an apostle and three of whom are saluted because they serve the Lord to point of exhaustion
Some evidence that slaves in the greatest houses in Rome are in the Roman church

Summary: Romans 13: 8-14

2007-11-14T10:37:00.000-08:00

This lesson started out with a test on the previous week’s lesson. The Test was administered as follows: Ed told a story and then asked the penetrating question, “what does the story had to do with last week’s lesson?”

The Story:
Some 18 years ago I hired Steve, a young computer engineer from Auburn University, to teach computer science at Armstrong. Shortly after he arrived, we became jogging buddies and that relationship has continued even as our responsibilities and positions on campus have diverged. Last summer after a run, we discussed my taking him and his two sons, Matthew, aged 11 and Chris, aged 15, on a fishing trip in coastal waters. I agreed, but only after Steve convinced me that he understood the framework within which we would operate: When you go fishing with Ed Wheeler, you never catch fish.

So one day in mid-August, we loaded my boat and headed down the Intercoastal. Surprisingly, we had a good day. We got a couple of keeper sized trout on board, pulled in a few big sharks, and had some very large sharks rip our lines up. However, late in the day, the 11 year old had still not caught a fish. I was so very pleased when just minutes before time to depart he caught a little 8 inch trout. Although Georgia Law requires that trout be 13 inches to take home, I was feeling a little grandfatherly and said, “Matthew, because this is your first fish, we will take it home for your supper.” Matthew smiled brightly in anticipation… but from the other side of the boat I heard his father speaking quietly but firmly, “Ed, we need to put the fish back in the water.” As I was releasing the little trout, I realized that not only had Matthew been taught an important lesson that day, but so had I.

My question: What does this story have to do with last week’s lesson. (Review Romans 13:1-7).

In preparation for completing our reading of Romans 13, I have this story for you:

In summer AD 386, a young professor of rhetoric in the Italian city of Milan was in despair. He had been born in North Africa to a Christian mother and pagan father, had been provided an excellent classic education, found his way to Rome where he received academic and political promotions, and now occupied an enviable position in Milan that could lead to either political ascension or academic ascension. However, on this day, he had reached a crisis point in his life. Despite the prayers of his mother, he had lived a debauched life since adolescence, enjoying all the many diversions available in the big cities of the Roman empire. He was famous for having flippantly prayed, “Grant me chastity and continence, Lord, but not yet … not yet.” But now in his early thirties and despite great prospects, he could no long detect any sense of direction in his life. He was pacing in the garden when he heard the voice of a child saying, “Take and read … take and read.” He looked for the child and found none. Then he went to table where a friend had been reading a pile of manuscripts including letters of the Apostle Paul. He grabbed a letter and begin reading the first lines his eyes saw … and the lines were Romans 13: 13-14. In this moment his heart yielded to God and Augustine was converted. He returned to North Africa where he became one of the great preachers and religious leaders and philosophers of the ancient world. His name was Augustine and we often hear him referenced as St. Augustine or Augustine of Hippo.

Read Romans 13: 8 – 14 As you read, make notes in the following columns.
Thoughts, surprises, insights, questions (don’t forget to read Augustine’s two verses, 13 and 14) Think about these questions:
• What is one of the greatest examples of love that you have personally witnessed?
• Does Christ’s promised return affect the way you live your life? Should it?
• Paul uses the metaphor of “Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ” as a summary statement for his exhortations. What does this metaphor mean to you?

Summary:Romans 13: 1- 7

2007-11-06T09:18:00.000-08:00

The Christian and Government: Romans 13: 1- 7

In Romans 13: 1 - 7 Paul praises the function of secular government … and indeed, declares that the authority for the government comes from God. In thinking about this passage it might be useful to remember the following things:
• The Roman empire was a marvel. Although there had been great empires that preceded Rome, there had been no previous civilization in the West that had provided the infrastructure (roads, water supplies, sewer systems) that Rome had provided. Nor was there another civilization that had created a legal system that was uniformly applied over a wide area and that guaranteed the safety of its roads to the extent that private citizens could travel long distances.
• Paul had personally benefited from the existence of the Roman government. On more than one occasion he had been rescued from a mob by Roman authorities after reminding those present that he was a Roman citizen.
• The universal “peace” that Rome had provided enabled the kind of missionary travel that made it possible for Paul’s work to be successful.
• In our recent history, we have been able to watch what happens when secular authority fails. Life in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union was abysmal in the absence of communist bureaucracy. For the common folk, life’s uncertainties overshadowed gains in freedom they may have achieved. Indeed, the citizens of Russia seem to be allowing a police state to be re-established by Putin, largely in response to the misery in the period under Yeltsin.
• One could argue that life in Iraq has been harder for ordinary citizens in the absence of government that it was during the terribly corrupt government of Saddam. Predictability, even when bad, is often better than chaos.
• Even though the persecution of Christians had not yet reached the crescendo it reached in decades to come, Christians continued to preach support for government in the next two centuries. Writers such as Tertullian and Justin Martyr in the second century, when some of the worst persecution occurred, continued to urge their readers to offer prayer for the “peace and pardon for all who are in authority.”

Read Romans 13: 1-7 As you read, make notes in the following columns
Thoughts, surprises, and insights Questions

If we used these seven verses alone as our measure of how we respond to government, we might imagine that we should never oppose a governmental mandate.
• Can you think of circumstances in which you might contemplate such opposition?
• Is there a difference between “submitting to authorities” and unconditionally obeying them?
• Can you think of examples from history in which Christians defied the mandates of their governments?

After class was over, Ed wished he had summarized the conversation a bit before ending it. Below you will find some summary comments. Observe that they are heavily laden with Wheeler’s opinion.

Summary a la Wheeler:
• Wheeler certainly supports the Apostle Paul in his assertion that God often uses nations, governments, and people to accomplish his purposes … even when they are not aware of God’s part and God’s goal in what they are doing. Much of God’s good work in this world is done by persons and agencies who are not aware that they are serving God.
• Devin’s observation that God wills order over chaos for his people gives additional understanding for the Apostle Paul’s strong support of existing governments.
• The Apostle Paul’s observations that Christians serve God by honoring the laws of the land in which they live and paying taxes (and, in a democracy, voting) should make some inconvenient obligations easier to complete.
• On the other hand, the history of the last 2000 years is ripe with circumstances in which Christians, in response to their understanding of God’s will, found it necessary to oppose their governments [Christians who hid Jewish persons from Nazis in 1930’s and 40’s, Puritans who fled England to find better place to establish the Christian communities that they desired, Christian abolitionists in 1850’s who refused to return slaves to masters despite the rulings of the U. S. Supreme Court, Chinese citizens who persisted in attending house churches despite official prohibitions …]. These examples remind us that we live in a tension between faithful service to the government under which we live … and obedience to God’s coming kingdom in which our citizenship surely lies.

Summary: Romans 8: 28-39, Romans 12: 1-21

2007-10-23T20:51:00.001-07:00

We began class by reading and making notes on Romans 8:28-39 using the following template.

Read Romans 8: 28- 39: As you read, make notes in the following columns
Thoughts, surprises, and insights

Questions

One question raised had to do with the verses around Romans 8:29 that refer to the notion of predestination, the notion that before all time God has chosen those to whom he will show mercy. We observed that John Calvin had made predestination one of the central issues in his theology and that some modern denominations continue to give attention to this theme. This is one of the areas that divide Methodism and churches that are strongly influenced by Calvin’s thought. Methodists usually argue that these verses are counter to the thrust of the rest of the New Testament including Paul’s life mission of inviting all to receive the gospel and verses such as John 3:16. Barclay in his writing interprets the verse this way: God predestines every man and woman to be conformed to the image of the son, to be called, justified, and glorified but allows men and women to choose other destinies.

