Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Why We Are Waiting
This is a website that offers a good spiritual explanation of the pilgrimage we call Advent. There are links to other audio selections as well.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Advent Poem Day 2
This poem is from Everyday Liturgy and I find it a meaningful prayer for Advent. The poem is credited to Thomas.
We are weary Lord of life
Lived for survival and not joy.
Take our cares and worries;
Come and bless us,
Change us,
Rearrange us.
May our house be filled with
The aroma of your presence,
And the cold drafts of
A wintry world that seeks and devours
Be stopped up
That we joyfully relax in
Our vocations, renewed by
The scent of unceasing divinity.
We are weary Lord of life
Lived for survival and not joy.
Take our cares and worries;
Come and bless us,
Change us,
Rearrange us.
May our house be filled with
The aroma of your presence,
And the cold drafts of
A wintry world that seeks and devours
Be stopped up
That we joyfully relax in
Our vocations, renewed by
The scent of unceasing divinity.
Always May God's Love Be with You
This video is of a song called "In the Sun". It was written by Joseph Arthur, but this cover is performed by Michael Stipe (REM) and Coldplay. It is part of a benefit EP that Stipe put together for Gulf Coast Hurricane Relief. I saw this performance on Austin City Limits this weekend. It is moving. And a great song.
Advent Hope
This is a really good article on hope during the season of Advent. It is written by Mike DeVries. Take time to read it.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Are You Happy?
I found this article by Scot McKnight (I follow his blog). It is a little intellectual, but it is a good read. Scot has a warm and inviting spirit in his writing.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2008/006/14.44.html
http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2008/006/14.44.html
From Bart Campolo's Blog
This post is from a blog I regularly read: Bart Campolo. The original post is here.
From an Email to a Struggling Friend
'Everything will be all right in the end’ still works for me, limited God and all, so long as I locate ‘the end’ way beyond my earthly life. When I fight against Chuck Norris, no one (even Chuck) can be sure exactly how long it will last or how many lucky punches I may get in before I succumb, but everyone (including me) knows that I’m going down in the end. That’s the surest hope I have: That, in the end, Love will prove to be stronger than everything else. I can’t prove it, of course, but I’ve decided to live as though it is true because nothing else inspires me, and because I genuinely like that way of life. The more I do so, of course, the more convinced I become that my hope is true. Most ways of life are self-verifying that way, which is why I sometimes tell friends who are struggling with faith that the most important question isn’t what kind of God are you sure of, but rather what kind of God do you most desperately, most surely hope for. After all, that’s the only One you’ll keep following even when the chips are down.
From an Email to a Struggling Friend
'Everything will be all right in the end’ still works for me, limited God and all, so long as I locate ‘the end’ way beyond my earthly life. When I fight against Chuck Norris, no one (even Chuck) can be sure exactly how long it will last or how many lucky punches I may get in before I succumb, but everyone (including me) knows that I’m going down in the end. That’s the surest hope I have: That, in the end, Love will prove to be stronger than everything else. I can’t prove it, of course, but I’ve decided to live as though it is true because nothing else inspires me, and because I genuinely like that way of life. The more I do so, of course, the more convinced I become that my hope is true. Most ways of life are
Publish Post
TEXT MESSAGE ADVENT DEVOTIONAL
Are you on the go? We are offering a BRIEF daily Advent devotional available through text message to your mobile phone. It will contain a Scripture verse and a prayer and will come to your phone every day (starting Monday) during Advent. If you want to receive the devotional, list your mobile number and service provider (Verizon, Sprint, Cricket, Altell, etc) on a comment to this post or email it to me at richard@catumc.org. The first message will arrive around 7pm on Monday. The rest will arrive around 7am daily.
Advent Practices
Take time to try this online advent devotional: www.followingthestar.org .
Spend time SIMPLIFYING YOUR LIFE during Advent. Get rid of what you don’t need. Pick one room or one area of your life and get started. Here are some online resources:
http://www.seattleu.edu/lemlib/web_archives/Poverty/simple_life.htm
http://zenhabits.net/2007/09/simple-living-manifesto-72-ideas-to-simplify-your-life/
http://zenhabits.net/2008/03/25-ways-to-simplify-your-life-with-kids/
http://jimmymccarty.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/simplicity-and-spirituality/
Pray one of these breath prayers during Advent:
A breath prayer is a prayer so brief that it can be prayed with each breath. The first half on inhale, and the second half of the prayer on exhale. This is a way to learn to “pray without ceasing”. Breath prayers also seem to stick in our minds and sink down into our souls and our subconscious minds. Pray a breath prayer for a specific number of times (100, etc.) or for a specific period (while you walk, drive, cook, wait in line, etc.)
