Opening Litany based on Psalm 37

Pastor: Don’t be afraid or envious of the bad boys or the evil men for they are like grass, soon covered in snow and withering away

Congregation: Instead, we will trust in the LORD and do good and dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Pastor: Delight in the LORD, commit your life’s path to the Lord and you will receive the desires of your soul.

Congregation: We will trust in the LORD and do good and dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Pastor: The Lord will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice in your cause like the noonday sun.

Congregation: We will trust in the LORD and righteousness shine and we will dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Pastor: Be still and patient before the LORD and don’t fret when the wicked seem to succeed in their ways.  Don’t let anger grab a hold of you lest you become the very thing you despise.

Congregation: We will trust in the LORD and refrain from anger and dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Pastor: For the evil ones will be cut off,

Congregation: But we will hope in the Lord who has promised us the Kingdom.  

Poem based on Luke 17:5-10 Increase our faith!"

Increase our faith Lord

Help us do the things you do

Heal the way you heal

(if you have)

Cast out demons the way you do

(faith)

Believe the way you do

Increase our faith Lord

So we too

(as small)

Can do great things

Control the forces of spirit

(as a mustard seed)

And nature

Doing great things for all the world to see

(you could say)

Just think of the good we could do

(to a mulberry tree)

The books we could write

(Be uprooted)

The lives we could right

The wonderful things we could do for the world

(and planted in the sea)

If

You would increase our faith for us

Me

Me

Me

(it will obey you)

Would learn to serve

how long

Sunday October 6^th, Habakkuk 1:  2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save? 3 Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?  It is tempting in the midst of evil and injustice to point to God and ask how long will it take for you to do something.  At the same time God is looking at us (plural, humanity) and asking “how long will you continue to tolerate this?”  We are winding down in Afghanistan and the aftermath of the Bush wars, years and years and billions and trillions too late.  Now that we have created enemies out of friends we are being tempted to continue the conflict, a gift to the military industrial complex, in new and exotic places. We voted for change and got delayed gratification while the profiteers continue to influence foreign policy and purchase politicians.  How Long O Lord, how Long will you let us go on?  Those who volunteered for ideals find themselves praying at the graves of their friends, how long O Lord, how long?  Let us simply answer the question with a firm and fervent “no more!”  Let us support our fallen comrades and brothers and sisters and moms and dads with the cry of “no more!  Let us end this satanic drive toward corporate war profit with “no more!”  In this world of corporate greed driven killing, let us not simply be content to see how the football game is going and how the stock market is doing?  God asks us, “How Long?”  The answer is still waiting.

Emmanuel

Monday October 7^th, Habakkuk 2:  1 I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.  2 Then the LORD replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. 3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. At the end of time the Kingdom of God will come down to humanity, the Holy City descending, and God with God’s people and peace and justice will prevail.  In the meantime (or in this case, perhaps, mean time) it is up to us.  How do we bring about God’s kingdom in the here and now?  How do we live in the already not yet? The answer is that we live as if the Kingdom were already among us, because it is.  We live as if Christ himself will knock on the door and come in and have a cup of coffee with us in the morning or tea in the evening and discuss the day ahead or the day behind, because Christ is with us even now.  We live in disgust at the injustice hatred and war we have perpetrated, with so much disgust that we actively try to do something about it, because that is what we are called to do as the children of God.  The lingering time is not a lounging around time; it is an actively living the kingdom time, because the kingdom is near and God is with us, Emmanuel.  

Helloooooo!

Tuesday October 8^th, 2 Timothy 1: 5-7 That precious memory triggers another: your honest faith—and what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you! And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn't want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.  I is not uncommon to hear from a young couple that they do not want to influence their children in religion.  They want to raise them free to make their own decisions about church when they grow up, and therefore that is why they don’t want to get involved in a church themselves.  Let me see how straight I can be with this one.  Hellooo!!- think about it!! Think about your teenage and young adulthood years.  Did you go to a church or not go to a church because that is what your parents wanted?  Once out of the house, I don’t think so.  The job of teens and young adults is to establish the self, separate from family in society.  A friend of mine, who is a Lutheran pastor, has a son who upon meeting and marring the girl of his dreams, converted to her faith, Judaism.  Having been brought up in the faith, his adult choices were which faith, not if faith.  Not raising them in the faith so they can make up their own mind is pushing them to make the decision of no faith.  It is raising them to not have a faith tradition to which they may rebel, reject, vary or accept.  A choice between nothing and nothing is nothing.  They may or may not have a choice to be Lutheran, but at least they will have a choice.  Raising them to have no faith is your excuse for shirking your duties as a parent and making them pay for your childish play.  

