Retired & Thinking

Take a moment to read William Vanderbloemen's post. It's a great reminder: 1. of Christ's love for all people 2. of the transforming power of God's Holy Spirit 3. of our need to engage those who we usually scorn 4. of our calling as Christ's Body and God's people. Today, let us commit ourselves to being open to seeing, speaking with and praying for such people as Christ leads us. Amen. Peace Alan

On the 29th of December I shared a link to a set of questions to help us review our past year. Don't know if you're read it or not but here are my answers to these questions... Care to share? Go back and take a look at the article and share your answers with us. 1. If the last year were a movie of your life, what would the genre be? Drama, romance, adventure, comedy, tragedy, or a combination? o Dramatic comedy with some character development and a few insightful, awe-inspiring scenes 2. What were the two or three major themes that kept recurring? These can be single words or phrases: o Family, Hospitality, Celebration 3. What did you accomplish this past year that you are the most proud of? Here are some of mine: o Seeing Kenton's spiritual gifts used to get us through some hard choices o Holding my first grand-child o Watching the church meet the needs of several hundred hungry people around us. 4. What do you feel you should have been acknowledged for but weren’t?...

I am old enough to know I don't have to reinvent the wheel so here is an article well worth the reading and chewing. If you're willing perhaps you could post your answers as comments. I'll post mine a bit later. Hat tip to William Vanderbloemen for the link. Peace, Alan

Hat Tip to Tyler for a God inspired post and link . Take ten minutes out of your preparation for Christmas. Read the blog post. Then click on the video. It will be worth it. God is speaking in this exchange. Merry Christmas Alan

Eighteen months ago Wordle showed this blog like this: 2009 brought about a change as you can see. We have changed the direction of the church. We are now able to move ahead without worry that the latest "denominational drama" will threaten our church and it's members. We have changed the vision of the church. Our urban congregation is on the verge of doing great things for our community. There is a new confidence as we step out in faith that the structure is there to help not hinder such work. We have changed the energy level of the church. We're not bigger and we're certainly not younger; but there is a new found vitality to attempt to tackle bigger things for the sake of Christ. No longer is our energy used up in fighting against heresies disguised as truth and promoted as God's will. Today I don't make excuses for the General Assembly or Presbytery, nor do I have too. Today my stomach doesn't know up when I read Presbyweb, Outlook or read "Pr...

A few years ago a young man who attended our church got meningitis and was found by friends just hours from dying. A fast acting doctor got him into a clinical trial and the medication they pumped into him saved his life. As we've been hearing H1N1 is nothing to scoff at as it is highly contagious as is MRSA and a many other diseases running around the human race. God's love is equally infectious. When infected with it we find ourselves loving others, even our enemies. When we've been caught by God's infectious joy we discover that no matter what life hands us we face it the assurance God is in charge. The shepherds that first Christmas embraced the infectious joy of God and went to see the miracle of Jesus' birth. King Herod, faced with the same news, grew upset and along with him all of the city was troubled. very few people are like Herod. Very few people are like the shepherds either. Most find that they've had "just enough" Christianity and church...

What does it mean to have our lives "redeemed"? From what are we saved? From what do we need saving or rescuing? Redemption is the beginning, end and at the middle of God's intent when it comes to Christmas. Christ's birth isn't illustrative of how innocence wins over the powerful and connected.Christ's birth isn't about victims rights, political theory, or the vulnerability of infants in the "big, bad world". No! It is about God's desire to make us His friends once more. It is about such a deep, gut-wrenching, fundamental goal to see our rebellion paid for in full. So great, that Jesus, God's Son, comes to die. The result of that truth in our life makes us other oriented. It promotes a generosity we can't imagine and it allows us to be used by the Holy Spirit to reflect the redemptive power of God to the world in which we live. Consider Philippians 1 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the in...