10w for July 6th, Off in the distance, P4.

The following is a 10 minute worship for July 6th, Off in the distance, P4.   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 "Yesterday I Saw Jesus" by Bryan Sirchio from the CD J-walking songs for justice walkers http://www.sirchio.com/index.php?page=cds&viewas=list
 

10w for July 6th, Lust, NL.

The following is a 10 minute worship for July 6th, Lust, 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 "If You Eat Each Day" by Bryan Sirchio from the CD "J-Walking for Justice Walkers" Used by permission. Support artists Here.  http://www.sirchio.com/index.php?page=cds&viewas=list

Poem based on Matthew 11:16-19 ,25-30 Rest for the Weary

Dance, dance wherever you may be

For we are the lords of the dance

Said we

Jesus!!

What do you want with us

Jesus!!

We did you bidding

We started the church

We studied all the documents

And found ways to keep the word

Pure

And them

Out

We have accords and charts

Timetables and structures

Committees and boards

(come to me)

Who make division decisions

And keep the righteous wannabes

Happy

(all who are weary)

We even invite them in

Just not as clergy

(and burdened)

After all

(and I will give you rest)

This is our church

Isn’t it?

Opening Litany based on Psalm 145:8-21

Pastor: The LORD is gracious and compassionate; slow to anger and rich in love.

Congregation: The LORD is good to all and has compassion on all creation and creatures.

Pastor: All of creation Praises You O Lord and the people of faith extol you and tell of your glory day in and day out in what they say and in what they do so that all will know the wonders of the Lord.  

Congregation: Your love and your kingdom is forever and ever, your loving rule for all generations.

Pastor: Who can you trust but the Lord who upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down?

Congregation: The eyes of all look to the Lord and the Lord supplies enough and desires for all to have enough food at the proper time, for the Lord’s open hand desires that every living thing have enough to live and flourish. 

Pastor: The Lord is righteous and faithful, near to all who truthfully call upon the name of the Lord

Congregation: The Lord works to fulfill the desires of all the children of God.  The Lord hears the cries of the despised and saves them from all who would destroy them.

Pastor: My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD.

Congregation: Let every creature praise the holy name of the Lord forever and ever. Amen!

child

Sunday July 6^th, Zechariah 9: ⁹ Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Here comes the King, Here comes the King! Oh, Wait, it can’t be anyone important, no white horses, no army, no might, no pageantry.  It is just a bunch of peasants throwing some branches on the ground welcoming what seems to be a homeless person.  He has never even been seen with Kim K or connected with any of the in crowd. Perhaps the only good news is that you too are welcome.  You too, can be a child of God.  You too…….. and there is hope.

minor

Monday July 7^th, ¹⁰ I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.  It’s interesting, humanity will comb the passages of scripture for some crumb or word against, women, gays, minorities, some sexual something, and most often find what they are looking for.  And yet, as the scriptures scream about the inherent evil of greed and war, we seem to miss that.  Brueggemann put it this way; we tend to major in the minors and minor in the majors when it comes to scripture.  

find

Tuesday July 8^th, Romans 7:  17-20 But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. The true power of the law is that it drives us, and eventually all people, to our knees.  If we see sin as that which we do, we can hold onto the illusion that at least for a while that we can make it or at least fake it.  If we see sin as a part of who we are, we know there is no way to make it on our own.  Sin is that which separates us from God, and the sin that most often separates is the sin of believing we are not so bad, and therefore, on some level may pay homage to God but not really need God.  That’s the faking it part.  It is the law that shines the light on the  sin of who we are, and when we try to escape, it shines the light on the doors that are all locked up by sin, leaving no way out except through the cross and Christ.  It is there we find life. 