Your ball

Wednesday October 9^th, 2 Timothy 1:  8-10 So don't be embarrassed to speak up for our Master or for me, his prisoner. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Savior, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus. News flash, death is defeated, now how will you live your life?  News flash, life is vindicated in a steady blaze of light, so now how will you live your life?  Most people of faith wrongly believe they have to earn their way into heaven in some fashion, either by being good, following the correct faith, or perhaps even believing in the saving power of Jesus.  In the Abrahamic faiths of Islam, Judaism and Christianity there exists the message that God created all that is and called it good. That “all” includes you, me, and thee.  God acts in history to bring about faith and God loves us and would no more condemn us, his children, than you would condemn any of your children, no matter how rotten a lives they have chosen to live.  Having said that, children always have a way of going places were a loving parent would rather they not go, this is the story of the Bible among other Holy Books.  It is a story of the children of God gone wrong and God finding them, and bringing the messaege that they are love and calling them home.  The scriptures of all three Abrahamic faiths are full of such stories.  But the question is, knowing that you are saved, knowing that you are going to be with God, knowing that God loves all people and calls us to live lives of justice and integrity with those God calls our brothers and sisters even if we refuse to acknowledge it, how do you now live?  The ball’s in your court!!

only infatuation

Thursday October 10^th, Luke 17:  5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"  This is an interesting and very human request, as if it was up to Jesus to increase their faith.  On the day we were married I not only knew, but publically acknowledged that I loved my wife.  But did I really know how deeply I loved my wife?  Over the years and trials, fights and making up, struggling and snuggling together, being there for the other person, having her be there for me, we have just started to learn the depth of love.  All of these issues and conflicts over the years and the many yet to come, increase our faith in, and our love for one another.  Increasing your faith, like increasing your love, is a process; it is a lifelong walk with Jesus through the hills and the valleys of life.  Anything less is just infatuation.  

aim higher

Friday October 11^th, Luke 17: 6 He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you. I don’t know if faith can anthropomorphism a mulberry tree and make it obey better than our children, but I have seen faith move mountains of injustice and greed.  I have seen faith erase years of brokenness and infidelity in relationships.  I have seen faith offer forgiveness and reconciliation to a murderer who killed several children in a small community’s school building.  I have seen faith, however small, do things far beyond getting a mulberry tree to follow your verbal commands.  It is not your faith that needs to increase; it is your belief in the faith of Christ.  Aim higher and let your faith soar.     

extra credit

Saturday October 12^th, Luke 17:  7 "Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8 Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? 9 Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' "  Back to the garden.  The first sin on earth is the temptation of eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  It was the temptation to possess all knowledge and therefore, be like God, or perhaps even consider yourself to be god.  Our calling is simply to do the will of God, to love justice, show mercy and walk humbly before our God.  It is tempting to be like the student who wanted to do all the extra credit work in school hoping it would completely negate and overshadow the lack of doing the basics of everyday homework in class.  Do your homework first, which is to love justice, show mercy and walk humbly before God, then comes the extra credit of throwing mulberry trees in the water.  

10w for September 29th, St. Michael and All Angels.

The following is a 10 minute worship for September 29th, St. Michael and All Angels. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The Song for the day is "Open My Heart to Your Love" by Dakota Road from the CD "Break These Chains" which can be purchased HERE 

10w for September 29th, I Am, NL.

The following is a 10 minute worship for September 29th, I Am, NL. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The Song for the day is "Holy, Holy, Holy" by Keith Green from the CD "The Ministry Years, Vol. 2" which can be purchased HERE

 

10w worship for September 29th, See Them, P19

The following is a 10 minute worship for September 29th, See Them, P19. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The Song for the day is "I Saw the People Gathered" by the All People Band from the CD "Plenty of Room" which is no longer available.  The original song was part of the "Bread For the World" musical "Lazarus" " which can be viewed HERE
 

