What Did Jesus Say about Religion?

This is our study for this week in the Refuge. I found it interesting last week when I read some thoughts by a Jewish scholar. He held that Jesus really didn't have any problems with the Pharisees (I don't know where he got that) and that the Jewish leaders had nothing to do with the crucifixion. This guy said that the Romans were all alone in crucifying Jesus and that the later followers of Jesus just put it on the Jews because they were afraid of the Romans. Now, I am no anti-Semitic-the Passion-0f-the-Christ-lets-blame-the-Jews person. But, you have to cut out an awful lot of Scripture to say that Jesus got along with the Pharisees.
In fact, he didn't. His exchanges with them form a good part of the basis for our study.
Also, some people say that Jesus never intended to start a religion (Christianity). What do you think? I'll give my answer Sunday. The worship bulletin is here.

Pine Canyon Retreat

Last weekend I took a group of youth from Catalina up to Pine Canyon Camp. It was a free weekend retreat that would serve as a preview for summer camp. We took a van load and had a great road trip. There's a ton of photos here. This is my favorite photo--it's me ALMOST falling off a swinging log on the ropes course. Yes, those sweet kids were willing to put their lives on the line to catch me. What devotion! Or maybe they knew I was the only one in our group that could drive us down the mountain (you have to experience the road to Pine Canyon to know what I mean).

Sick Days

It has been a tough week. I stayed home sick Monday and then worked at home on Tuesday--I didn't want to cough all over everyone at staff meeting. After that I've been playing catch-up all week. Hopefully next week will be normal!

What Did Jesus Say about...

This will be our the theme for our services through the month of May. On March 30 we began with "What did Jesus say about prayer?", then on April 20 we considered "What did Jesus say about the Bible?" On April 27, Seth Ginter will be preaching. The month of May looks like this:
May 4 What did Jesus say about religion?
May 11 [Pentecost and Mother's Day] What did Jesus say about the Holy Spirit?
May 18 [Trinity Sunday] What did Jesus say about himself?
May 25 What did Jesus say about politics?

What did Jesus say about the Bible?

[This is the second in a series of What did Jesus say about... studies. The worship bulletin is here.]
Many (most?) Christians are uncomfortable with the Bible. They think they can't understand it. They may be offended by parts of it. They don't know their way around it. They are hesitant to be identified with some "Bible-thumpers". We may--even subconsciously--avoid the Bible.
Your view of Scripture has a profound effect on your view of theology and God and life. And all of us view Scripture with a bias. There is more than one way to look at the Bible and at theology. The views that are held by many protestants--particularly evangelicals--are only 100 years old.
But what did Jesus say about the Bible?

Matthew 5.17-18 Jesus' aim was not to tear down the Old Testament, but to use it as a foundation to build upon.

Matthew 5.21-48 Mark 10.2-8 Jesus refused a strict literal interpretation of the Law, and sought to reveal the spirit or intent behind the Scripture.

Matthew 4.1-11 Jesus took seriously the demands of Scripture on his life and way of living

CONCLUSIONS

The Scriptures cannot be dismissed as something "for another time".

We must read the Scriptures prayerfully and seek to see and understand the heart and mind of God behind the words.

The best place to find guiding principles for my life is in the Scriptures.
Psalm 119.11, 103-105

An enjoyable morning

I rode my bike this morning to the monthly South District (of the Desert Southwest Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church) youth directors' meeting. We meet at Beyond Bread on Campbell. So that's about an 11 mile ride for me. I have new steel-belted tires that Mindy installed for me yesterday (thanks!).
So the ride was enjoyable, and I took a different route than I usually do. Normally I go Broadway to Tucson Blvd to Glenn to Campbell. Today I took Broadway to Wilmot to Pima to Forgeus to Edison to Tucson Blvd to Campbell. Can you visualize that?
Our youth directors meeting is my favorite morning all month. We gather over good food and good conversation. I enjoy catching up with my friends and talking about what is going on around the district.

Family Photos

I've posted a few family photos on my facebook profile. Scroll down to "photos". Yeah, I know, big surprise. I know my photobucket contains tons of photos. This is an attempt to make some photos more accessible.

Jeremiah Is Preaching/Tijuana 08

Jeremiah Smith will be preaching in the Refuge this Sunday. I will be over in the sanctuary presenting our high school missions project for this summer: Tijuana 08. Youthworks is the missions agency that is facilitating our trip. We will work with kids in a VBS-like setting, and will build houses. Photos of our 2004 Tijuana trip are here and more info about our project is here. You can check out the worship bulletin with this week's Scriptures here.

