Thursday, April 25, 2019

Some Things Never Change


We received word last week that our pastor and the "founder" of our church, David Walters, is moving to another church.  This is part of the Methodist way, where pastors are reassigned to churches every once in a while.  We got to keep him longer than usual, but we were kind of hoping the muckety mucks had forgotten about him.  Not likely, since he started one of the most successful methodist churches in north Georgia with two campuses and about 1000 attendees on Sunday mornings (The Vine).  Lots of members are upset about the loss, but we know the best way for us to honor David is to show him that he helped build a church that will thrive without him.  He has ensured that we are worshiping our God and not him, and God will never change.

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Out Of The Ashes

Many of us were glued to our screens this week as the spire atop Notre Dame cathedral burned and fell to the ground.  I had the same feeling as when I watched the first tower at the World Trade Center collapse in 2001 - something like being kicked in the gut.  Thankfully, this time there was no loss of life.  It was more about the loss of something precious and something holy.  Caroline and I were fortunate to be in Paris several years ago, and we visited Notre Dame Cathedral.  I remember we were filled with awe over the scale, the beauty, the history, and the majesty.  I saw in the news that some of the relics in the cathedral were saved, including the Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus on the cross.  Over the coming months, I will watch with anticipation as the cathedral rises up out of the ashes and is restored to its full glory.  This Easter week, I also hope that I am able to see more clearly the risen Jesus.

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Another Elisabeth

Most of you know about my daughter, Elizabeth (with a z).  I was looking for any new Christian books that I might want to read and came across "Point of View" by Elisabeth (with an s) Hasselbeck.  If you don't know about her, she was the conservative voice on "The View" for 10 years until she was let go because the show was "going in a different direction".  I was not a fan of The View because of the endless bickering, but it was on my TV some as it followed GMA, which I use mostly for background noise.  I don't know that much about Elisabeth, but she does claim to be a Christian, and I believe that she was one of the few on that show (host or guest) that would make that claim.   I don't know that Elisabeth is a good author or even a good talk-show host, but I do admire that she stands up for what she believes in the face of considerable attacks from the rest of her professional community.  Let me know what you think.

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Perfect submission

Last night in our small group meeting, we talked about one of the toughest verses in the Bible, Colossians 3:18, where Paul instructs wives to submit to their husbands.  This verse has been used by men to take advantage of their wives, and it has been used by women as a reason to preclude Jesus and the Bible altogether, feeling that they should be treated as equals.  Our group members had spirited discussion about how this is working in their marriage, but I think our best conclusion was that verse 18 can't be fully considered without verse 19, where husbands are instructed to love their wives.  The Greek word used for love in this verse is agape, and agape is the self-sacrificing love that represents the love God has for man and man has for God.  If us guys did a perfect job of displaying that type of love for our wives, I think they would gladly submit.  Until then, each of us should take on an attitude of expecting nothing, and giving everything.  That's what Jesus did for us.