Poem based on Luke 10:17-20 St. Michael and all Angels

I saw Satan fall

screaming from heaven in unthinkable defeat

at the hands of the few

those sent from nowhere by Christ

screaming down in defeat

at the hands of the weak

made strong by the hand of God

in the name of Jesus they went out

in the name of the Son of God

they flew

in the face of evil

and won

and almost won

until the humanity shone through

in the pride of what had been done

and Satan smiled

a little longer

smiled until that day

when the one in whose name the victory was won

returns

returns and Satan will fall

like lightning from heaven

and the angels will sing

Praise

to the God of Heaven and earth

Poem based on Luke 16:19-31 The Rich Man and Lazarus

Life is good

Family and friends gathering for meals

Dripping with milk and honey

Life is good for the children of Abraham

Busy with the day to day duties of making money

Being at the right place

Connecting with the right people

Busy

Something seems different today

The front steps

Seem somehow empty

But I can’t seem to put my finger on why

O well,

I must have been dreaming

Life is good for a child of Abraham

Who is busy

And on track to the good life

In time

The business and the good times also come to an end

In time all of life levels out

In time the busy stops for us all

Almost

Hay you, boy

I know you

I dropped trinkets and change in your bucket

(without ever working to change the bucket)

You owe me

Water!

Now please!

And tell my family

If they are not too busy to listen

Opening Litany based on Psalm 146

Pastor: Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! 

Congregation: I will praise the Lord as long as I live and will sing praises to my God all my whole life long. 

Pastor: Do not put your trust in mortals, the powers of this world, for they are no help, when their breath departs, they return to the earth like everyone else and on that very day their plans perish. 

Congregation: Happy are those whose help and hope is in the Lord our God who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them and who keeps faith for ever

Pastor: For it is the Lord our God who executes justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. 

Congregation: The Lord sets the prisoners free and opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down and loves the righteous. 

Pastor: The Lord watches over the strangers and upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked the Lord will bring to ruin. 

Congregation: The Lord will reign forever and our God for all generations.  I will indeed Praise the Lord with my whole life.

neo-Hayekian

Sunday September 29^th, Amos 6:  ¹ Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, 4 You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves. The western world is in the midst of a slow recovery after thirty years of neo-Hayekian economics from the Chicago school of economics dominated by the ideas of Freedman.  This has prompted a move toward deregulation and free market economy.  Even though the results were devastating for most of the world’s economy in general it has been particularly devastating for the poorest among us.  Some who have benefited are trying to do something about the damages done.  Some get that when we are blessed, it is not about us, it is that we are blessed to be a blessing.  Melinda Gates spoke at the TEDxChange conference related to the Millennium Development Goals and free market (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEPjEimKrJs).  In an earlier interview she was asked a question about how she got involved in the MDG’s and the subsequent development of the Gates Foundation.  She told the story of her and Bill Gates on a safari in Africa during their engagement.  Alongside the road they were driving on in their jeep there were women walking, carrying huge loads on their heads, barefoot, and often with a baby on their back and one on the way.  Sometimes men were walking too but with sandals on their feet and smoking.  Bill encouraged her to follow her heart while he crunched the data.  Where her heart and the data lead was a move away from the billions yet to be made in the computer industry and into the billions that could be helped by putting their focus and energies in that direction.  In the last thirty years the free market push has created many billionaires in this world.  It has also created billions living and dying in extreme poverty and hopelessness and a meta-narrative promoting hopelessness.  There are more than enough lying on their beds inlaid with ivory and feasting on choice lambs and fatted calves.  The free market cry of let me have my money and I will know best how to help people and be generous rings hollow in a world in increased destitution and death amidst ever increasing wealth.  There are a few examples however where the data and the heart lead us to other conclusions.  We don’t have to be computer billionaires to support the MDG’s and ask those who would represent us in the political sphere where they stand on support for the MDG’s and vote accordingly. 

The Millennium goals are: 

  1) Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

  2) Achieve universal primary education

  3) Promote gender equality and empower women

  4) Reduce child mortality

  5) Improve maternal health

  6) Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

  7) Ensure environmental sustainability

  8) Develop a global partnership for development

devastatingly correctional shift

Monday September 30^th, Amos 6:  ¹ Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, 6 You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. ⁷ Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end. In the past thirty years any attempt to offer assistance to the lower and middle classes has been met with cries of socialism and redistribution of wealth.  At the same time we have seen the largest shift of tax burden to the lower and middle classes and the largest shift of wealth, entitlement and power to the top 1% with no cry of foul.  History has a way of correcting things however.  In the history of humanity, every major nation or empire that has seen a shift of wealth and power to the upper 1% has also seen that followed either by the fall of that nation or empire or a major devastatingly correctional shift.  The last time the US was in such a state of economic and power shift to the top was right before the Wall Street crash and the great depression in the 20’s.  We are now edging toward that goal once more fueled most vocally by the Koch brothers funded rhetoric of the “grass roots” libertarian movement known as the TEA party.  The correction will come as it always has, the question for the elections and those allowed to vote, are do want the hard landing that comes following the free market push of wealth to the top followed by crash, or do we want the soft landing that comes with the planned refocusing of wealth and power throughout the broad spectrum of humanity?  Hint, one of these answers is more closely related to Jesus call to care for the least, lost and lonely among us.  