In Chapter 12, Paul moves abstract conversation to very practical conversation. What does it look like on the ground to be a Christian. What does it look like on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday? Paul’s first statement would be a shocker to the Gentile members of the church at Rome. “Present your body to Christ as a living sacrifice.” In the popular philosophies of the day in the Greek world, this would have been nonsense. Our physical bodies had nothing to do with religion … religion was a thing of the spirit and it occurred in rarefied times and special places. Two consequences
• Hedonism and debauchery
• Aestheticism … punish and deprive the body
Paul says, Real worship is offering day to day life to God … and this involves the body …

Read Romans 12: 1 – 21 mindful of these questions

Read Romans 12: 1 - 21: As you read, think about the questions in the left column
Questions:
1. What does it mean to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice.”
2. What does Paul mean “Do not be conformed to this age?”
• Examples
• Have you ever experienced “renewing of the mind.”
3. Are you more likely to overestimate or underestimate your spiritual gifts? Of the six gifts Paul lists in verses 6 - 8, which is your strongest gift.
4. Look at characteristics of a Christian found in verses 9-21.
• Which is hardest for you?
• Which is easiest for you?
5. Suppose you were giving advice to a friend about how to acquire one of the Christian character traits that was hard for him or her. What would you suggest?

Surprises?
Insights?
Questions?

Your thoughts:
We did not get too far in our discussion of these questions and may return to them later.

Newsletter, October 14, 2007

2007-10-15T15:16:00.000-07:00

NewsFlash: William Jamison Koser was born to Devin and Rachel Koser on Friday, October 12. We are so pleased to have this new member of our community. Chrissy Snider will deliver a “Shower in a Basket” from the Family and Friends Class.

Many, many thanks: To those who prepared the wonderful breakfast that we enjoyed in business meeting today. Those of us who usually suffice on a bowl of cereal in the morning are particularly grateful and feel particularly blessed.

Report from Business Meeting: Well, the old man was feeding his face rather than taking notes as he should, but here are his best recollections of what was decided today in business meeting … with some additional info that comes from telephone conversations with Kristen this afternoon.

November 10: Upside Down Progressive Dinner and Game Night
On Saturday, November 10, a team of noted chefs will entertain all comers in an “upside down” progressive dinner. Courses will include appetizer, salad, dessert, meat, vegetable and soup in some order, not yet determined. Here are the details:
• Nursery opens at 5:30 at the church (Robin will be ready with helper(s))
• Dinner begins at 5:45 at the church
• After the dinner, Hostess Kristen Maynard invites those whose schedule will permit to stay for a game night
• The Chefs:
Meat: K. Maynard
Dessert: C and R Anderson
Appetizer: J and M Everly
Appetizer: E and C Wheeler
Salad: C and P Snider
Soup: E and C Larsh
Starch: A and T Murphy
Vegetables: J and J West
Backup-Chefs: C and D McCorvey
• Note: this is not a “pot-luck” dinner. We would welcome other participants, both those in the Family and Friends Class and those who are not in the class. You are warmly invited. (Scott and Dwayne, we would particularly enjoy feeding you a home-cooked meal.) To register your intention to attend (and make sure we have food for you); call Kristen Maynard at 921-7688 (home) or 657-3634 (cell). If you are a chef who finds you are not able to attend, call Kristen also.

October 27 (Saturday): This will be the church’s Fall Festival. Erica and Curt will be taking pictures from 10:00- noon as our class contribution to the festivities. Extra hands to help with Rebekah and Alex will be appreciated. Clearly children of our families may find this a fun time and place to be. Any profit from this event will go to support the youth program. We decided that we would not take on the project of being the “drip of blood” for the American Red Cross promotion that will be occurring on the 27th.

October 31: Halloween is on Wednesday night this year and the usual Wed night supper will adjourn to a “Trunk or Treat” event in which it is envisioned that attendees will raise their trunks and let children “Trick or Treat” out of the back of cars.

Children’s Church: The implementation of “Veggie Tales” Children’s Church has run into a few rough spots. Rhonda Anderson will convene a meeting involving herself and Janet and Pastor Castor and Sarah M. to work out details. If you would like to be included in the meeting, call Ronda at 925-3799.

Safe Sanctuary: There will be a Safe Sanctuary training meeting in Statesboro on January 26. However, Claire was disturbed that we must go out of town to get training and is trying to get the credential so she can do the training herself. We must wait till later to determine if the “powers to be” felt she is sufficiently qualified. 

Door Decoration: Kristen Maynard (assisted by Chrissy and Janet) will coordinate our “door decorating” efforts on December 2.

Nursery List: The list of persons who will help in the nursery needs to be refurbished. Several persons on the list have moved on to other places and their places on the rotations need to be filled. Jennifer will do some walking around to other classes to request help. If there are those in this class that have not yet signed up, Jennifer would be glad to hear from you (484-5554). [This responsibility can be completed by persons of both genders; prior experience not necessary!! ]

Coffee Fellowship Cleanup: November is our month to clean up after the 10:30 fellowship. We passed around the sign-up sheet and to my knowledge, all spaces were covered.

Summary: Romans 9-11

2007-10-10T14:42:00.001-07:00

In our next lesson we will return to Romans 8 and begin Romans 12, but today I want to discuss Romans 9 –11 as a unit. In order to prepare to read Romans 9-11, I want you to imagine or remember a dark moment in your life … a moment in which there was a terrible disappointment or tragedy or loss or misunderstanding. Perhaps you
• Lost a job
• Did not get a job you believed you deserved
• Were betrayed by a friend
• Were unfaithful to a friend
• Lost a child to accident or disease

Imagine your state of mind in the days that would follow. For many of us, our thoughts would churn. We would race from one explanation to another … we would create theories and then we would debunk those theories … we would live in the world of “if only” and “why” and “surely not” I imagine pacing around a room, and as I reach each corner of the room a divergent thought would arise to lead me further into despair.

In Romans 9 – 11 Paul wrestles exactly such a disappointment.
• Why did not all the Jewish people understand that Jesus was the Messiah for whom they had long waited?
• Why were all true Jews not Christians?
• (Note many Jews were Christians, indeed it appears that for the first few years virtually all persons who followed Jesus were Christians. At some point the Christians in Jerusalem numbered 8000.)

Now why is this such a crucial question for Paul?
• He was a Jew … a very serious Jew … a Pharisee … who had studied under one of the great Jewish rabbis of the first century, Gamiliel
• As he traveled around Turkey and Greece as a missionary to Gentiles, as he arrived in each city he first went to the Jewish synagogue with his “good news.” He reached many Jewish converts, but many of those who most vigorously persecuted him were Jewish.
• It was a crucial issue for Paul … because he loved his people and wanted them to respond to God’s love in Jesus

Now, Romans 9-11. When I read these chapters, I do not find a carefully reasoned argument. Rather I hear the struggles of a man who is wrestling with a very difficult issue. I imagine Paul pacing around a room, trying on different ideas, trying to understand .. but never quite achieving understanding. At each corner of the room he has a new idea … sometimes contradicting the idea he had at the last corner … in each case he is turning the great tragedy of the rejection of Christ by some Jews over and over again in his head.

Before we walk to some of those corners with Paul, I want you to read his beginning and his conclusion. Let’s read the beginning lessons of Romans 9 and concluding verses of Romans 11 (Romans 11: 33 – 36)

The Beginning: Read Romans 9: 1-5

As Paul begins his long night of wrestling with the tragedy of the rejection of the Messiah by the Jewish people, what is his tone? Is he angry, sad, frustrated, belligerent, condescending, hoping, …?

The End: Read Romans 11:33-36

As Paul ends his long night of wrestling with the tragedy, what is his tone?
How do you respond to his conclusions?