Emmanuel, I believe you are with me.
Christ Child of the Manger, be born in my heart today.
Prince of Peace, may your peace fill my heart.
God of Hope, I am waiting for you to come to me.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner (traditional Jesus prayer)
Lord of Love, fill my life with your love.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
This Sunday begins Advent. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent] Advent is a season of spiritual concentration and preparation in the Christian church. Find out Sunday how to make Advent meaningful for you.
Go here [http://catumc.org/files/Nov%2030%2008.pdf] and check out the worship bulletin for The Refuge Sunday for two ideas: simplifying your life (which is something we all need to do and might bring us some peace during this hectic time of the year) and praying an advent breath prayer. Also, I would encourage you to think about this: what will it take to make you really happy? Think about it. Journal about it. Then ACT on it.
The traditional weekly themes of Advent are hope, peace, joy, and love. We will consider one of these each week in order. So, this week is hope. Here are the Scriptures I want to consider:
Jeremiah 29.10-14
Lamentations 3.21-24
Romans 8.22-25
Even Post-Obama, hope can be a tough sell in our world. Why should we have hope? And I mean REAL hope, not just some holiday-induced fake Christian sentimentality. Lets see if we can come up with something Sunday. My hunch is that it will have something to do with Advent, Jesus, and faith.
Go here [http://catumc.org/files/Nov%2030%2008.pdf] and check out the worship bulletin for The Refuge Sunday for two ideas: simplifying your life (which is something we all need to do and might bring us some peace during this hectic time of the year) and praying an advent breath prayer. Also, I would encourage you to think about this: what will it take to make you really happy? Think about it. Journal about it. Then ACT on it.
The traditional weekly themes of Advent are hope, peace, joy, and love. We will consider one of these each week in order. So, this week is hope. Here are the Scriptures I want to consider:
Jeremiah 29.10-14
Lamentations 3.21-24
Romans 8.22-25
Even Post-Obama, hope can be a tough sell in our world. Why should we have hope? And I mean REAL hope, not just some holiday-induced fake Christian sentimentality. Lets see if we can come up with something Sunday. My hunch is that it will have something to do with Advent, Jesus, and faith.
Advent DEVO
I am going to be sending out a BRIEF (short Scripture and a prayer) Advent devotional via text message each day during Advent. It will start on Monday. It will come around 7pm on Monday, and then at 7am each day until Christmas. If you are already on my text list, you will get it. If you are not, but want to be, then email me or leave a comment here or text me (520-403-2403) with your mobile number AND YOUR CARRIER (verizon, t-mobile, cricket, etc).
Thanksgiving
At my house, we are planning to take our traditional hike after Thanksgiving dinner, if it is not raining. Another tradition is that the girls do the cooking and the guys do the dishes. We'll see if Jeremiah helps me and Tyler this year.
Often we go see a movie on Thanksgiving. I don't know if we will do that this year. The prices of movie tickets keeps going higher and higher. One way we've found to beat that is to go to the cheap theater. I recommend this. We go mostly to Crossroads at Grant and Swan (since it is a local theater) and occasionally to Century Gateway 12 on Kolb between Broadway and Speedway.
HERE IS GOOD THANKSGIVING READ FROM THE PEOPLE AT RELEVANT MAGAZINE:
Thanksgiving is upon us once again. The time of year when we get together with family and friends, eat ourselves into a mild coma and fall asleep on the couch watching plasticine announcers make asinine comments about enormous cartoon-character balloons, or look on in horror as John Madden greedily devours this year’s turducken. Without a doubt, it is the pinnacle of the American experience. Certainly, though, the time-honored holiday has to signify more than an excuse to gorge ourselves on pies and various starches. After the hectic madness of each year, and before the brutal onslaught of the Christmas rush, Thanksgiving at least offers us the opportunity to sit back and consider the things in our lives for which we have to be grateful.
But thankfulness isn’t easy for a lot of us these days. With the economy spiraling out of control, many people are more worried about their jobs and houses than finding the perfect place-setting for their family gathering. Some of us have had a downright horrible year. Thankfulness can be a very difficult attitude when we’ve faced a lot of life’s trials. Health issues, relationship troubles, family dramas—all of these things can make it hard to put ourselves in a very thankful mood, and Thanksgiving day becomes nothing more than another salute to gastronomical excess. The very moniker of the holiday is ignored.