love of money

Tuesday October 1^st, 1 Timothy 6: 6 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.  Money is not the root of all kinds of evil, it is the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evil.  I have known many persons of wealth who were giving, kind, generous and humble, and many who were not.  I have known many persons with very little wealth who were giving, kind, generous and humble, and many who were not.  It is less about our possessions than our focus, desires and attitudes that get us on this one.  Contentment for ourselves coupled with a drive to help others is the key.  

there once was a farmer

Wednesday October 2^nd, 1 Timothy 6:  17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. It is when we turn from the obsession of getting ahead at all cost and focus our energies on living a good life that is steeped in loving God and loving others that we become rich.  It is the foundation on which life for ourselves and life for our community can be built.  Focus on foundation building in your life and you might be surprised at how well the rest of life comes along. 


There once was a farmer who grew fantastic produce on his farm.  When he brought the produce to town, everyone lined up to purchase his stuff which he often sold out early.  His next door neighbor however did not grow such great crops, his produce was smaller and sometimes had hints of having been ravaged by diseases.  The farmer who had the good crops and who had over the years developed an excellent seed base gave some of his seed crop away to his neighbor.  When asked why he did such a thing he explained that as long as his neighbor had poor seed stock the cross pollination would continually degrade his seed stock.  The best way for him to have consistently good produce was to help his neighbor have consistently good produce.  The same holds true in life.  Healthy neighborhoods help produce healthy children.  When our focus is only in our own back yard, it is our children and our lives that are most in danger.  

unnamed rich

Thursday October 3^rd, Luke 16:  19 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.  22 "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side.  As you read through any of the Gospels, you will find a God-preference for the down and out.  It is not so much that God wants us to be down and out as it is humanity in general tends not care for them.  Oscar Romero, a Bishop from El Salvador who was assassinated by the government for his advocacy of the poor, referred to the improvised in his nation in a word that did not mean “poor,” but rather a word that meant, “those made poor.”   The rich man in Luke’s story is not a sinner because he is rich, but rather because he never noticed Lazarus at his gate.  With the new voice of Pope Francis creating a new image of not only Catholicism, but all of Christianity, one wonders at the backlash that will be seen by the unnamed rich as they see some of their wealth flowing to Lazarus at the gate.  

grubby hands

Friday October 4^th, Luke 16: The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'  25 "But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'   The sin of the unnamed rich man is brought to light in hell, where even here, he sees the role of the impoverished as one of serving those who contribute to their being impoverished.  Affirmative action has become a dirty word in our current world, primarily because it is seen as grubby hands reaching up to take back rather than the hands of the well-heeled reaching down to give back.   

circles

Saturday October 5^th, Luke 16:  27 "He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'  29 "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'  30 " 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'   31 "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "  The unnamed rich man still gets it wrong, he does not have five brothers.  Jesus redefined family not as flesh and blood, but rather as caring communities who reach out to those who are the least, the lost and the lonely.  Our calling is not so much to surround ourselves with those who are like us, but rather to work at liking those who surround us in ever widening circles.  

10w for September 22nd, I'd Rather Be Used Than Saved, NL.

The following is a 10 minute worship for September 22nd, I'd Rather Be Used Than Saved, NL. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The Song for the day is "I'd Rather Be Used Than Saved" by Ed Kilbourne from the CD "Play It Again" which can be purchased HERE

10w for September 22nd, Outside the Box, P18.

The following is a 10 minute worship for September 22nd, Outside the Box, P18. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The Song for the day is "We Could Change the World" by Matt Redman from the CD "10,000 Reasons"  which can be purchased HERE 

Poem based on Luke 16:1-13

We are a shrewd lot in this world

If there is a buck to be made

We will make it

If there is power to be gained

We will gain it

If there is a way to come out on top

We will damn the ones below

As we climb

We are a shrewd lot in this world

But who have we hurt

(the least of these my brothers and sisters)

who is on the bottom and why

and in the end

what have we gained

what have we lost

if I gain it all

or give it all away

the question is the same

what master do I serve?