As Paul finishes Chapter 11, he acknowledges that some questions are too big for him to answer … no matter how hard he tries. He prepares himself to go forward without his tragedy resolved … indeed in next chapter he shifts into practical advice for living Christian life. His resolution is remarkably similar to the position at which Job arrived in the Old Testament after his time of trial

Now, let’s follow Paul as he wrestles with this question in these 3 chapters of Romans. As I summarize his thought, I will imagine him pacing a room, arriving at a different and divergent thought at each corner:

First Corner: This is the fact of the matter. God owes the Hebrew people nothing. God can choose to be merciful to whom he wishes to be merciful. Not all the biological descendents of Abraham became Hebrews … Abraham’s son Ishmael was rejected in favor of Isaac; Isaac’s son Essau was rejected in favor of Jacob. Indeed, God used Pharaoh as an instrument to show his power … everything has to do with what God chooses. (Romans 9: 6 – 18)
Second Corner: But this sounds a little like we have no choice in the matter at all … no free will. Well that is the truth of the matter. We are like clay in the hands of a potter. He chose some of us to serve a noble purpose and some of us to serve a base purpose. (Romans 9: 19 –21)
Third Corner: Maybe the whole idea is this. In order to show his power and glory, God chooses his people not only from the Jews who are his covenant family but also from those who have no claim to be part of his family. (Romans 9: 22 – 27)
Fourth Corner: But I don’t think God acts this way. He does not deprive us of our free will and punish us when we don’t deserve it. Maybe it was really Israel’s fault. Perhaps God allows the Israelites to reject the Messiah because the Israelites chose to pursue salvation by seeking righteousness under the law rather than by faith. (Romans 9:30 – 33)
Fifth Corner: But my heart breaks. My hearts greatest desire is that the Israelites be saved. They are so serious about their faith .. yet their seriousness is misdirected. Here is the truth they must apprehend. (Romans 10: 1 – 12 and following)
Sixth Corner: But God is working in Israel. There are thousands of Hebrews in the church in Jerusalem and across Asia. Perhaps God is just saving a remnant and the rest have been lulled to sleep. (Romans 11:1 –9)
Seventh Corner: But you Gentiles had best be careful. Don’t get arrogant because you are part of God’s coming kingdom and the Hebrews are not. By God’s mercy you have been grafted onto the tree of God’s family .. .but the roots and lower branches of that tree are Jewish. Indeed, God may be using the fact that you have been grafted onto the tree to make Israelites jealous so that they will come to the faith. (Romans 11: 11 – 24)
Eighth Corner: I tell you what I really believe. I cannot see how it will happen right now, but I know the God I love and in the end, He will save his people. All of Israel will be saved. They are disobedient now … but in time … they will receive mercy. “God has bound all people over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.” (Romans 11:25 – 32)

Newsletter, September 27

2007-09-27T18:05:00.000-07:00

Short Newsletter, September 27

Important Dates and Info from Carla: Several important dates were decided in class on September 23 and Carla had a bushel of info from a Church Council meeting she attended. Here goes:

Sunday October 14: Next class meeting. [For new folks … this means we will have good things to eat during the class meeting and Carla will lead us in doing such business things as planning the November social and discussing our participation in church projects! We will close with a prayer time]

October 27: This will be the church’s Fall festival. Carla is looking for ideas ccasemccorvey@hotmail.com of ways our class might participate. Clearly children of our families may find this a fun time and place to be.

October 31: Halloween is on Wednesday night this year and the usual Wed night supper will adjourn to a “Trunk or Treat” event in which it is envisioned that attenders will raise their trunks and let children “Trick or Treat” out of the back of cars.

November 10: This will be the next Family and Friends social. Kristen may have to “unconfuse me” but my belief is that this will be progressive dinner set up in consecutive rooms in the church {room 9 for the escargot, room 10 for the leek soup, room 11 for the ostrich steaks, …}.

Other Wisdom from Carla:

Veggie Tales: In its debut on September 16, more than 40 children enjoyed “Veggie Tales” in Children’s Church. Lois desperately needs more volunteers to help with this wonderful abundance of children.

Summary: Mission of the Church

2007-09-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

Initially divided into two groups with these assignments:

Group 1:

Read:
Jesus words at the end of his conversation with Nicodemus: John 3:16 - 17
Peter’s closing of his sermon at Pentecost: Acts 2: 37 - 39
Much loved passage from Romans: Romans 3: 21 - 24

If these were the only scriptures you knew, what would be your understanding of the most important activities in the Christian faith.

Group 2:

Read:
Typical of prophetic passages in which prophets address the needs of the weak: Isaiah 10:1-2
Jesus’ reading at the synagogue in his home town of Nazareth: Luke 4: 16-18
Jesus on judgment: Matthew 25:34-40

If these were the only scriptures you knew, what would be your understanding of the most important activities in the Christian faith.

After reviewing the thoughts that followed this reading, the teacher observed that the scriptures from Group 1 reminded us that an important responsibility of the church is to invited folks to accept the gift of reconciliation with God that is offered through Jesus. The scriptures from Group 2 remind us that an important responsibility of the church is to minister to a hurting world in the name of Jesus. The teacher then launched into the following:

I want to talk about a sorrow that has been part of my pilgrimage as a Christian. The sorrow stems from observing the difficulty that Christian communities have in living and proclaiming the breadth of the gospel. More specifically, Christian communities (individual churches) tend to cluster and polarize around two ways of viewing the Christian gospel:

Salvationism: The churches focus on bringing persons in to saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

Social Activism: The churches focus on increasing the measure of peace and justice in this world. Special concern is evidenced for the poor, the outcast, and the forgotten.

The tendency is for communities to choose … and make one of these themes the primary theme in its ministries to the exclusion of the other. Those who have suffered under this teacher for a while can probably guess his position … both emphases are central to the mission of the church of Jesus Christ.

Short comings of “Salvationism” Exclusive focus on bringing persons into saving relationship with Jesus Christ

Misses one of the key themes of prophetic proclamation in the Old Testament (Isaiah, Jeremiah)
Misses one of the key themes of Jesus’ teachings
You are the Salt of the world … You are the Light of the world
Blessed are the Poor in spirit and the peace maker
Fails to understand the full measure of the call of love and define that love for a watching world

Note: Salvationism is most in error when it assumes that we are charged with saving the world: Under the influence of this error, we sometimes find folks crushing people in efforts to save them and ignoring the important truth: God alone is saving and has saved the world in Jesus Christ … our call is to be welcoming and invitational to those who might wish to accept this gift of grace

Shortcomings of Social Activism: Exclusive focus on increasing the measure of peace and justice in the world.

Tendency to detach efforts from Biblical proclamation and God’s offer of grace.
Tendency to miss the reality of evil in our world.
Tendency to see “the problem” as “the society” rather than “the individual” and hence to lose sight of the power of amazing grace to convert us … and thereby to profoundly address issues of poverty, peace, and justice.

Note: Social Activism is most in error when it assumes that we are charged with saving the world: Under the influence of this error, we sometimes find folks using means to justify ends and neglecting to do all good works in Jesus name and thereby ignoring the important truth: God alone is redeeming our world and our society … our call is to be the hands and feet of God’s work in the place where we are … to experience the reality of being salt and light.

I have not always been a Methodist … and sometimes get a little frustrated with Methodist ways of doing things. But here is something of which I am very proud. In many churches in the South, Methodist have taken seriously the full breadth of the Christian ministry. Even while being serious about helping men and women discover salvation, understand that they are members of the Family of God, we have remained committed to reaching across barriers of poverty and injustice. Indeed, even as our church struggled during recent years:
o Each year … the Honduran mission trip
o Each year … many weeks committed to Inner Faith Hospitality
o After Katrina …Two trips from our church to the Gulf Coast

Closing conversation:
Think a bit together: Suppose we wanted to do a better job with the Salvationist side of our call as Christians.