Sometimes, in the midst of a complicated world, we can be tempted to cast a wistful eye to the origins of the holiday. Modern society seems so much more complicated than the idyllic days of the first Thanksgiving. The celebrants of the first Thanksgiving had none of the woes forced upon us by industrialization and the information age. Their woes were, of course, far worse. Though there is dispute about where the first Thanksgiving was celebrated (most scholars say it was St. Augustine, Fla., in 1565 rather than Plymouth, Mass., in 1621) one thing is certain: Disease, hunger and a grueling physical environment were all realities in the days of the first Thanksgiving celebrations. They gave thanks in the midst of circumstances it is hard for us to imagine in modern day America. Fully half of the settlers in Plymouth died the first winter. Governor William Bradford’s young wife died before the ship even landed, by falling overboard. We give thanks because we got our turkey on special at Safeway, and Uncle Carl miraculously didn’t embarrass us this year. They gave thanks for not dying in the previous calendar year. Pretty heavy stuff.
It puts a lot of things in perspective to think of those few, first brave pioneers from Europe. While their motives and methods of colonizing North America are often questionable in the light of history, their courage and fortitude are not. Certainly, they knew hardships few of us could comprehend. Yet, in the midst of it all, they set aside time to honor and thank God for His provision.
It is hard to give thanks to God when we don’t see His goodness. Sometimes the providence of the Almighty seems much more an abstract concept than a reality. Yet, thankfulness should be a part of the very fabric of our beings, in spite of circumstance. The apostle Paul was an absolute model of this attitude. Few people had the laundry list of grievances that Paul did: shipwrecked, stoned, beaten, imprisoned. Yet his attitude throughout his writings is one of constant thanksgiving, even while in chains. He tells the church at Thessalonica:
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Thankfulness in all circumstances is not intended to massage God’s ego. Rather, thankfulness is an attitude that ultimately benefits us. When we give thanks to God in the midst of hardships, we are reminded of certain incontrovertible truths: God is good, God is gracious and God has our best interests at heart. By keeping these truths in mind, our faith becomes stronger. We begin to have the resolve to trust God, and the outgrowth of that is a new sense of peace when trouble arrives. Moreover, it’s a tremendous example to the rest of the world. To give thanks and praise to God when things are going tremendously well in our lives doesn’t prove a lot to people outside the community of faith. But to show that same thankfulness when our world is falling apart, that’s an attitude that speaks multiplied volumes.
Thanksgiving should not be limited to one day a year, but let’s start there. Let’s resolve to spend this holiday in a true condition of thankfulness. Perhaps this year hasn’t lived up to your expectations. Perhaps it’s been your worst year. Maybe Thanksgiving is actually going to be a tremendously lonely time for you. In spite of all this, give thanks. Thank God for the fact that He gave you life, and that He intends to give it to you more abundantly. That may not always resemble what we have in mind, but it will always be what’s best.
Author: Fred Burrows
Often we go see a movie on Thanksgiving. I don't know if we will do that this year. The prices of movie tickets keeps going higher and higher. One way we've found to beat that is to go to the cheap theater. I recommend this. We go mostly to Crossroads at Grant and Swan (since it is a local theater) and occasionally to Century Gateway 12 on Kolb between Broadway and Speedway.
HERE IS GOOD THANKSGIVING READ FROM THE PEOPLE AT RELEVANT MAGAZINE:
Thanksgiving is upon us once again. The time of year when we get together with family and friends, eat ourselves into a mild coma and fall asleep on the couch watching plasticine announcers make asinine comments about enormous cartoon-character balloons, or look on in horror as John Madden greedily devours this year’s turducken. Without a doubt, it is the pinnacle of the American experience. Certainly, though, the time-honored holiday has to signify more than an excuse to gorge ourselves on pies and various starches. After the hectic madness of each year, and before the brutal onslaught of the Christmas rush, Thanksgiving at least offers us the opportunity to sit back and consider the things in our lives for which we have to be grateful.
But thankfulness isn’t easy for a lot of us these days. With the economy spiraling out of control, many people are more worried about their jobs and houses than finding the perfect place-setting for their family gathering. Some of us have had a downright horrible year. Thankfulness can be a very difficult attitude when we’ve faced a lot of life’s trials. Health issues, relationship troubles, family dramas—all of these things can make it hard to put ourselves in a very thankful mood, and Thanksgiving day becomes nothing more than another salute to gastronomical excess. The very moniker of the holiday is ignored.
