I’m hoping some day preaching becomes the kind fluid movement for me that other people in their professions seem to acquire with their skills of necessity. You know, where the person is so keyed in that it doesn’t even look like they’re doing what they are doing? Where the professor is so well-versed in pedagogy that it is more of a reflex than an intentional response. Now, I’ve seen a few preachers who had this kind of golden-mouth style to speaking and teaching the Scriptures (most of them being women). These preachers incorporated the deep experience of the truth they share along side the the ability to say the profound in a way that seemed so simple you wonder why you hadn’t thought of it like that before. For now, every time I stand in front of people to ‘preach’ I do so with a self-awareness, almost an awkwardness, that makes it difficult to communicate.  Where the hearer may say, “wow, you said something so simple and yet, somehow I feel like I understand it less now.” Continue reading →

I’ve been thinking about my lifestyle a lot lately. One reason for this is that I’ve recently had trouble with my back and neck and have suffered from some pretty intense tension headaches. I started going to the chiropractor about a month ago and that has helped some with the issue. (I knew that I have been out of whack for a long time, but finally found someone who could help me!) In addition to the chiropractor, I’ve recently visited a massage therapist, which was pretty awesome and certainly helped with the aches. Boy, would I’d like to incorporate that into my regular routine. This has set me on a search for ways in which my lifestyle in general could be different, more healthy. In part, I’m thinking how to prevent more trouble with my neck and back and in part I recognize I’m getting older. I need to focus my attention on fewer things so that I can be more present for my family, my congregation, and my studies, but who am I kidding, this doesn’t come natural for me. Having too many irons is the fire is my curse and potentially a gift (though that’s uncertain). So I’m trying to scale back in some areas, find other things that help me just enjoy life more, and other things that encourage better health. Here are a few things I’m working on: Continue reading →

I never used to be big on planning ahead. In undergrad I was the guy working on papers through the night and then jogging to class with a wet ink on a newly printed research paper. My grades showed for it. Then I got married and went to grad school. Emily is a list maker and a planner. By grad school I was writing papers weeks ahead of time. You could say I’ve picked up a few lessons along the way. I sat down today and mapped out the preaching schedule for 2010. I don’t have all the details in place, but the big picture has been sketched. There are a number of things I needed to juggle in putting it together: we try to have at least one guest come every month, I have a few trips coming up in the spring, the church calendar (well, Advent and Lent), and we are planning on having a quarterly unprogrammed service this year. Besides all that, the fun part is thinking through what it is we’ll be studying. The things I’m feeling drawn to are a) following the Lectionary for Lent, b) studying the biblical and contemporary understandings of the Quaker testimonies (Summer), c) delving into the Epistle of James and Ephesians (Spring and Fall), and d) going through Advent. Continue reading →

I’ve missed a few days of posting for my series (I try to post on the days I work) but I’m back on it.  I last wrote about my full weekend, and was it ever full?! Here are a few highlights.

I was approved to be on the Board of Leadership and Development for the yearly meeting. The board handles things like the yearly meeting’s relationship with the George Fox University and Seminary, the mentoring of pastors, pastor retreats, the raising of leaders, the recording process and things of that nature. I’m really excited about the people on that board and the things they’re working on (a lot of things around developing Quaker leadership).

I was also asked to speak, along with other church representatives, about what we’re doing to address homelessness in our town. I used some of the stuff I wrote about earlier, and shared some of the stories about how we got onto thinking about all this. The two things I felt were most important to stress were that  there is an awareness problem (as is the case in many places). Because the homeless are often “invisible” they are easy to ignore or avoid. Just becoming more aware makes a difference. The second thing was that caring for “the least of these” is always the church’s responsibility first. A lot of us assume someone else is doing it and this is how problems of awareness and lack of help arise. Jesus never said Hire someone to “feed my sheep,” he simply said, “feed my sheep.” Thus we need to feed on a steady diet of good questions, questions that poke at these assumptions, our awareness, and drive at the issues causing people to be on the streets without help. Continue reading →