Think a bit together: What if we wished to do a better job on the Social Justice side of our call as Christians. What things might we do?

"The Five Love Languages" Part 3

2007-09-18T19:33:00.000-07:00

This is Claire’s final lesson on growing healthy relationships. In view of some of the conversation that resulted from the two lessons on Chapman’s Five Love Languages, she decided to talk a bit about problems solving. When a family reaches the child-bearing years, the need for problem solving moves front and center. Suddenly there are avalanches of problems that must be solved as a family rather than as individuals, and this avalanche can sometimes threaten a family’s health. Claire organized her discussion in three sections.

Chapter 1: Problem Solving as a Method

In the early 1960 a University of North Carolina psychologist named Neil Jacobson decided to use problem solving strategies that had been developed at IBM for corporate problem solving as an intervention with couples who were experiencing distress. In the resulting study, couples who were counseled with this strategy quite often reported much improved satisfaction with their marriage. Below are the guidelines that Jacobson taught the couples:
GUIDELINES FOR PROLEM-SOLVING

I. Clearly and specifically state the problem.
a. Phrase the problem in terms of behaviors which are currently occurring or not occurring
b. Break large, complex problems, down into several smaller problems and deal with them one at a time.
c. Make sure both people agree on the statement of the problem and are willing to discuss it.
II. Discuss possible solutions.
a. Stay solution-oriented
b. Your goal is not to defend yourself, decide who was right or wrong, or establish the truth of what happened in the past – your goal is to decide how to do things differently in the future.
III. Decide on a solution that is agreeable to both of you.
a. Do not accept a solution on which you do not intend to follow through.
b. Do not accept a solution which you believe will make you angry or resentful.
c. If you cannot find a solution which greatly pleases both partners, suggest a compromise solution.
d. State your solution in clear, specific, behavioral terms: what each of you are going to do and not do.
IV. Decide on a trial period to implement the solution.

As the couple worked through the process they were asked to keep the following diary:
Problem-solving diary
1) Statement of the problem:
2) Agreed upon solution
3) Trial period:
4) Re-evaluation date:

Re-Evaluation

1) What is working well about the solution?
2) What is not working well about the solution?
3) Agreed upon amended solution?
4) Trial date for the amended solution?

Chapter 2: Difficulties with implementing problem solving

After the class had reviewed the method, Claire asked what class members perceived would be the difficulties in implementing Jacobson’s strategies. Why is this not an automatic solution to all problem solving issues in a relationship? In the ensuing conversation class members observed and Claire confirmed these reasons why this technique is not automatic and, in fact, takes a great deal of effort to make work:
o We often recognize a problem only after a crisis has occurred. At that time we are often angry, exasperated, and rushed. [Claire recommended that we not try to problem solve in the heat of the moment, but rather make a date to discuss the problem and possible solutions in a more neutral moment.]
o We may feel defensive as we enter the conversation.
o For reasons of pride, one partner may feel the need to establish that he or she is right before conversation about a future solution.
o One partner may feel he or she already “knows” the solution rather than working together to arrive at one of several possible solutions that both members of the problem solving team can commit to.
o We may come to problem solving with several destructive preconceptions:
i. Before we move to the future we must determine blame for the past
ii. Before we solve the current problem, we must review past failures

Chapter 3: The Strengths that Christians bring to Problems Solving

Claire went on to observe that in her many years of working with distressed couples and stressful relationships between adolescents and parents that those who start from the point of view of the Christian faith are able to use the problem solving process much more effectively than others. She then asked what strengths the Christian faith brings to such a process.

The class offered and Claire confirmed these strengths.
o The high value that Christians place on forgiveness.
o The fact that we derive our ultimate value not from our partner’s love for us but from God’s love for us. In times of stress with partner, we can derive the necessary strength from God’s love to do the hard work problem solving entails.
o The Biblical understanding that within a Christian relationship we are to nurture one another. This creates momentum that leads us to try to make problem solving experiments work.
o In particular, the Christian understanding that partners submit to one another in love is a marked contrast to our society’s belief that above all things, an individual must protect his or her “rights.”

Lesson 1 on Relationships, September 9

2007-09-11T08:29:00.000-07:00

This week’s lesson consisted of two segments and was built around a video produced by Dr. Gary Chapman entitled “The Five Languages of Love.” The first piece was viewed and discussed at an event of the Family and Friends Class that took place at the home of Ed and Claire on Saturday evening. The second piece was viewed and discussed on the following Sunday morning.

Segment 1: The Five Languages of Love
Summary of Chapman’s Ideas:
o Each of us desires to experience love in our closest relationships.
o Many times, despite the best intentions of our partner, we do not experience love even when the partner is offering it.
o The problem is that the partner may be “speaking love” in a language we do not expect or cannot “understand.”
o Chapman identifies five languages of love:
o Words that affirm and build up
o Gifts
o Acts of service
o Quality time
o Physical touch
o He suggests that each of us has a primary language of love, through which we best understand love that is “spoken to us.”
o If we desire a healthy relationship we must commit to seeking our partner’s language and learning to communicate love using that language.
o The fact that our partner’s language is “not natural” to us is no excuse. Love is a matter of the will.

Claire’s summary of Chapman’s Idea: In a healthy relationship each partner takes responsibility for providing nurture to the other.

Segment 2: In this segment, Chapman suggests that our culture’s preoccupation with “falling in love” produces marriages that are programmed to fail unless the participants in the marriage actively work to replace the “tingle” of falling in love with something more significant and lasting.

Summary of Chapman’s ideas.

o Most relationships in our culture begin with an intense and exciting period in which the two persons involved become obsessed with one another.
o In this period we engage in irrational thinking
o We feel as if we know the person very well and experience an enhanced sense of intimacy
o We are blind to the differences between us
o We think of our partner as perfect
o We believe we will never be happy without the other
o If this thinking persists into the marriage relationship … and it often does … it means that we potentially face disillusionment when the obsession fades and reality sets in.
o We become aware of differences
o The emotional intensity subsides
o Conflicts emerge and we react to conflict by fights or withdrawal
o We no longer feel loved within our marriage relationships
o At this point we are especially vulnerable to “falling in love” with some stranger about whom we know little, but who creates a “tingle.” Something as minor as a chance encounter at the coffee pot at work can start the cycle again.
o Two answers:
o Short run: stop going to coffee pot
o Long run: learn the love language of your spouse and fill him or her with love … so that the spouse will be strong enough to reciprocate and you can work through problems rather than withdrawing or fighting
o We will not return to the obsessive stage, BUT we will experience warm, emotional love for one another.

Important Note: If there is someone who was not able to participate in this weekend’s work, but would like to view the video in their home, Claire would be glad to load the video tape to you.

There are also upcoming seminars for "The Five Love Languages" in Columbus, GA and Florida during the Spring 2008.

Next Week: Claire will discuss some research-based strategies that facilitate problem solving in relationships and reduce conflict and withdrawal.

Thank you Anna, Devin and Rachel for joining us in class this Sunday. We do look forward to seeing you again.

Lesson on Prayer, September 2, 2007

2007-09-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

Today Hybels turns to the Lord’s Prayer … and those of you who have been in the class for a while know that this topic brings a broad smile to the teacher’s heart. Indeed, not too long ago we studied the Lord’s Prayer for 10 weeks. [To see a summary of the ten lessons go to www.sundayschoolblog.typepad.com ]

We will follow Hybels, [Opening Your Heart to God: Prayer, Zonderman, 1997] and will focus on three points.