Sometimes, in the midst of a complicated world, we can be tempted to cast a wistful eye to the origins of the holiday. Modern society seems so much more complicated than the idyllic days of the first Thanksgiving. The celebrants of the first Thanksgiving had none of the woes forced upon us by industrialization and the information age. Their woes were, of course, far worse. Though there is dispute about where the first Thanksgiving was celebrated (most scholars say it was St. Augustine, Fla., in 1565 rather than Plymouth, Mass., in 1621) one thing is certain: Disease, hunger and a grueling physical environment were all realities in the days of the first Thanksgiving celebrations. They gave thanks in the midst of circumstances it is hard for us to imagine in modern day America. Fully half of the settlers in Plymouth died the first winter. Governor William Bradford’s young wife died before the ship even landed, by falling overboard. We give thanks because we got our turkey on special at Safeway, and Uncle Carl miraculously didn’t embarrass us this year. They gave thanks for not dying in the previous calendar year. Pretty heavy stuff.
It puts a lot of things in perspective to think of those few, first brave pioneers from Europe. While their motives and methods of colonizing North America are often questionable in the light of history, their courage and fortitude are not. Certainly, they knew hardships few of us could comprehend. Yet, in the midst of it all, they set aside time to honor and thank God for His provision.
It is hard to give thanks to God when we don’t see His goodness. Sometimes the providence of the Almighty seems much more an abstract concept than a reality. Yet, thankfulness should be a part of the very fabric of our beings, in spite of circumstance. The apostle Paul was an absolute model of this attitude. Few people had the laundry list of grievances that Paul did: shipwrecked, stoned, beaten, imprisoned. Yet his attitude throughout his writings is one of constant thanksgiving, even while in chains. He tells the church at Thessalonica:
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Thankfulness in all circumstances is not intended to massage God’s ego. Rather, thankfulness is an attitude that ultimately benefits us. When we give thanks to God in the midst of hardships, we are reminded of certain incontrovertible truths: God is good, God is gracious and God has our best interests at heart. By keeping these truths in mind, our faith becomes stronger. We begin to have the resolve to trust God, and the outgrowth of that is a new sense of peace when trouble arrives. Moreover, it’s a tremendous example to the rest of the world. To give thanks and praise to God when things are going tremendously well in our lives doesn’t prove a lot to people outside the community of faith. But to show that same thankfulness when our world is falling apart, that’s an attitude that speaks multiplied volumes.
Thanksgiving should not be limited to one day a year, but let’s start there. Let’s resolve to spend this holiday in a true condition of thankfulness. Perhaps this year hasn’t lived up to your expectations. Perhaps it’s been your worst year. Maybe Thanksgiving is actually going to be a tremendously lonely time for you. In spite of all this, give thanks. Thank God for the fact that He gave you life, and that He intends to give it to you more abundantly. That may not always resemble what we have in mind, but it will always be what’s best.
Author: Fred Burrows
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Sunday November 23, 2008
In the church year, this Sunday is Christ the King Sunday. One idea that struck me from the article in the link is from Cyril of Alexandria, who stated that Christ's Kingship is not obtained by violence: "Christ has dominion over all creatures, a dominion not seized by violence nor usurped, but his by essence and by nature."
Christ the King Sunday always comes the last of the church year, the last Sunday before the beginning of Advent.
This Sunday is also the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We will attempt to incorporate both themes into our worship for this Sunday.
The worship bulletin is here.
Christ the King Sunday always comes the last of the church year, the last Sunday before the beginning of Advent.
This Sunday is also the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We will attempt to incorporate both themes into our worship for this Sunday.
The worship bulletin is here.
Computer transition is tough
My old Toshiba laptop that I bought in 2004 really started messing up a couple of weeks ago. The CPU ran at 100% all the time. It was hard to even run one program at a time, let alone more than one. Our network/computer guy worked on it and then I did, too, for a few days. It improved some, but not a lot. So, I bit the bullet and bought a new computer. It's another Toshiba laptop. I got it at Best Buy. It fit the criteria I was looking for: it is powerful and fast and was on clearance. (I'm cheap, OK). I told that story to explain my blogging absence of late. Not only did I have computer problems, but then I lost lots of time in setting up the new computer. Isn't that how it is? A new computer solves some problems, but then creates a whole set of new challenges. Fortunately, I'm almost done. All I've got to do is figure how to connect to the church MS Exchange server so I can get my email. All last week I ran both computers on my desk: one for my church email, one for everything else. I wonder if I looked really important?