Cartoon by David Hayward www.nakedpastor.com

Opening Litany based on Psalm 113

Pastor: Let us Praise the LORD all ye servants of the LORD.  Praise God’s Holy Name both now and forevermore.

Congregation: Over all the earth, from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, we will praise the name of the Lord. 

Pastor: The LORD of the heavens is to be exalted over all the nations and powers, for who is like the Lord our God who sits enthroned on high and yet stoops down to look upon the earth?
   
Congregation: Over all the earth, from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, we will praise the name of the Lord. 
   
Pastor: The Lord raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; at the Lords bidding they are seated with movers and shakers and rulers of this world.  

Congregation: Over all the earth, from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, we will praise the name of the Lord. 

Pastor: The Lord takes those burdened by shame and hopelessness and settles them content in their homes and communities. 
      

Congregation: Over all the earth, from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, we will praise the name of the Lord and will be a part of the work of the Lord in our homes and communities.   

snicker just a bit at their plight

Sunday September 22^nd, Amos 8:  4 Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land,  5 saying, "When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?" It has been interesting to watch this being played out in such grand proportions over the last 30 years.  We have seen the very large and arrogant beg for bailouts and then maneuver for buyouts and bonuses while those at the bottom, the least, lost and lonely we are to care about bearing the financial burden of multi-million dollar bonuses for those who wrecked the economy and in the process the jobs of those asked to bail them out.  The intent was for a stabilized economy and jobs; the result was a continued crumbling economic outlook and company closings with everyone except a few at the top standing there with the pockets empty.  To the denizens of Wall Street and “K” street, may I draw your attention to verse seven.  May it open your eyes to the destruction around you?  Both Amos and history remind us, we have been down this road before, it has been trod by every major empire in history shortly before they fell, or at the very least stumbled.  And it will be heard again because that is the way of human nature, while most are content with community, there are those few who quest for quantity and control.  In the end they lose, as do we when community crashes down around us, by their winning.   What bothers me is how their victims seem to cheer them on.  The cynic in me says it is because deep down inside we may find the desire within ourselves to be able to look down on the huddled masses yearning to breathe free and snicker just a bit at their plight, and we hold out the hope that someday maybe, by hook or by crook or by lottery, be in a position to look down on others.  The theologian voice says it is because we are all at the same time saint and sinner.  The synthesis tells me it is something we must all guard against within ourselves as we look to the Lord for guidance each and every day and forgiveness along the way.  

never trust anyone over 30

Monday September 23^rd, Amos 8: 6 buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat, skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, 7 The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: "I will never forget anything they have done.  We as a nation have been under an assault for the last 30 years to privatize more and more the many things the government, the “collective We” does.  We have been duped into believing the Government is the problem not the solution all the while never seeing that the Government is simply the collective us. Those who quest for power and possessions have convinced us that it is more efficient and that entity (the inanimate government) over there is in the way.  Convincing us further that we have never met the entity even though he is us (sorry Pogo). They are right in many ways, privatization is more efficient, and that is the problem.  The ever consuming drive for efficiency, i.e. “Where can I save a buck?”  has inherent problems.  It was inefficient to let women in the voting booths and work places.  It was inefficient to free the slaves.  It is inefficient to control pollution and require safety.  These and many more changes in our world are inefficient, at least when we talk about the needs of the few.  We now wonder how to clean up after efficient oil drilling and where to find work after efficient job exportation.  We have reached the point where some are beginning to see just how much efficiency costs.  Some have made out like the bandits they are and most are wondering where the promise of 30 years ago went.  A few remember when a single income was the norm for a decent family lifestyle while most wonder how they will make it with two incomes and the kids working when old enough.  We will learn someday, somehow that a world focused on “we” rather than “me” in the end makes it better for both, but hell is truth seen too late.  Again to the denizens of Wall Street and “K” street, I point you to verse 7.  When I was young there was the motto to never trust anyone over 30.  Well privatization, your time is up; may we have our world back now?  