Point 1: Hybels reminds us that Jesus provided us with the Lord’s Prayer at a time when Jesus was delivering a number of teachings about prayer. So the Lord’s Prayer is in fact a teaching prayer. In Matthew 6 where the Lord’s Prayer is found, we find three teachings about prayer.
Evidently in Jesus time there were men who felt that to show they were religious they should locate themselves in public places and pray loud public prayers. Jesus taught, “Go into your closet to pray.”
Evidently in Jesus time these same men prayed by stringing together series of high sounding phrases as they prayed noisily. Jesus said, “Keep it simple and authentic.”
Then Jesus taught his followers the Lord’s prayer.

Point 2, Chasing a rabbit: In a moment I want to return to the Lord’s Prayer as a teaching prayer, but I want to chase a rabbit with Hybels for just a minute: Hybels keys on the fact that Jesus talks about misuse of prayer in his teaching and wants to discuss this issue for moment: He reminds us of an episode that is recorded in Luke 9. Jesus was traveling with his disciples toward Jerusalem, and they came to a point in their journey from which the quickest way to complete the journey was to cross the district known as Samaria. However, Samaria was a district where Jews were not always welcome. Jesus petitioned for right of passage but he was denied. The disciples were incensed and prepared to pray for fires to come down and consume those who barred the way. Jesus cooled them off and moved in another direction. Hybels understands the disciples’ proposed prayer as being an abuse of prayer. It is an attempt to capture the power of God for our convenience.

Hybels then asks us, “Have you seen prayer abused?” So, that is the first question I lay before you today. Can you think of a time in your experience in which you have seen prayer abused or have abused prayer?

Discussion
Example from Hybels: Stan had an unbridled desire to acquire neat gadgets and shiny things. To this end he maxed out his credit cards and pushed to the limit his other lines of credit. When the creditors closed in, Stan retreats to his bedroom and prays:
God I need a job that pays better
God I need some lottery numbers
God I need cash, and quick.
Hybels regards Stan’s prayer as an abuse of prayer. Hybels wants Stan to pray: “God, help me to face the truth about myself. I am broken and I need your healing. I am dishonoring your and my life is out of control Help me acquire the basic tools of budgeting and self-control. Give me the courage to take the steps I need to take to face my brokenness and have victory.”

Ed’s response to Hybels example. I differ a bit with Hybels when he labels Stan’s prayer as abuse of prayer. I think that God receives with equal compassion Stan’s prayer in his bedroom after his profligacy and a soldier’s prayer in a foxhole after a month of debauchery. However, I believe that God’s answer may not be a new job or lottery numbers. God’s answer may be to lead Stan to the kind of self-examination and confession that Hybel recommends for Stan in his version of the prayer. I find it hard to label any personal or private prayer as “abuse of prayer.” I do believe, however, that one of the primary outcomes of prayer is that we are lead to see ourselves and to see the world with God’s eyes.

Point 3: Now, back to the Lord’s Prayer as a teaching prayer:

In reading the Lord’s Prayer we are sometimes overcome with the blindness of familiarity. We have said/read it so often we miss the things it has to teach. Please read again keeping these questions in mind:
If you were reading this prayer for the first time, what phrase or aspect of the prayer would surprise you most?
Compare this prayer to your prayers (or the prayers you have heard others pray).
What is in this prayer that often does not make it into your prayers?
What is not in this prayer that often is included in your prayers?

Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
As we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
And deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever.
Amen.

Discussion
In reference to A.C.T.S., Thanksgiving seems to be somewhat left out of this prayer. Yes, ‘Give us today our daily bread’ is really not a thanks, but a request for our own needs. Another point brought up in class was in reference to what is not in this prayer that we often include in our prayers dealing with Supplication. There is really nothing specifically mentioned about lifting up to God the concerns for others. On the other hand, words such as our, us and we were used suggesting the inclusion of all people.

Lesson on Prayer, August 26

2007-08-27T19:27:00.000-07:00

Some Hard Prayers

Musings by Ed:

I will start by reading one of the hardest scriptures in the Bible … but it is also one of the most important scriptures in the Bible …

Matthew 5: 43-44: You have heard it said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemies. But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

One of the most important things to know about authentic Christian prayer is that in authentic prayer, we pray for our enemies in order to learn what it means to love our enemies. My first exercise of the day, before you get too comfortable, is that I want you to make a list of five enemies for whom you could pray if you willed to do so:

Now, you may stumble over this a bit … at many times in my life I have not been able to identify any personal enemies in my life: But I have always been able to identify those with whom I am struggling: To help you a bit, I want to tell you some folks that have occupied this part of my prayer list over time:

A colleague at work with whom I am having difficult and often angry personnel conversations.
A politician with whom I differ strongly.
A boss who has represented me poorly to his or her superiors
My child or my spouse with whom I struggle with a real difference in priorities
A person who is misusing a member of my family (most often, Claire’s bosses)
Those persons in Iraq whom I understand as impeding the possibility of peace … for their own people and for our troops
Members of a group within our society from whom I feel estranged and toward whom I feel angry.

With these hints, please complete your list and put it aside. We may get back to this issue later.

In his chapter this week, Bill Hybels deals with a second kind of hard prayer, “Praying Authentic prayers when the roof falls in.” To lead us into thinking about this topic, Hybels asks us to read a prayer that is buried in the middle of the book of Jeremiah in the Old Testament. Before going there, I want to tell you a bit about Jeremiah:

Some of us have pretty tough jobs. I think of Jamie keeping rich golfers happy in the daytime and dealing with folks purchasing bail bond in the evening. I think of Scott and several tons of fertilizer. I think of Karen and rooms full of adolescents. I think of Janet with four kids under six. Some members of this class have very hard jobs. I want to tell you about a man named Jeremiah had a really tough job. For more than 40 years (626-587 and beyond), he felt that God had called him to tell the political and social and business leadership of his day that they were wicked and as a result of their wickedness, Jerusalem and Judah would fall to a foreign army. In public sermon and public demonstration he held the leadership of Jerusalem and Judah accountable for:
Worshipping Baal and other gods other than Yahweh
Cheating widows, orphans and other fragile people
Exploiting workers without pay
Committing adultery, theft and other violations of the ten commandments
Further, with Babylon besieging the city, he called for the citizens to surrender and to understand captivity as God’s judgment … and to save their lives. Needless to say, the leadership of his community was not very pleased with him. He was ignored, beaten, imprisoned, thrown in a cistern, and … . Now, do you think that with this job and with this response, that his prayers were always neat and tidy packages of “thank you, God” and “ please care for my detractors.” Please turn to the following passage. Read the passage and after reading, think about the questions which we will then discuss.

Read Jeremiah 20:7-18

Snapshot: People do a lot of different things when they feel the roof caving in on their lives. But not many of them have Jeremiah’s honesty. When he was in the pits, he prayed. Not a “party-line” prayer, not a sanitized prayer, not a carefully edited prayer. He prayed a painfully honest prayer.

What do you do when you expect God’s provision and protection and it seems that protection is removed and your life has turned upside down. A routine physical turns into your worst nightmare. A marital disagreement intensifies and lingers. Corporate restructuring costs you your job. Your child is injured in an accident. You are betrayed by a life-long friend. What do you do?

Describe a time in your life when you felt the roof felt like it was caving in. What kinds of prayers did you find yourself lifting at that time?
In Jeremiah’s prayer, he jumps back and forth between deep pain and great joy. Can you think of an explanation for this ambivalence?

Snapshot from Hybels: What do you do with highly charged feelings that fly around in your spirit when you feel God has let you down. Some people, in an effort to be “Good Christians” feel they need to protect God. They deny their pain and discount their feelings. …

I remember standing with a young woman at the side of her young husband’s casket. If anyone had a right to be honest about her pain before God, it was this woman. She looked at me and said, “Bill, I guess the Lord needed him in heaven more than I needed him on earth. Praise God.”