"W"e

Wednesday July 9^th, Romans 7:  25 The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. A change in western theology from the early 1800’s that has worked its way into American civil religion can be defined as a movement from God and us, to God and I.  Rapture theology being latest and most sadistic version of that perversion.  For students of culture, one wonders if theological changes reflect our political changes, or if our political changes reflect our theological changes.  I think that perhaps they go hand in hand, each one slowly influencing the other.  When the young man asked the question of Jesus, “what must ‘I’ do to be saved, Jesus told him the story we call the Good Samaritan, pointing him to a “we” view of life.  It is in the “we” that the “I” begins to see Christ in the world.  It is in seeing “love God and love others” as one commandment, that the “I” begins to melt into the “we.”  That is when we finally drop our shields and see the salvation of Christ that has been there all along.  Our task as the church is to help others move the world view from “M”e to “W”e.

belongs

Thursday July 10^th, Matthew 11:  16 "To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:  17 " 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge and you did not mourn.' 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions."  John changed lives.  The people flocked to him for baptism and dedicated their lives to living as the children of God.  Jesus changed lives.  The people flocked to him and received healing, wholeness and forgiveness and the good news that the Kingdom is at hand and they dedicated their lives to living as the children of God.  Wisdom is proved by her actions.  What do you see?  The blind can see, the lame walk and the poor have good news preached to them.  Today the new vision seems to be, couples who love each other are banned from marriage, women’s rights are denied and wars are fought in your name.  Which is another way of saying that the children are still lured by the marketplace rather than God.  When we place God in the center, love wins out.  When we place ourselves in the center, love loses and culture wars prevail.  In today’s culture wars we can hear them saying, I passed laws for you, I kept them from marrying, I kept women from having choices, I took money away from children’s programs and gave to the rich, and you did not dance.  Jesus said, let the little children come onto me and forbid them not, for to such belongs the kingdom of Heaven.  

wisdom

Friday July 11^th, Matthew 11:  25 At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. The difference

between little children and the wise and learned is that little children know they do not have all the answers. That is not always the case with the wise and learned.  However the very wise and very learned tend to once again see they do not have all the answers.  True wisdom is expressed more with the ears than with the tongue.  True wisdom cares for the least, lost and lonely and learns to share the manna and show mercy.  True wisdom hears the stories of others and sees them as the children of God.

vistas

Saturday July 12^th, Matthew 11:  28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  Trying to do it on your own is a hard way to go.  Getting down on your knees tends to lighten the burden.  Following Jesus is accepting the fact that you can’t do it all and you need someone else.  That someone else is the Christ who went to the cross for all humanity.  Giving up the “I” takes a real load off your shoulders and opens up the vistas of life with Christ that are before you.  It puts a song of praise in your heart.  

10w for June 22nd, NL, "Only One God."

The following is a 10 minute worship for June 22nd, NL, "Only One God."  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 “Home With You Continues” by Heatherlyn from the album, Storydwelling. You can find this album and others at her website: http://www.heatherlynmusic.com

10w for June 15th NL "Structure & Support"

The following is a 10 minute worship for June 15th NL "Structure & Support" 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."

10 commandments, Loving others

We are called to love God and to love others. Here Moses talks a bit about loving others as it relates to the 10 commandments. Late Night with Pastor Dan and Moses.

10w for June 15th RCL, "Mystery & Mission."

The following is a 10 minute worship for June 15th RCL, "Mystery & Mission."  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 “No Hands but Yours” by Dakota Road from the album “Break These Chains”.  You can find this album and others at their website, http://www.dakotaroadmusic.com.

10w for July 29th, Off in the Distance, P4.

The following is a 10 minute worship for July 29th, Off in the Distance, P4.  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 "Yesterday I Saw Jesus" by Bryan Sirchio from the CD "J-walking songs for justice walkers" Used by permission. Support artists Here.  http://www.sirchio.com/index.php?page=cds&viewas=list

10w for July 6th, Lust, NL.

The following is a 10 minute worship for July 6th, Lust, 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 "If You Eat Each Day" by Bryan Sirchio from the CD "J-Walking for Justice Walkers" Used by permission. Support artists Here.  http://www.sirchio.com/index.php?page=cds&viewas=list

10w for June 29th, Loving others, 10X.

The following is a 10 minute worship for June 29th, Loving others, 10X. 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 to the World" by Dakota Road from the CD "Boundless Love"  Used by permission. Support the artists Here.  http://www.dakotaroadmusic.com/index.php?p=catalog&parent=4&pg=1

10w for June 29th, Namaste.