Race for the Cure

Yesterday we had a great experience at the Race for the Cure! The weather was awesome, and we had about 30 (maybe more) people from our church involved! I really enjoyed talking with everyone before and after and during the Race and the Survivor Ceremony was really good! We carried a sign, so our church got some free advertising. In the competitive race, our runners placed like this:
55 Scott Kadous
91 Micah Rochin
149 Tyler Jones
189 Jordan Dansdill
and Collin Nelson didn't have his timing chip and I haven't found Chris Dansdill yet.

NO CHURCH THIS SUNDAY!!

Is that headline a shocker for you?? This Sunday, the Refuge services will not meet in fellowship hall. Several of us are participating in The Race for the Cure. I wonder how people are taking this? But wouldn't this be kind of a test? Is the Sunday morning worship service such a sacred cow that you can't cancel it to do something really good to help people and reach out to the community? Don't get me wrong, I have heard NO criticism at all of this decision. Growing up in a church that emphasized "three to thrive" (Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night church), it feels funny to me to not be at church on Sunday morning. Plus, I'm always at Catalina on Sunday morning. That's my comfort zone.

Easter Sunday Worship!

Can you believe that Easter is already here? You can prepare for worship by reading our Scriptures for Sunday (1 Corinthians 15.1-20, 30-32, 58), by looking at our worship bulletin, and by looking over our Experiencing Easter Worksheet.

Race Team

We now have 4 members on our Catalina UMC Race for the Cure team! Get busy signing up!!

Sunday March 16

This Sunday is the Sunday before Easter, that means it is Palm/Passion Sunday. Read the explanations below to understand the significance of this week in Christian worship. Also, there is a section about the Stations of the Cross. This Sunday's worship will be more experiential in nature. We will have posted throughout the hall the stations of the cross, using prints from "The Way of the Cross" by Ted Degrazia. The original art is on display in Tucson at the Gallery in the Sun. You can view these and reflect on the suffering of Christ. We will also have several prayer and meditation stations that are part of the resource Experiencing Christ's Passion.

The worship bulletin for this Sunday is here. It includes an interesting article about what happened during each day of holy week.

History of Palm Sunday

As soon as the Church obtained her freedom in the fourth century, the faithful in Jerusalem re-enacted the solemn entry of Christ into their city on the Sunday before Easter, holding a procession in which they carried branches and sang the Hosanna (Matthew 21, 1-11). In the early Latin Church, people attending Mass on this Sunday would hold aloft twigs of olives, which were not, however, blessed in those days.

This Palm Sunday procession, and the blessing of palms, seems to have originated in the Frankish Kingdom. The earliest mention of these ceremonies is found in the Sacramentary of the Abbey of Bobbio in northern Italy (beginning of the eighth century). The rite was soon accepted in Rome and incorporated into the liturgy.

Everywhere in medieval times, following the Roman custom, a procession composed of the clergy and laity carrying palms moved from a chapel or shrine outside the town, where the palms were blessed, to the cathedral or main church. Our Lord was represented in the procession, either by the Blessed Sacrament or by a crucifix, adorned with flowers, carried by the celebrant of the Mass. Later, in the Middle Ages, a quaint custom arose of drawing a wooden statue of Christ sitting on a donkey (the whole image on wheels) in the center of the procession. These statues (Palm Donkey; Palmesel) are still seen in museums of many European cities.

PASSION SUNDAY

In the past, Passion Sunday was celebrated the week before Palm Sunday. So you had Christ crucified before he ever entered Jerusalem. This was rectified in the Revised Common Lectionary, and Palm and Passion Sunday came to share the same week. Hoyt Hickman in The New Handbook for the Christian Year says this. “Many persons have asked why the new calendar and lectionary now shared by historic Christian traditions have combined Passion and Palm Sunday into one and have suggested such an extensive amount of Scripture. To understand why this has been done , one must first recognize that the passion story is a highly dramatic and unified whole and is absolutely central to each of the Gospels. It demands to be heard in its wholeness, rather than in small bits and pieces. To focus on this story one Sunday and then the following Sunday to back up to the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem breaks the unity of the whole sweep of events from the triumphant entry through the passion and crucifixion to the resurrection. There is also a pastoral reality to face. Most persons in church on Passion/Palm Sunday will not be there again until Easter Day. To go abruptly from the lesser joy of the entry into Jerusalem to the joy of Easter, without being addressed by the passion and the cross of our Lord, is to impoverish our experience of the Gospel.”

THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS

For Roman Catholics throughout the world, the Stations of the Cross are synonymous with Lent, Holy Week and, especially, Good Friday. This devotion is also known as the "Way of the Cross", the "Via Crucis", and the "Via Dolorosa." It commemorates 14 key events on day of Christ's crucifixion. The majority concern His final walk through the streets of Jerusalem, carrying the Cross.

The Stations originated in medieval Europe when wars prevented Christian pilgrims from visiting the Holy Land. European artists created works depicting scenes of Christ's journey to Calvary. The faithful installed these sculptures or paintings at intervals along a procession route, inside the parish church or outdoors. Performing the devotion meant walking the entire route, stopping to pray at each "station."
Today, images of the Stations (or simple crosses representing them) are on display in almost all Catholic churches. They serve mainly as a focus for Lenten worship services. But the Stations can also be performed privately, at any time of the year, even at home. Many organizations offer free or inexpensive, illustrated pamphlets for this purpose.
http://www.ixeh.net/faith/Stations/via-info.html
Although Catholic in origin, the stations have been adopted for meditation, prayer, and practice by many Christian groups.

RACE FOR THE CURE

The Race for the Cure is exactly one month from today. Here is how to get involved:

April 6 Reid Park

You are invited to be part of this life-changing event!
On April 18 1999, the First Annual Southern Arizona Race for the Cure took place in downtown Tucson. The event attracted 3,400 participants and raised $218,000. Today, nine years later, the Race for the Cure has been voted The Best Spectacle Event by the Tucson Weekly in 2004 & 2006, and raises over one million dollars each year.
Over the past nine years, the local Komen Southern Arizona Race has raised $5 million dollars. 75% of the net income has provided programs and services for breast health needs in Southern Arizona. The other 25% has gone to international research, with over one million dollars going to the University of Arizona.

Be part of our team! Pick up a registration form today or go to http://www.komensaz.org and click on “race for the cure” on the right side. Then click on “register” , then “register here”. Then click on “join a team” and then scroll down and find “Catalina UMC’.

Donate to our team! Go to http://www.komensaz.org and click on “race for the cure” on the right side. Then click on “donate or pledge” and then click on “sponsor participant”. Then enter a participant’s name. You can enter Richard Jones, Mindy Jones, Tyler Jones, or anyone else you know is participating. We will list more team member names are we receive them.

Volunteer! Volunteers are needed on race day and at the office or packet distribution locations (El Con Mall). Phone the office of the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Southern Arizona at 319-0155. The office is located at 4574 E. Broadway. Register online to volunteer at http://www.komensaz.org. Click on “volunteer” on the right side of the page, and you will be directed to a page with volunteer information.

Ask Questions! Our team captain is Mindy Jones. She is normally in the 9:30 Refuge service. You can email her at mindyrecycles@aol.com or phone her at 296-7103.
There will be no Refuge services on April 6! Instead of coming to church, come out with us and BE the church!

Jackson Pollock

This Sunday, is the final installment in our Paint by the Spirit series. We may come back to it again. This week our artist is Jackson Pollock.

There are many interpretations that can be given to Pollock’s work. It is sometimes referred to as Abstract Expressionism (as opposed to Impressionism). It is said to be an expression of what was inside the artist. Pollock himself said, “Modern art to me is nothing more than the expression of contemporary aims of the age that we're living in.”

Pollock practiced an “all-over” style of distribution of line and color that prevented climactic emphasis on any one point.

Pollock’s paintings had no center and this may be his main message—that the age in which he lived lacked a center, a focal point.

Notice Pollock’s comments in this interview:

WW: Mr. Pollock, there's been a good deal of controversy and a great many comments have been made regarding your method of painting. Is there something you'd like to tell us about that?
JP: My opinion is that new needs need new techniques. And the modern artists have found new ways and new means of making their statements. It seems to me that the modern painter cannot express this age, the airplane, the atom bomb, the radio, in the old forms of the Renaissance or of any other past culture. Each age find it’s own technique.