How is denial of pain and struggles a sign of being dishonest with God?

Why are we tempted to deny our hurt, anger, and pain rather than freely admit it to God?

Hybels’ goes on to say that the young woman in his snapshot was not being honest. Is it possible for her words to Hybels to have been honest yet her prayers in private to have been full of anger or pain?

Final Observations:
1. I think that Hybel’s most important point is this. When we are angry and disappointed in God, God would rather we pray honest angry and frustrated prayers than to not pray at all.
2. In beginning our lesson today, we talked about Jesus’ command to pray for our enemies and those that persecute you. If you have not been praying for those persons, you might find honest prayers to make it easier to pray for someone with whom you are very angry or of whom you are very fearful. You may need to include in your prayers a graphic description of the scumbag of whom you speak. However, even as you paint the picture for God of the person, pause at the end to say, “God this is how I see things. Give me the wisdom to see things as you see them … and to love this scumbag.”

Newsletter, August 26

Other Class Business:

Welcome Chantel Grimball (hopefully that is the correct spelling) for visiting our class Sunday! She is a new Graduate student at SCAD. We look forward to seeing her again.

The Veggie Tales curriculum has been purchased for the Children’s Church. The cost was $200, and our class has agreed to assist in the funding. Karen will write a check out of the class account for $50 and anyone wishing to help out is welcome to donate.

(From Erica’s email):
Below is the list of Children's Church volunteers from our Sunday School class that we talked about this morning. I took the liberty of setting up a schedule for the rest of the year for 8:30 only since I know that you have some other volunteers for the 11 am service. I could not cross-reference this with the nursery volunteer list or with the individuals, so this schedule is definitely not set in stone. I think a really good goal would be to have a two month rotation so the more volunteers that we can get, the better. Also, a BIG thank you for being willing to be present at all of the 8:30 services in September to help get everyone oriented. Please do not hesitate to let Rhonda Anderson or myself know of any needs that you have--we are here to help you!

Thanks!

Erica

8:30 Schedule-Two volunteers needed (8:30 Substitutes: Kristen Maynard, Karen Clarke)

Sept 2- Curt & Erica Larsh
Sept 9- Communion Sunday
Sept 16- Paul & Chrissy Snider
Sept 23- Amy & Tony Murphy
Sept 30- Carla McCorvey & Jennifer West

Oct: 14 - Paul & Chrissy
Oct 21- Amy & Tony
Oct 28- Carla & Jennifer

Nov 10 Curt & Erica
Nov 17 Paul & Chrissy
Nov 24 Amy & Tony

Dec 9- Carla & Jennifer
Dec 16- Curt & Erica
Dec 23- Paul & Chrissy
Dec 30-Amy & Tony

11 am Volunteers-One volunteer in addition to Sarah needed:

Chris and Rhonda Anderson (will not be here on Sept 2)
Janet & Mitch Everly
Stan Lendermann
Lisa McGaillard

Sunday School teachers’ training is scheduled for September 22 in Dublin, GA at Pine Forest UMC from 10-3pm. Transportation will be provided. See Lois Caster for more information.

Newsletter, August 19

2007-08-19T18:02:00.000-07:00

Something like this will appear in the church news letter ( I hope) for the next few weeks …

What More Could You Ask: Dinner and Love!!!
The Family and Friends Church School Class invites couples and singles in their twenties and thirties to join them on Saturday evening, September 8, for a shared dinner (meat and drinks provided; other dishes, pot luck) and then a study of The Five Languages of Love by Gary Chapman. The study will be led by Dr. Claire Wheeler, clinical psychologist and family counselor. Come join us and learn ways to be more loving in your important relationships. Eating will begin 6:00 pm at the home of Claire and Ed Wheeler, 10 Crows Nest Point; childcare will be available at the church nursery beginning at 5:30 pm. For more information call Ed or Claire at 925-1279.

More Details for Class Members

Robin will be at church nursery for childcare at 5:30
Bring covered dish if able, but don’t fail to come just because no time to cook
Let Kriston Maynard ((Cell 657 3634; x_stitch_1yr@hotmail.com ) know if will leave children in nursery and how many. [Kristun, make sure that Robin knows to be there at 5:30]
Directions to Wheeler’s at 10 Crows Nest Point:
If traveling south on Abercorn, turn left onto King George Boulevard (if traveling north, turn right). Immediately turn left into Forest Cove Community. As you approach the gate, you will find a pedestal on your left where you can call the Wheelers and they will “command” the gate to open. Proceed to first Stop Sign and turn right on Companion Way. Continue until you dead end and turn right on Cove Drive. Immediately turn right on Crows Nest; the Wheeler’s house is the only two story house on this little 6 house street.
If problems, call Wheelers at 925-1279.

Report from Business Meeting for FAMILIES AND FRIENDS
SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS
August 19, 2007

CLASS MINISTRIES
We will continue to send a letter and a children’s Bible to the parents of children who are baptized in the church. Janet and Mitch are still OK to continue this

We will commit to filling the Wednesday slots for IFHN.

Presently, these are the areas of ministry that we will address as a class.

CLASS TREASURER’S REPORT
We have roughly $200 in class treasury for class projects, class ministries, and to use in supporting church priorities of our choice. Karen Clarke will continue to be treasurer. We will pass basket only on business meeting days, but will leave basket by door on other days for those who wish to contribute .

SOCIAL EVENT HOSTS, HOSTESSES, AND ROTATION

September/October: E and C Wheeler (See top of newsletter)
November/December: K. Maynard
January/February: C and D McCorvey
March/April: P and C Snider
May/June: M and J Everly
July/August: T and A Murphy

CLASS CURRICULUM
5 Languages of Love: 1st lesson
at Ed and Claire’s on September 8
Next lessons will follow on Sunday

Ed solicits suggestions for direction on future lesson plans, especially
since Five Languages will likely take only a few Sundays.

CLASS
OUTREACH
Reminder to invite those in church or using nursery that may be
interested in attending our class. A personal invitation makes all the
difference.

Erica and Amy will update fliers for bulletin board-
reminder that they are also located in the narthex as well to be handed to those
you are inviting as you are walking out of the sanctuary. We need to restock
both areas…

Feel free to update the bulletin board in both the hallway
and the classroom with new pictures, announcements about events, etc. Jennifer
West will take leadership on this.

NURSERY COMMITTEE
Jennifer West Janet Everly Lois Caster
Amy Murphy Carla McCorvey
Erica Larsh Robyn

Invitation for
anyone interested in joining/helping the nursery committee to please feel
welcome and attend the next meeting which is being held Thursday, August 23rd @
6:30 here at the church

Issues being addressed:
*Need to evaluate
number of willing volunteers and their distribution throughout the 8:30, Sunday
school hour, and 11:00 services
*Need to address “graduation” from nursery
school to Children’s Church
*Need to nominate new leaders for upcoming year
*Safe Sanctuaries Training (first available Saturday, September 22 in
Dublin,GA from 10am-3pm)

CLASS ORGANIZATION
For this year we are
pleased to announce that the following folks are willing to provide leadership
for the class

Carla McCorvey, CLASS CHAIRPERSON: to run class meetings,
organize class business and organize the social and service calendar. [with help
from Janet Everly]

Amy Murphy, OUTREACH LEADER- To contact visitors and
class friends whom we have not seen for a while. Will also serve as contact
person for class when a prayer need arises within our community. [Phone
756-3745. email: ajmurphy@comcast.net]

Karen Clarke,
SECRETARY/TREASURER- To oversee class funds

Janet and Mitch Everly,
BAPTISM OUTREACH COORDINATOR- To send a letter and children’s Bible to parents
of children who have been baptized in the church

Ed Wheeler and Paul
Snider NEWSLETTER EDITORS- To distribute class information via e-mail and blog
as needed, especially regarding summaries of class meeting decisions/issues,
upcoming events, etc. [Paul now has password to blog so he can post whenever you
need him to do so]

Claire Wheeler, Curt Larsh, Jamie West PRAYER
LEADERS- a team/individual to help lead the class in prayer

Kristan
Maynard, NURSERY LIASON- to secure Robyn for social events and alert her in
ample time of number of expected children in need of child care. To also ensure
that a meal is available to both the children in attendance as well as the
nursery staff. To collect payment for childcare and give to Robyn.