The following is a 10 minute worship for June 29th, Namaste.  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 "All Are Welcome" by Dakota Road from the CD "All Are Welcome"  Used by permission.  Support the artists Here.  http://www.dakotaroadmusic.com/index.php?p=catalog&parent=4&pg=1

Animation on the 1st three commandments, Late Night with Pastor Dan and Moses

Poem on Matthew 10:24-39 I did not come to bring peace

Peace, Peace

Peace be with us

As we continue on our path

Wave after wave of parallel paths

All going in the same direction

Calling the other

Wrong

Peace, Peace

Let us continue on the way to distruction

Let us destroy the other

Who dares to compete

For the same

Wrong headed

Goal

Let us win Lord

Peace

Let us be the victor

Peace

Let the rapture begin

Peace

Let us call our way yours

Peace

Let us

Let

Us

Only use you

Peace

As an excuse

A cosmic

(love)

Justification

(one another)

To win

(as I)

What we all want

(have loved)

Victory at any cost

(you)

peace

10 Promises. Narrative lectionary

Poem based on The Holy Trinity Matthew 28:16-20

Go into the world

And teach them to love

Teach them the commands

To

---- love the Lord

---- with all their heart

-------- soul

------------ mind

---- and their neighbor

-------- as themselves

---- and to love themselves

---- while they are at it

Baptize all who will hear

In the name of the one who

---- Created

-------- Redeemed

------------ and Sanctified the world

in the name of the one who loves

as a parent loves their children

in the midst of the horseplay

---- and bickering and fighting

Go spread the word

---- invite

-------- Baptize

------------ and forgive

the uninvited

---- unbaptized

-------- and unforgivable

tell them the news that the battle is over

the victory is won

---- come to the waters and hear

---- come to the waters and see

---- come to the waters and be feed

---- O my children

Come.

Opening Litany based on Psalm 8

Praise - Psalm 8 Starts with " How Majestic is Your Name":

  

Pastor: You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have brought forth praise which silences the foe and the avenger and calls us to live as one.

Congregation: When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what are we that you are mindful of us, who are we that you care for us? 

Pastor: You made humanity a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned us with glory and honor. You call us to lovingly care for the works of your hands and lay all that we have at Your feet O Lord.

Congregation: You call us to care for all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and all that swims the paths of the seas. We will therefore lovingly care for this world you have created for us.
 
The Psalm continues with singing "How Majestic is Your Name" one more time.

beauty and wonder

Sunday June 15^th, Genesis 1, Ode to the Creator:  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. How can I describe thee, let me count the ways.  Those little fish are still on the cars ahead of me at the stop light.  Some say truth, some have Darwin in them and legs sprouting out the bottom, some have Truth eating a smaller fish with Jesus in it, all are a sign of misunderstanding.  Those pushing creationism as science misunderstand the Bible. Those pushing Evolution as the only way misunderstand God’s creation and the marvelous way it works, also misunderstand the Bible. The stories in Genesis were not meant to be a science; rather they were written as an ode to the creator. It is like looking at a beautiful tapestry. The Bible looks at the design in the front and comments on its beauty, science looks at the intricacies of the weaving from behind, and the interplay of color and comments on its form. For either side to deny what is on the other side of the tapestry is a shame. One side would not exist without the other.  To deny the other side is to miss the beautiful interplay between beauty and wonder.

windmill

Monday June 16^th, Genesis 1, It was good: And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.  God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."  And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.  If God made it and it was good, I wonder why we as humans do not grasp the sin of destroying it. We are finally taking the threat to the creation God called good and asked us to care for with a bit of seriousness.  With the rise of tea party politics we have the unusual phenomenon whereby common folk do the dirty work of large corporations to roll back environmental laws so the corporations can make more money and bribe congress to give them more tax breaks which are paid for by the common folk who do the dirty work.  The “Greenies” are still being vilified by many in our current make a buck world as holding back progress.  But instead of holding back progress, what they are doing is holding up God’s creation.  Holding up creation should be the churches job, but we dropped the ball and have only now started to pick it up again.  We now have a recycling center at church.  Our motto: bring your garbage to church, what can’t be recycled can be forgiven.  There is however a long way to go.  What else can congregations do to hold up that which God created and called good? Wouldn’t it be great if every church had a windmill instead of a steeple?