WW: Mr. Pollock, the classical artists had a world to express and they did so by representing the objects in that world. Why doesn't the modern artist do the same thing?
JP: The modern artist is living in a mechanical age and we have a mechanical means of representing objects in nature such as the camera and photograph. The modern artist, it seems to me, is working and expressing an inner world -- in other words -- expressing the energy, the motion, and other inner forces.

WW: Would it be possible to say that the classical artist expressed his world by representing the objects, whereas the modern artist expresses his world by representing the effects the objects have upon him?
JP: Yes, the modern artist is working with space and time, and expressing his feelings rather than illustrating.

I think Pollock was painting what WB Yeats wrote in The Second Coming.

National Gallery of Art site concerning "Lavender Mist"

Good article and several works here.

Our Scripture for Sunday is Psalm 46.

The worship bulletin for Sunday is here.

February 24, 2008 Paint by the Spirit: Degas

The history of the life of Edgar Degas can be found here.

The worship bulletin for Sunday is here.

A video of Degas' work

Notice this painting by Degas. It is called Ballerina with Woman with
Umbrella on a Bench. It is one of many paintings of dancers that Degas made. Degas painted his dancers as much at rehearsal and class as he did in performance. Was he celebrating all of life? Was he valuing the process as much as the product? Was he demonstrating that the beauty of the performance could only come about as a result of great effort? And what do we make of the woman next to her? Is this her teacher? Is it her mother? Is it her governess sent to escort her to rehearsal? Does her somber clothing reveal what the brightly-clothed ballerina really thought of dance? That is was a drudgery? Is the painting showing us that the mundane in necessary to produce the beautiful?

In one of his songs, Bob Dylan said, “Behind every beautiful thing, there’s been some kind of pain.” As we see the ballerina rub her ankle, we see the truth of that statement.

There is meaning and purpose and value in all of life, even your suffering. I do not believe that everything happens for a reason, but I do believe that every experience has value. I believe that every experience impacts our lives and shapes who we are. Just as class a practice were an essential part of the lives of Degas’ dancers, suffering and trials will be inevitable parts of our lives. But we believe that God will REDEEM our suffering. Suffering is not good, but something good can come from it.

It seems that our life is like the life of the dancers. It made up more of the mundane and painful parts than the beautiful parts. What do we do? How can we keep our heads up when all we see coming down the road at us is more of the same? I think in Romans 8 Paul gives us 4 handles to help us keep a grip when life is hard. Paul said in Romans 8.18, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory about to be revealed in us.” This verse reminds me of the second painting [Degas Ballerina]. Doesn’t that sound like the words of a dance instructor to her charges? I know rehearsal is hard. I know you’re sore. I know your feet hurt. But when the curtain opens and the lights come up, you will forget all about this. What are these 4 handles that allow us to get a grip on life? How can we come to focus on the glory and beauty of life over the suffering?

8.18-25 HOPE gets us through the hard parts of life. What is hope? Hope is the belief or maybe even the suspicion that something better is ahead of us. God’s redeeming of our souls in mercy leads us to hope that God will redeem the rest of our lives.

8.26-27 The SPIRIT INTERPRETS OUR PRAYERS to God. Life can be so hard and so mind-numbing at times that we don’t even know what to pray for, how to pray, or if we have the desire or strength to pray. The Spirit interprets are prayers to God in accordance to his purpose for us.

8.28-30 GOD’S PURPOSE WILL BE WORKED IN US through suffering. God will use the experiences of our lives to form our character into a Christ-like character.

8.31-39 No matter how bad things get, GOD ALWAYS LOVES US AND IS WITH US. I remember when I was little and I fell and hurt myself badly. I remember sitting on the front porch of my house in my father’s lap. My dad being there didn’t make it hurt less or heal faster, but it was extremely comforting to me just to be with him. So it is with God. God will ALWAYS be with us during our hard times. Is God even closer during our painful times? Psalm 34.18 tells us that God is near to the brokenhearted.

What’s hurting right now in your life? Where is the pain, the frustration? You can know that just as sure as God forgives your sins, he is going to redeem the rest of you, too. You may be confused, hurt. God knows just what you need, you don’t have to come up with some eloquent prayer. You don’t have to figure it out. Pain and suffering are not pleasant, but God can work in us through them. Are you dealing with hard stuff right now? Is your life a disappointment to you? Are you feeling hurt? God is near.