don’t act like god

Tuesday September 24^th, 1 Timothy 2:  1-3 The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live. You don’t have to love, or even like who is in power to pray for them.  Pray that what is best for the collective we will come to past and the arrogance of the “me” be overshadowed.  Pray that justice will be done even if it costs you personally.  Pray that those who make decisions will be lovers of God and respecters of humanity.  Pray that even if the elected leaders haven’t the foggiest idea who God is or what God represents the will be known by God, because we all fit into that category some of the time.  Remember even Cyrus, who overthrew the Babylonian empire and freed the Hebrew captives may not have known God, but God knew him and many in scripture considered him at the time to be a messiah.  Remember also that the ones Jesus had a hard time with were the religious leaders who were sure they knew what was the will of God for others.  Scripture calls them the Pharisees and Sadducees.  So pray for our leaders, all of them, that they may be led by God, loved by God and filled with enough doubt so they don’t act like god.  

accident of their birth

Wednesday September 25^th, 1 Timothy 2:  4-7 He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we've learned: that there's one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out.  We are saved by grace, a gift from God.  He wants everyone to be saved. God does not condemn any child of God through the accident of their birth any more than you or I would condemn our reject our own children.  Even more so is the depth of God’s grace when you consider the depth of God’s love compared to even the most loving among us.  So one has to wonder if in the end everyone will indeed be saved and everyone will know Jesus as the one who brings this message of grace.  That phrase in John of no one gets onto the father but by me, is more about the process, “Grace” than the Person “Jesus.” We are all held captive and captivated by sin, All of us. Anytime we point at the sin of others, there are four more coming back at us. For each and every one of us in this world, salvation is a gift and through that gift Christ sets all free.  News like that will indeed get out, more so if you share it.  

important elements

Thursday September 26^th, Luke 16: 8 The master praised his dishonest manager for looking out for himself so well. That's how it is! The people of this world look out for themselves better than the people who belong to the light.  The dishonest manager, when he found himself in a bit of a pickle, quickly set about setting up a network of friends or at lease allies to support him when he fell.  In this network, each was beholding to the other and would be there to look out for and make sure the other made it through the rough times, it was in everyone’s best interest that everyone did OK.  This indeed seems like an odd story for Jesus to tell, and yet, the fundamental principal is “Christ like” solid.  When between a rock and a hard place, the dishonest (which can be all of us some of the time and some of us all the time) will shore up these networks of interdependence where each one looks out for the other.  In Christianity we are called to recognize our part in the vast family of God, or to use Paul’s vision, the Body of Christ, and recognize others as important elements in our survival in this life.  If indeed we would, each and every one, cultivate these relationships for our survival from questionable activities, why are we so reluctant to do so for the positive growth of the family of God?  We are all called to cultivate the “we” and that can only be done if we bury a bit of the “me.”

equal share

Friday September 27^th, Luke 16: 9 My disciples, I tell you to use wicked wealth to make friends for yourselves. Then when it is gone, you will be welcomed into an eternal home. 10 Anyone who can be trusted in little matters can also be trusted in important matters. But anyone who is dishonest in little matters will be dishonest in important matters.  Wait! What!?! What wicked wealth is Jesus talking about?   I think that step one is to recognize that in God’s world everyone is equal and entitled to an equal share of the wealth in this world.  The fact that some are worth billions while others are getting by on less than a dollar a day for their family is not a matter of initiative and enterprise so much as it is the result of an unjust systems that we as humanity have managed to fashion throughout the millennia of human existence.  Now that we have this ungodly and uneven distribution of wealth, what are we going to do with it, that is the question.  In Jesus lies the answer.  We are all part of the body of Christ, what part are you?  (Cartoon by David Hayward, www.nakedpastor.com)

two masters

Saturday September 28^th, Luke 16: 13 You cannot be the slave of two masters. You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than to the other. You cannot serve God and money.  Very few marriages can survive for long when there is an ongoing affair.  No marriage can grow in that situation either.  How many lovers of Christ are also having an affair with money and trying to make it work?  Are you true to your vows, or is this love affair with God primarily a one way street?  What would happen if it was a healthy growing relationship?

10w for September 21st, Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist.

The following is a 10 minute worship for September 21st, Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The Song for the day is "Sanctuary" by WOW Worship from the CD "Sanctuary" which can be purchased HERE

 

10w for September 15th, Grace Infusion, NL

The following is a 10 minute worship for September 15th, Grace Infusion, NL. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The Song for the day is "Open My Heart To Your Love" by Dakota Road from the CD "Break These Chains"  which can be purchased HERE

 

10w for September 15th, Love Comes Down, P17

The following is a 10 minute worship for September 15th, Love Comes Down, P17. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The Song for the day is "Love Comes Down" by Matt Maher from the CD "Alive Again" which can be purchased HERE

 

10w for September 14th, Holy Cross Day.