Other Notes:
Amy Murphy will prepare letter on the Five Loves event for
distribution at the Church PreSchool and will bring to Chrissy Snider next
Sunday who will distribute at Open House and First Day.
Erica Larsh and Rhonda Anderson will be class delegates to
meetings on Children’s Church.
By the way, Kriston … Kristun … Kristan Maynard’s name is really
Kristen. :-)

Lesson on Prayer, August 12

2007-08-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

In our class on August 12, we worked on the question of how we are to think about unanswered prayer, prayers that we have offered for which we do not yet understand an answer. In Bill Hybel's book Prayer: Opening Your Heart to God (Hybels and Harney, Zonderman, 1997, available at Lifeway bookstore), Hybels suggests three ways of thinking about this issue
Thinking About Prayers that Have Not Been Answered:

God may have answered … No
Read Mark 10:35-45
Imagine you were James or John in this situation.
How would you have felt after Jesus responded to your request?
What might you have learned from this experience?

God may have answered … Slow … God may be judging that this is not the right time for an answer

God may have answered … Grow … God may be judging that you need to grow in your understanding of him or of others before you can understand his answer to his prayer

In our discussion we agreed that these three insights could inform both our understanding of prayer and our understanding of God. However, David McCorvey pointed out that when dealing with very personal grief or pain, these theoretical ideas do not carry too much weight. If we have praying for the safety of our child and our child is harmed … or the relief from pain for our parent and our parent continues to suffer excruciating pain …or … you know the rest. We find it difficult to be content with No, Slow, and Grow. At this point we must rest in faith before the mystery of God … remembering that he is no stranger to pain and to loss ... He knows the prayer, “Father, take this cup from me but not my will be done” … He knows the cross … but He also knows of the resurrection.

Questions discussed:

Do you know of a prayer you have prayed in which you understood later that God answered “No.”

We can almost expect God to answer certain kinds of prayer with a “No.” What are some of these kinds of prayer?

Can you identify a prayer you have prayed in which you understood later that God waited a long time to answer?

What did you learn during your time of slowing down and waiting for God’s answer?

Why is honest self appraisal essential as you grow in you prayer life?

Closing Note from Hybels: In your next prayer time, pause for listening to the spirit of God. Ask God to search your heart and life, shedding light on any area of darkness that could be a barrier in your prayer life.

Lesson on Prayer, August 5

2007-08-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

Notes from August 5 (Thank you, Scott, Paul, Curt, Mitch, Janet, Kristan)

Episode 1, Icebreaker

Pose the following three questions and then go around the room asking persons to answer one of the questions.

What was your earliest experience with prayer?
How did you learn to
pray?
What is your earliest memory of prayer?

After everyone has contributed to the ice breaker, pass out the reading page entitled Dangerous Prayers (from Prayer by Bill Hybels, Kevin and Sherry Harney, Zondervan, 1997) and ask everyone to read it carefully.

Episode 2, Search Me Distribute Bibles to each person and ask them to read Psalm 139: 1- 12 and 23-24. Read Hybels snapshot out loud. Then pass out snapshot with two questions. After folks have had a minute to think, invite comments on the questions.
Hybel Snapshot: A “search me” prayer invites God to aim the
search light of his holiness at the inner recesses of who we are and expose what is there. When David wrote Psalm 139, he was reflecting on the greatness and grandeur of God and acknowledging that there is no mystery that God does not understand. David was praising God for being omniscient saying, “There is nothing that confuses you about what is going on in the universe or in my life. You are intimately acquainted with all my ways.” David then invited his Creator to search his heart.

Why is it dangerous to invite God to search our hearts?

What would make us reluctant to pray this prayer?

Episode 3, Break Me: Read Hybels snapshot out loud. Then pass out snapshot with two questions. After folks have had a minute to think, invite anyone to answer the questions. However, do not force anyone to answer the questions, since the answers could be quite personal. After a few moments, if no one answers, pass on to the next episode.

Hybel Snapshot: Ecclesiastes 3:3 says there is a time to tear
down and there is a time to build up. As you move on in our
Christian journey, you will discover that you need to develop new patterns in our lives. You will find that some old habits and some old patterns of living and some old ways of thinking are not productive and you need to tear them down. To do this, you need God’s help. You need to invite God
to break down those things in your life. You need to learn to pray the dangerous prayer, “Break me.”

What is one area of your life that God is breaking down?

What is one area of your life in which you need to ask God to help you break down walls?

Episode 4, Stretch Me: Read Hybels snapshot out loud. Then pass out the snapshot with two questions. After folks have had a minute to think, invite anyone to answer the questions. However, do not force anyone to answer the questions, since the answers could be quite sensitive. After a few moments, if no one answers, pass on to the next section.

Hybels Snapshot: As we grow as followers of Christ, we get to a point where we say, “I am no longer content with the status quo in my life. I am tired of being in a spiritual rut.” We begin to pray, “God, you created me to be dynamic and growing, but I am stuck. Please stretch me. Grow me beyond where I am to where you want me to be.”

Describe a time in your spiritual life when God really stretched you.
How did it feel at the time?
How does it feel now as you look back?

What is an area in your life in which you need to begin praying for God to stretch you?

Episode 5, Lead Me: Read Hybels snapshot out loud. Then pass out the snapshot with two questions. After folks have had a minute to think, invite anyone to answer the questions. However, do not force anyone to answer the questions, since the answers could be quite sensitive. After a few moments, if no one answers, pass on to the next section.

Hybels Snapshot: “God lead me, I take my life, gifts, talents,
resources, energy, and future and put it all in Your hands” A couple of years after I became a Christian, a deeply committed follower of Christ challenged me to let God lead my life. … I said to God, “I will give you my whole life. You can lead m life until it seems to me you are untrustworthy, and then all bets are off.” Despite the immaturity that characterizes my youthful conversation with God, “I can tell you that God has
been totally trustworthy. He has led me every step of the way.”

Can you relate a time in which you experienced God’s leading in your life?
Put your finger on one area of your life you need to turn over to God and allow Him to start leading you.

Episode 6, Prayer Time: Move into prayer time. You can handle it any way you wish … silent prayers, verbal prayers …. In addition to prayer needs that are mentioned at the end of class, remember again any that have been mentioned in the class discussion.

Newsletter, July 29

2007-07-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

Three Important Dates:

August 1: Curt and Alex will join Bob Wisener in the 5:30 –8:00 session in Interfaith Hospitality Network.
August 19: Important class meeting during the Sunday School hour. We will eat extravagantly but we will also plan social events and ministry events for the Fall. Bring your appetites, ideas, and calendars.
September 8: Pot luck supper and class event at the Wheeler’s house on that Saturday evening. Claire will begin the study of the Five Loves that evening and continue on Sunday morning, September 9. {Janet, would you ask Robin is she is available that evening. Thank you.}

Thank you, Scott (Episode 1), Paul (Episode 2), Curt (Episode 3), Janet/Mitch (Episode 4) , Mitch/Janet (Episode 5), Kristen (Episode 6: Prayer Time): In our absence next Sunday, August 5, we have a skilled team of teachers leading the class. Join them as they talk about Dangerous Prayers.