pointing fingers

Tuesday June 17^th, Genesis 1, Image of God: Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." We don’t quite get the image of God part and we really don’t get the responsibility for creation part. Being made in the image of God does not mean that we “look” like God or that God “looks” like us. If that were the case then the next question would be which one of “us” does God look like? Is God handsome like me, or ugly like my enemies? You can see where this sort of questioning can lead, and it isn’t pretty. We are made in the image of God in that we can love, we can care, we can give and we can nurture. Being responsible for our brothers and sisters on this earth as well as the earth on which we all live is what we still have a little trouble with. Were the Germans and Japanese we bombed during WWII created in the image of God? Are the Jews who were so brutally destroyed in the death camps created in the image of God? Are the Iraqis we bombed in shock and awe created in the image of God? The answer of course is yes. Perhaps someday the people of the earth will grow up enough to recognize that being called into creation is being called into relationship and therefore we need to find some other way to solve conflicts.  There will be conflicts, but we need to mature enough to be able to live in conflict.  The solution is not about pointing fingers but joining hands.

rest

Wednesday June 18^th, Genesis 1, Break Time: Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.  By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.  And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Rest is a wonderful thing but Holy rest is a needed thing. Holy rest is not about stressing about not walking too far or exerting yourself too much, it is not about doing no work on Sunday or even about making sure you and everyone else is going to worship.  Holy rest is about setting aside time every week to honor God and rest your body and especially your soul. Someone once said that a Christian is not better than anyone else, they just have some half-baked idea who to thank. Put your feet up. Thank God!!

Holy Shit

Thursday June 19^th, 2 Corinthians 13, Greet one another with a holy kiss: 11 Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.  12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All the saints send their greetings. God created humanity in the image of God and sent us on our way to love one another and the creation on which we all live.  Paul gives us a wonderful image of what we are to be about in the world. Go into the world. Give it your best shot. Keep the voice of God with you at all times. Celebrate your unity in Christ. Get out there and live and work with others to make that process one of peace. Know that God is with you always. When you meet someone, know they are also created in the image of God and greet them accordingly. Let your interactions with one another in this world be one of a Holy Kiss where the presence of God in you meets the presence of God in them and leaps for joy instead of reacting in fear.  Remember that God’s world calls for a Holy Kiss and all too often our world gives little more than holy shit.  When it does, compost it and grow something beautiful for others.  

glimpsing

Friday June 20^th, Matthew 28, Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith, they keep it up and moving :16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Dhooooooo!!! I just don’t get it. After all this, Jesus has his final moment with the disciples as he is about to ascend into heaven, looks into their eyes and sees the dull luster of doubting. The English translation, “but some doubted” is more closely translated as, “they worshiped him and they doubted” indicating that it was not some disciples that doubted, but that all the disciples had some doubts.  I take comfort in that.  In the Gospels it is the Pharisees who are portrayed and always be sure of themselves, which is not the same as being right.  In the midst of this Jesus left anyway and blessed them on their way. Perfection was not part of that day, or was it? For Jesus, perfection was not in covering all the bases so no point was left untouched but in covering all with blessings so that no one was left untouched. While Jesus was here, we looked to him. After the ascension, we have to look to one another. Perhaps, in Jesus’ scheme of things, that is perfection, to look to one another and take it one day at a time even with our doubts and once in a while glimpsing in the other a hint of the presence of Christ.   

world better

Saturday June 21^st,  Matthew 28, Breaks over: 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." We have a job to do. In doing it, remember one very important concept of teaching, others learn more about who we think Jesus is by watching us than by hearing us. We can tell others about the love of Christ all we want, but unless they see it, it usually doesn’t amount to much. We are called to go out and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teaching them to obey everything God has commanded is about showing, not telling.  How have you made the world better for others this day?   

Pentecost with George.

Using an old animation from last year, hence the characters are a bit monotone. George has some good sermon ideas for Pentecost, but isn't so sure about them Swedes.

10w for June 8th, Pentecost, NL.