February 17, 2008 Paint by the Spirit: Cezanne

An Old Woman with a Rosary

The poet Joachim Gasquett tells us that this is a portrait of an ex-nun, who lost her faith and "escaped" from her convent. Gasquett found her wandering aimlessly and provided shelter for her. In Cézanne's portrait, she looks back upon a life that must have had significant pain and inner torment. And as she looks forward, she knows the days remaining to her are dwindling rapidly. So it is appropriate that the colors are somber.

[http://www.arttoheartweb.com/cezanne.htm]

But where is the light in this portrait? It is not in the hands that hold the rosary; the tool for prayer. The light is in the face. The face reflects the interior life of the woman. The face is the focus of light in the painting and her eyes are open and her eyebrow is raised with a hopeful expression.

How can this woman who has undoubtedly known so much turmoil, suffering, doubt, and anguish be hopeful at the end of her days? How? Why does she turn to prayer for her consolation, when she apparently lost her faith? Is it just a comforting habit? Is it the comfort of routine? If this was what Cezanne wanted to express, would there have been light and indications of hope in the painting? Probably not.

Cezanne was telling us that there is consolation in Christ; there is hope in Christ; and that anyone can come to Christ. Cezanne was a very religious man, a devout Catholic. You would think that we would turn away from this woman who was more than a “lapsed” Catholic—she had denied her faith, she had broken her vows. But in the simple act of prayer, this woman found her peace; her consolation in Christ. She was a member of no church, she had no organized religion. She had the religion of the heart; and in this she found the peace of Christ.

Look at Matthew 11.28-30: ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

This is not the prevalent view of faith, of religion. For many people, religion or faith is burdensome. It is filled with do’s and don’ts and people are always judging you, and on top of all you have to do to get by in this life, you have a new set of demands: God’s demands. Either conventional wisdom (sometimes supported by a 1000 years of tradition is right or Jesus is right.

Who was Jesus talking to? People who were tired of carrying their burdens. What kinds of burdens do we carry?
our past
our sins
our worries
our hurts
our bitterness
our regrets
our failures
our what ifs and if onlys
our doubts
our confusion
our uncertainty

Jesus offers you rest. This is not necessarily the rest of inactivity, but it is certainly rest from struggle. We are meant to live following God’s way, the path of Jesus. This will be liberating for us. Restful. It will be like coming home.

Jesus asks that we come to him. Jesus asks that we enlist ourselves with him. Jesus asks that we learn his ways. This is how we will find rest. This is how we will find consolation.

Notice what Romans 8.12-16 says. When we live according to the Spirit, the inner witness in our souls is given voice and is strengthened.

1 John 3.14-24 tells us that practical acts of love will resonate in our souls that we belong to God.

A video of Cezanne's works is here.

The worship bulletin is here.

Paint by the Spirit the Sequel

We had such great response from our series Paint by the Spirit in the fall (and I enjoyed doing it so much) that we are bringing it back for four Sundays in Lent. We will begin on February 17 (Invite a Friend Sunday) with Cezanne. Other artists to be considered are Degas, Cassat, and Pollock. We consider their work, we look at their life story, and we consider how Scripture and the Spirit of God connects with their art. Join us for this feast of the visual senses.

What I'm Listening To

In the last week, I have been listening to these four CDs the most:

Linkin Park Minutes to Midnight

Bruce Springsteen Magic

Jimmy Eat World Chase This Light

[I received Magic for my birthday (11/29) and Minutes and Chase for Christmas.]

Top Twenty-Five Vineyard UK Praise and Worship Songs

The Perfect Church

This is my title for my message this Sunday. It is a little inaccurate. I make up titles two weeks before, when I am sending info in for the Catalina News. Sometimes my topic changes completely, and sometimes I stay on the same subject, but come up with a different conclusion or perspective. This week it is the latter. I am going to talk about the church and how we can be more of what we should be, but I'm going to take a little different approach.
We are going to watch and discuss the short video "You" from Nooma, featuring Rob Bell. We have seen a few of these videos before, always good; always thought provoking.
The worship bulletin is here.
The Scriptures for this week are:
Acts 2.44-45 All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.
Romans 12.4-5 For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.
1 Corinthians 10.16-17 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
Colossians 1.18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.
Ephesians 4.15-16 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
Ephesians 5.29-30 For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, because we are members of his body.
1 Corinthians 12.12-27
Romans 8.20-25

Are we part of the problem, or part of the solution? This is the question that the church of Jesus Christ must ask. This is the question that Catalina United Methodist Church must ask. This is the question that you and I must ask of ourselves.