Lesson on Prayer, July 29

2007-07-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

Practical Suggestions from Hybel from previous lessons:

Commit to a specific time each day for prayer.
Write your prayers
Pray
using the acronym A C T S

Read Matthew 6:5-8
Snapshot from Hybels:
Jesus warned his followers to avoid lifting up prayers on the street corner in a show of spirituality. Instead, He called them to find a private place for prayer. Why the emphasis on privacy? What is this inner room all about? Certainly one concern was that prayer not be a show to impress others. Instead, it should be a conversation between us and God. But beyond this:

It ensures a minimum of distractions. “In my prayer life, distractions are deadly,” Hybels records. “Voices, music, phones, kids, dogs, birds, almost anything causes me to lose my concentration.
Once we identify a special place for prayer, that place develops a kind of sacred aura. Your inner room, whether it is the front seat of your truck or a laundry room or a study , becomes a special and holy place where you meet God.

What are some distractions you face when you try to spend time in prayer?
If you have a place where you where you get away to pray, describe this place and why it is important to you?

Read Matthew 6: 5 - 13
Snapshot from Hybels:
Jesus tells his followers that they should not use meaningless repetition and empty phrases in their prayers. It is too easy to get caught up in using certain jargon or terminology in prayer. Certain phrases may sound appropriate, spiritual, even pious, but after a while, we can find ourselves stringing together a bunch of popular phrases and trying to pass it off as prayer. Heaping up fancy phrases cannot replace heartfelt and sincere communication with God. Jesus invites us to talk to the Father authentically, personally, reverently, earnestly.
Note from Willimon and Hauerwas:
Learning to pray this prayer “The Lord’s Prayer,” allowing it to become second nature to us, takes time, habit. We pray out of habit. Sometimes people say, “I feel guilty when I am praying the Lord’s Prayer, I am not really thinking about what I am praying. I just say the words out of habit.” Habit is good. Most of the really important things we do in life, we do out of habit. We eat, sleep, make love, shake hands, hug our children … out of habit. Some things in life are too important to leave up to chance or spontaneous desire.

Clearly, Hybels and Willimon and Hauerwas are saying different things about prayer in these passages. Can you sort them out? Is it possible for us to be true to all these different teachings on prayer? What are the thoughts that occur to you as you read these various thoughts about prayer?[Note: Wheeler believes that Hybels and W and H are saying complementary things. It is important to form habits of prayer with saying the Lord’s Prayer a powerful habit for many folks. However, in everyone’s prayer life, it is important to include authentic, reverent, earnest conversation with God.]

Lesson 2 on Prayer, July 22

2007-07-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

Getting Started –Ruminations from Ed: As we begin this second lesson on prayer, I should probably offer this bit of confession and testimony:

I am not an ideal teacher of this material, because prayer has not been one of the strengths of my Christian walk. If we looked back over my half century as a Christian, we would probably find that much of that time I did not regard prayer as terribly important, and we would find very few periods of time in which I had a special time and place for prayer each day [A strong suggestion from Lesson 1].

On the other hand, prayer has been a topic on which by my thought and my practice has changed over the years. Whereas when I was younger, I did not regard prayer as terribly important, I now regard it to central to Christian living. You may have noticed that we spend 10 minutes of our 50 minutes each Sunday in prayer. Had you been in my class 20 years ago, you might have experienced a 2 minute opening prayer … if I remembered. I have come to believe that when we gather as Christians there is nothing more important that we can do. And, despite my bad habits – despite the fact that I still do not have a time and place for daily prayer - prayer punctuates my day in ways it never did 20 –30 years ago.

Before we move on to Hybel’s ideas for today (Prayer: Opening Your Heart to God, Hybels and Harney, Zonderman, 1997, available at Lifeway Bookstore), I want talk for just a minute about why and how prayer has become so important to me. In particular, I want to mention three reasons that this transition in thought and practice has occurred. The first two have to do with scriptures:

Mark 6:46:This unremarkable little scripture became very remarkable to me primarily because I realized how often it was repeated in the Gospels. Scattered among the records of teachings and miracles and conversations of Jesus were brief reminders that Jesus regularly went apart by himself and prayed. Because in my heart of hearts I am a "Jesus person," this realization was an important stimulus to my life in prayer.
Phillipians 4:4 –7: I ran across this scripture in a Bible Study on Phillipians at White Bluff United Methodist Church some ten years ago at a time in my life when life was a bit dark for me. I was not rejoicing very much. It was a time when I was very aware of some failures in my life and also very aware of my incompetence to supply the healing that the world around me desperately needed. This scripture gave direction on how to pray in a way that increased my joy … and brightened my life and my ability to minister.
Prayer has also become important to me is because it is the agent in my life through which I change and through which I move a little closer to seeing the world as God sees it. Indeed, if I were asked to give testimony about how I have seen the power of prayer evidenced in the world, I would have to simply say, (a) I know prayer is powerful because Ed is not the same person he would have been had he not prayed. (b) I know prayer is powerful because Ed sees the world through different eyes than he would have seen it if he had not prayed.

Back to Hybels and Prayer: I want to start with where Hybels finishes today’s lesson: with a very powerful, practical suggestion for growing your prayer life. Hybels suggests that he prays most effectively when he writes his prayer … and when he organizes his prayers using the acronym A C T S: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. I will add my endorsement to that of Hybel’s. Over the years, my "C minus" prayer life has been most satisfactory when I have written my prayers and when I have organized them using this A C T S outline. Now, I would like for you to think a little bit about this outline.

Note to readers: At this point the class spent some time responding to the following outline and related questions.

A
Adoration: Adoration is praising God for who He is, focusing on His character and attributes. For what quality of God can you praise Him at this time in your life?

C
Confession: Confession involves reviewing your week and your life and holding up the failures and sins that God helps you see … seeking God’s forgiveness and healing.

T
Thanksgiving is expressing our heartfelt appreciation for what God has done. What are you thanking God for today?

S
Supplication is lifting the concerns of your heart and mind to God? What is one need you are lifting to God right now?

Tthe class members then shared their thoughts in each of these three categories (We permitted omission of Confession, feeling it might be too personal for group consumption). After each person had spoken, we observed that we had just spent time in prayer together … said AMEN… and dismissed class.

Newsletter, July 17

2007-07-17T18:19:00.000-07:00

A Blogger: Now that Ed has become a blogger (Ha!), he has decided to deliver class newsletters by blog for a while. If he finds time, he will also post lesson summaries so that those of you who must sometimes miss class can "follow along" electronically if you wish (The wishful thinking of every teacher. Sometimes I even dream that my mathematics students will do their homework!!!)

Thank you, Amy: Amy, thank you so much for teaching while the old folks wandered in France. We had a wonderful time, despite the inadequacy of Ed's 40 year old high school French ... and we returned intact.

Inter-Faith Hospitality: Our next turn to host the Inter-Faith Hospitality Network will occur in the week of July 29 - August 4. As we had agreed, Curt has signed our class up for Wednesday evening, August 1. We will need to provide help in the 5:30 - 8:30 slot and the 8:30 pm - 7:00 am slot. Unfortunately, Ed will be out of town that night so we will need someone to do the late shift. We will seek volunteers this Sunday.

Lessons on Prayer: We began a set of lessons on prayer this past Sunday and will continue this Sunday, July 22.

Volunteer Needed Again: The old folks are roaming one more time before settling down for the Fall. On the weekend of August 4 we will visit our son in Toronto. We would be very appreciative of a volunteer to cover the lesson that day. We will make every effort to become home bodies after that trip.