The following is a 10 minute worship for June 8th, Pentecost, 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 "Spirit Come" by Bryan Sirchio from the CD "Something Beautiful for God" http://www.sirchio.com/index.php?page=cds&viewas=list

10w for June 8th, Day of Pentecost.

The following is a 10 minute worship for June 8th, Day of Pentecost.  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 "Claimed, Called and Sent" by Bryan Sirchio from the Cd "Something Beautiful for God"  http://www.sirchio.com/index.php?page=cds&viewas=list

Opening Litany based on Psalm 104:24-34

Worship Leader: Lord, In your wisdom you have made all thing in this world.  The earth, the heavens, the skies and the seas are full of your riches.

Congregation: As I look out over the vastness of the seas alone, I am in awe at their magnificence and magnitude. They are filled with life, known and unknown are a place where creatures large and small play.  

Worship Leader: All of life is dependent upon You O Lord and you supply for their needs at the right time.

Congregation: When you give O Lord, there is more than enough for all to live and eat well, with abundance left over. 

Worship Leader: In your absence is anxiety and fear.  In your absence is scarcity and want, with abundance for some and starvation for others. 

Congregation: But when you spirit moves in this world, life is created.  Life for ourselves, and life for the whole world.  For you make all things new.

Worship Leader: May the glory of the Lord be forever and may the Lord look upon this creation and smile.

Congregation:  I will sing to the Lord all my life; singing praises to my God as long as I live and ask only that my thoughts be pleasing to the Lord, and bring me joy.  

Poem for John 7:37-39 The Day of Pentecost

we are guided by the light

the light of Christ

the light of love

the love of God

be still and know

be still and hear

be still and let the spirit work in you

in me

be still and let the Love of God

more than dwell

            but live

be still

and know of the love that created the word

and suffered to give

            life

be still and know of the love of God

            in the silence of the night

            the noise of the children

            the beauty of the sunset

            the hand of the neighbor

be still and know

the love of God will find a way to break in

and the God of Creation will love

into this huddle of security enters God

Sunday June 8^th, Acts 2:  1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. We start together in one place, huddled against the elements of change, holding on to what little security we can muster, and then God intervenes.  Sounds familiar doesn’t it?  It is not just about Pentecost, it is about our lives being relived time and time again.  We want to hang together with our friends and family, to discuss the same old things and feel the comfort of our own tribe.  This is especially true in a world that seems to be spinning out of control faster and faster with gas prices up, housing prices down, food prices up, church attendance down, work load up, work satisfaction down, faster and faster and faster until we want to scream, and all we want is a little social mac and cheese, our own little tribe with which to hang.  Into this uncertain world enters God, into this huddle of security enters God and blows our minds by blowing on us and asking us even now, and especially now, to look outward.  What is most mind blowing about the experience is that it is exactly what we need, exactly what the church needs, exactly what the world needs now.  

hurt most in trying to squelch

Monday June 9^th, Acts 2: 16 this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 " 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.  The spirit is not the sole, or soul possession of the few who happen to work up a good ecstatic high, but the gift of life to the world, to all the world.  To try to hold onto the spirit is as useful as reaching out and grabbing a handful of wind.  Like the wind, the spirit only works when it blows through, not when it is bottled up.  And when it blows through and out into the world, we are no longer in charge of where it goes or to whom it goes.  Most of human history has been beset with wars.  I wonder if that would be true if a basic human understanding was that the same spirit of life, of love, of God, is in the other as it is in the self?  This is an understanding in both Buddhism and Christianity, but for the most part we Christians have managed to squelch it when there is money, power or revenge at stake.  To understand that to take the life of another is to take not only that life, but also to attempt to take or destroy love, and God, and self because through the spirit, we are all one.   God has already shown us that love and God will prevail in this world; that is the story of Easter.  What we hurt most in trying to squelch or control the spirit, is ourselves.  We simply cut ourselves off from knowing the glory of God within us when we refuse to see it in others.  