The following is a 10 minute worship for September 14th, Holy Cross Day. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List." The Song for the day is "With Our Voices We'll Tell" by the Jay Beech Band from the CD "Everyone Who Is Thirsty, Come"  which can be purchased HERE

 

poem for St. Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist Matthew 9:9-13

Called from a life despised

A life in this world

Not of religious training

But

As part of the system

That continues all the evil within us

The quest once again for power

Just one more piece of that fruit

Offered to all from Eve

To you and I

Called now to a different life

Called to be at the center

Of a revolution

To be at the center

Of bringing new life to all

Being at the center

Of religious training

Free from all the bounds of this world

And the systems

That draw us one against another

Called to follow Jesus

Despised by many for this call

And there reap the anger

Of a world challenged

A world brought screaming and screeching to new life

Baptized in the waters of forgiveness

That challenges us all

To be

A new creation

Poem based on Luke 15:1-10

Praise God for the Lord who loves

Praise God for the Lord who cares

In the midst of my weakness

When I am lost

Unable to find

Even myself

There is One who seeks

One who finds

            Me

The lost

And rejoices in the correction of our folly

Rejoices with the angels

Rejoices with song

Rejoices for us

            And with us

Often before we are aware

We were lost

“Isn’t it strange how things happen?”

“It was just one of those days”

“I’ve decided to make a change”

            These are the words we use

Rejoice and be glad,

For that which was lost has been found

            Are God’s thoughts

Opening Litany based on Psalm 51

Psalm 51

Pastor: Have mercy on us O God, with your unfailing love and great compassion blot out all our transgressions.

Congregation: Wash away all our iniquities and cleanse us from our sin. For we are aware of our transgressions, the thoughts of those things that stand between us and the God who loves us are always on our minds.


Pastor: When it comes right down to it we realize that it is against God, and God only that we have sinned and done that which is shameful in the sight of God. 

Congregation: Should the Lord judge us, that judgment would be justified.  I have been full of myself and not God from the beginning, perhaps even before I was born. 

Pastor: the Lord desires that truth would be an intimate part of who we are and the basis for teaching us wisdom that would guide our every move. 

Congregation: Cleanse us O Lord with your gracious good will, wash us with your grace and we will be clean.  Let us hear once again of your joy and gladness. 


Pastor: Hide your face from all our sins O Lord and blot out all our iniquities.

Congregation: Create in us a pure heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within us.

into the mess

Sunday September 15^th, Exodus 32: 7 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'  The people were liberated from slavery and brought to the holy mountain.  While the leader was absent for a short while up on the mountain, the people went back to slavery and began worshiping that which they had made, that which seemed to be under their control.  God sent Moses down out of the mountain to deal with them.  Things haven’t changed much and it seems sometimes as if God is forever either coming down into the messes we create, or is sending someone down as a messenger to lead us out of those messes.  From our point of view the answer is to create systems that blame others for our misfortune.  For God, the answer is always Grace.   God is always coming down into a world where we are trying to configure a god we can control. The frenzied insanity around guns is simply our latest attempt at god creating, our present “golden calf” (which it is for the gun manufacturers). Our calling as the children of God in this world is to, as God does, come down.  Come down out of our Church towers and self-induced righteousness and into the dirty lives of those around us, those who live in fear and therefore need a fear inducing firearm, and in the process, into our own dirty lives also.  Lives filled with the gods we created so in times of stress we can seem to be in control.  We are called to come down into that mess and while down there be messengers of Grace, messengers of God’s grace in the world. 

go down

Monday September 16^th, Exodus 32:  9 "I have seen these people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation."  11 But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. "O LORD," he said, "why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people.  Test time Moses, everyone take out your pencil and paper and write a paragraph on what the God of creation, the God of grace, the God who came down to us in the form of Jesus would do in this situation.  It’s test time, and Moses and God will even throw in a bit of a curve to see if fall for it.  Will you be the one to choose anger fear and judgment.  Moses passed, he did not fall for the angry God thing and say, yah, let’s go get them and show them a lesson they will never forget.  Moses did the God thing and said, I will go down.  Now, as the children of God, it is our turn.  Will we fall for the anger and fear curve ball and find some scape goat to blame, or will we “go down” and into the lives of those God has placed before us to love?