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Download the Cornerstone CD!
http://www.digstation.com/ArtistAlbums.aspx?albumid=ALB000024378
Click this link to purchase and download songs from the Cornerstone CD (or the whole thing!).
Click this link to purchase and download songs from the Cornerstone CD (or the whole thing!).
Micah 6.8, part 3
For the past few weeks, we have been considering Micah 6.1-8 in The Refuge. This is an interesting and important passage of Scripture that asks and answers the question:"What does God want from us?". The first two parts of the answer are do justice and love kindness (chesed). The third part is "walk humbly with your God". What does this mean? I think we can state it simply like this: realize that God is God and you are not. To walk humbly with God means to recognize our place and God's place. We are not in control. We are not in control of the world. We are not in control of our lives. And we are certainly not in control of God.
It is easy for us to believe (unconsciously, almost--we would never admit to this) that the world revolves around us. But just as Galileo and Copernicus brought us to understand that the earth is not the center of the universe (or even our galaxy), so we need to come to the paradigm-shifting, earth-shaking understanding that we are not the center of the world. So often we behave and think like God is part of our world. The truth is that this is God's world, and we are only small parts in it.
Another way we need to walk humbly with God is to understand and admit the limitations of our understanding of God. It is our nature to think that we are right, that we understand properly, and that anyone who disagrees with us is wrong. But we need to disagree with us. We need to see that our concepts of God are just that: our concepts of God. God is bigger, and more complex, and more mysterious, and just MORE than we can ever conceive. In his book How (Not) to Speak of God, Peter Rollins describes a position he calls a/theism. This means that we are both theists (believers in God) and atheists (disbelievers in God). We believe in God, but we (at the same time) do not believe our own concepts of God. Another way to say that is we do not limit God to our understanding of God. We will try to explore this a little more Sunday morning.
Here is the worship bulletin.
It is easy for us to believe (unconsciously, almost--we would never admit to this) that the world revolves around us. But just as Galileo and Copernicus brought us to understand that the earth is not the center of the universe (or even our galaxy), so we need to come to the paradigm-shifting, earth-shaking understanding that we are not the center of the world. So often we behave and think like God is part of our world. The truth is that this is God's world, and we are only small parts in it.
Another way we need to walk humbly with God is to understand and admit the limitations of our understanding of God. It is our nature to think that we are right, that we understand properly, and that anyone who disagrees with us is wrong. But we need to disagree with us. We need to see that our concepts of God are just that: our concepts of God. God is bigger, and more complex, and more mysterious, and just MORE than we can ever conceive. In his book How (Not) to Speak of God, Peter Rollins describes a position he calls a/theism. This means that we are both theists (believers in God) and atheists (disbelievers in God). We believe in God, but we (at the same time) do not believe our own concepts of God. Another way to say that is we do not limit God to our understanding of God. We will try to explore this a little more Sunday morning.
Here is the worship bulletin.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Sunday November 2
This will be our annual All Saints/All Souls Observance. There is a difference between the two. All Saints Day is November 1 and commemorates (officially--in the Catholic church) all persons who have attained the status of saint. Some more prominent saints have their own feast days throughout the year, but All Saints Day especially honors those who do not. All Souls Day is on November 2 and is for the rest of us--departed ones who have not been officially designated saints by the Catholic Church. In this respect, it is sort of like Festivus (for the rest of us). So technically, all of the observances we do at Catalina (and probably all Protestant churches) is really All Souls, not All Saints (no matter what we call it or what day we celebrate it); since we do not venerate official Catholic saints on that day, we remember loved ones who have departed. However, since we Protestants believe that all believers are saints (see Romans 1.7, 8.27, 12.13, 15.25-31), I suppose we could call our observances All Saints Day.
This week's worship bulletin is here. There is an introduction to All Saints/All Souls Day there.
For this Sunday:
ALL SAINTS WORSHIP EXPERIENCE
We will offer several prayer stations during our worship service today. Instructions will be given. This type of experience may be new to you, but rest as-sured, there is no right way or wrong way to participate! Simply be open to God in all the experiences. There is no set order to go in, or any pressing need to visit all of the stations. Take your time. Pay attention to your soul. Remem-ber those who are gone. We will come together right before communion for a Remembrance of the Blessed Ones. This will be an opportunity for you to come to the front and speak the name of someone you want to remember. We will use the format “Blessed is (name of the person), who (say a few things about his/her life).” Then you will have the opportunity to light a candle in memory of that person on your way to seat.