idol worship

Tuesday June 10^th, 1 Corinthians 12: 3 Now I want you to know that if you are led by God's Spirit, you will say that Jesus is Lord, and you will never curse Jesus. Not everyone who cries Lord, Lord will be saved.  Perhaps one could also say that not everyone who wouldn’t be caught dead saying Lord Lord, will be condemned (Buechner, Wishful Thinking).  How do we curse Jesus?  Is it by singing Jesus is my boyfriend songs, and voting for policies that harm the least, lost and lonely while singing the praises of the God who calls us to care for the least, lost and lonely?  Is it by insisting we never sing praise music but only stick with the old hymns we grew up with because that is our zone of comfort that others must adjust to?  Is it by placing Jesus on a pedestal and worshiping him in name, and then living life as if he never existed?  Is it by claiming exclusive rights to Jesus through dogma that condemns others who worship differently than we do? Do we honor God with platitudes of name or plentitudes of deed?  Sometimes it seems we practice idol worship of the name of Jesus to avoid following the teachings of Jesus.  It would be fun to point fingers, but there is always three coming back at me.  

a capital “O”

Wednesday June 11^th, 1 Corinthians 12: 4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit. 5 There are different ways to serve the same Lord, 6 and we can each do different things. Yet the same God works in all of us and helps us in everything we do.   7 The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others.  As we become aware of the Spirit of God in us, we also become aware of the Spirit of God in others.  It is not a matter of the other acknowledging the presence of that spirit in the right words, or in any particular way, it is a matter of the Spirit within us acknowledging the Spirit in others.  If we are unable to do that, then we are blocking the work of the spirit and just running on our own steam.  The Spirit has given us each a special way of serving others, not some others, not just others like us, not just others that look, think, talk or love, like us, but Others, with a capital “O”.  All Others!!  No one said following Christ was easy!

pretending

Thursday June 12^th, 1 Corinthians 12:  12 The body of Christ has many different parts, just as any other body does. 13 Some of us are Jews, and others are Gentiles. Some of us are slaves, and others are free. But God's Spirit baptized each of us and made us part of the body of Christ. Now we each drink from that same Spirit.  In Paul’s world, where people were made up of Jews or Gentiles, slaves and free, and in other places he includes, male and female, Paul sees the body of Christ made up of all these groups.  What groups do you suppose would be included if Paul were to address us today.  There are over 90 languages spoken in the Anchorage School system.  For Paul would the Body of Christ include 43 of them?  57? 67? Or all?  How about in your community?  How about your church?  Where do we draw the line for inclusion, or perhaps more importantly, how do we draw the lines if exclusion?  What languages, styles of music, and customs does your church use to subtly exclude others?  How about the hot button issue of sexual orientation, do you support a community that practices exclusion while pretending to worship the God of inclusion?  It is an examination worth pursuing.  

hi there

Friday June 13^th,  John 20: 19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. The words may have been Peace be with you, but the image in my minds is one of the hair standing up on the backs of every neck in that room, scared out of their wits that they may be next.   If we go back to the Acts 2 lesson where the followers of Christ were all huddled together against the world, when the spirit of God came upon them, in spite of their fear, they eventually went out into the world.  When the Peace of Christ comes into your life, you move from being acted upon to acting upon.   You move from hiding behind the closed doors of comfort to being sent out where you recognize the spirit of God not only within you by recognizing the spirit of God in others.

zap

Saturday June 14^th,  John 20: 21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."  As the children of God and followers of Christ, we are sent out into the world to forgive others, which is the ultimate form of healing.  The question often comes, what happens if we do not forgive?  If we do not forgive we find ourselves holding grudges, seeking revenge and retaliation, and in general we are left holding the bag.  In the brain, nerve endings do not touch, there is a small gap across which a spark jumps, then a connection made, a thought is formed and the brain works as God intended (simplified I know but work with me).  In life, if the connection between one another is not made, if forgiveness is withheld and grudges, revenge and retaliation are allowed to insulate and protect us from the possibility of those connections, we cease to function as God intended.  To forgive is to be open to the process of reconciliation, but also keep in mind that part of the process is so that we too will be open to change.  Change that can only take place on one side is not change at all, but rather tyranny, as Paulo Freire, in the book, “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” points out, to invite one into a system that must remain unchanged is a act of violence.  The spirit brings about wholeness by allowing the spark to jump from our lives to the lives of others and back again, out and out until the body of Christ comes alive again and again and again in the lives of those it touches.