This Sunday will also be communion Sunday.
A BLESSING FOR ALL SAINTS DAY
Maybe in this there has been a glimpse of the kingdom
A foretaste, a hint, a promise
Let it hold you and let it send you
So you will never be at peace
Until all are fed, until all know home, until all are free, until justice is done,
Until peace is the way, until grace is the law, until love is the rule,
Until God’s kingdom comes. Amen.
PICK UP YOUR GREEN CARD! There are some small green cards on the back round table that you can use to participate in the Ignatian Examen during All Saints season. Simply pause at the end of your day and reflect. For what moment was I least grateful? Record your answer and pray about that. For what moment was I most grateful? Record your answer and thank God. The card with instructions is online at http://catumc.org/files/ignatianexamenallone.pdf
Our All Saints prayers and liturgies are online here if you are interested.
May the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and forevermore. Amen.
This week's worship bulletin is here. There is an introduction to All Saints/All Souls Day there.
For this Sunday:
ALL SAINTS WORSHIP EXPERIENCE
We will offer several prayer stations during our worship service today. Instructions will be given. This type of experience may be new to you, but rest as-sured, there is no right way or wrong way to participate! Simply be open to God in all the experiences. There is no set order to go in, or any pressing need to visit all of the stations. Take your time. Pay attention to your soul. Remem-ber those who are gone. We will come together right before communion for a Remembrance of the Blessed Ones. This will be an opportunity for you to come to the front and speak the name of someone you want to remember. We will use the format “Blessed is (name of the person), who (say a few things about his/her life).” Then you will have the opportunity to light a candle in memory of that person on your way to seat.
This Sunday will also be communion Sunday.
A BLESSING FOR ALL SAINTS DAY
Maybe in this there has been a glimpse of the kingdom
A foretaste, a hint, a promise
Let it hold you and let it send you
So you will never be at peace
Until all are fed, until all know home, until all are free, until justice is done,
Until peace is the way, until grace is the law, until love is the rule,
Until God’s kingdom comes. Amen.
PICK UP YOUR GREEN CARD! There are some small green cards on the back round table that you can use to participate in the Ignatian Examen during All Saints season. Simply pause at the end of your day and reflect. For what moment was I least grateful? Record your answer and pray about that. For what moment was I most grateful? Record your answer and thank God. The card with instructions is online at http://catumc.org/files/ignatianexamenallone.pdf
Our All Saints prayers and liturgies are online here if you are interested.
May the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and forevermore. Amen.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
I'm with Jim Wallis
Over on Bart Campolo's blog, I found this article by Jim Wallis about his faith priorities which will guide his voting in the election. Good stuff. Read it even if (especially if?) you don't agree.
Ignatian Examen
We started a new spiritual practice this week in the Catalina youth group and in the Refuge: the Ignatian Examen. Download and print the page here and it will give you a form to use and instructions and introduction. The examen is a great way to reflect on your life. I think it is especially appropriate during this All Saints season.
U of A Band Day
Here is the schedule for U of A Band Day, this Saturday, November 1.
http://web.cfa.arizona.edu/uabands/pdf/BDSchedule08.pdf
Just so you don't have to read the whole thing, Sahuaro performs around 4:40pm.
http://web.cfa.arizona.edu/uabands/pdf/BDSchedule08.pdf
Just so you don't have to read the whole thing, Sahuaro performs around 4:40pm.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Sunday October 26
I know, I know. I should blog about more than just what is happening on Sunday. And I do have some things I want to share. I will try to get to these. But for now, here is what is happening Sunday.
The worship bulletin is here.
This week we are starting a new study on Micah 6.1-8. This passage of Scripture asks and answers an important question: What does God require of us? There are a lot of ways to answer this question and there are a lot of answers being touted as THE answer to that question. But take a look at this Scripture passage. Does the answer in verse 8 surprise you? Do the suggested not-valid answers in verses 6-7 surprise you?
The worship bulletin is here.
This week we are starting a new study on Micah 6.1-8. This passage of Scripture asks and answers an important question: What does God require of us? There are a lot of ways to answer this question and there are a lot of answers being touted as THE answer to that question. But take a look at this Scripture passage. Does the answer in verse 8 surprise you? Do the suggested not-valid answers in verses 6-7 surprise you?
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