Retired & Thinking

Tomorrow morning early… did I say early? We, I and two elders, head off to the warm country of Oklahoma to try to discern what is to happen within the Presbyterian Church. Kenton's Session endorsed the New Wineskins proposal a couple of months ago. We've read material, prayed about what is going on and chose to step out in faith and we believe obedience. What will happen? I honestly don't have a clue. What I hope happens is that God shows up and those of us who are there are captured by God's vision for His Holiness and what it means to follow His Son.  In fact, that's what I expect to happen.   What will that mean for our little spot in the kingdom here in North Portland?  I honestly don't have a clue. I imagine we will be challenged by the Holy Spirit to meet the needs of the world around us and preach Christ. DUH!! I also hope that those of us there will be able to express what God has done in and with us to those who weren't able to be there. What do YO...

Listen up Ladies … Check out the Chicago Sun-Times article and then look for the information that you'll see around Kenton for your own Women of Faith conference. More information may be obtained from Pat Wheeler. The dates for Portland are October 13-14.

WOW. I never thought I'd get so much from a MLP* sermon but as Bear Ride reminisced about returning to her family homestead I couldn't help but notice how her observations gave to me a real theological treat as well. In her discussion about Butterfield she mentions a store called "Butterfield Bible and Bait". She wrote, " Right here, in Butterfield, I knew that somewhere between the Bibles and the bait - a truly peculiar interpretation of the Gospel was taking shape: half a verse here and half a verse there – and pretty soon, voila! They had knit themselves a nice little theology and a dandy set of life’s priorities. …Might not actually bear any semblance to the core values of our faith or even a peripheral theme therein…but there you have it… ever-so-carefully gleaned from random portions of scripture: life’s priorities brought to you by those who 'Ran the Store': fishing and capitalism ." Thank you Ms. Ride because that's exactly how I view th...

Just a quick note to those with broadband and an interest in the upcoming General Assembly. The plenary sessions can be viewed with streaming video. Here's the link to the GA Docket and to a general page with the notification on the video. Pray for the meeting, watch the meeting and then pray some more.

If you'd read any of my blogs or know me you understand that I have some issues with the Presbyterian Church (USA) as a denomination. Admit the short-comings there are some things we do well and one of them is disaster relief. I was pleased to see the article about how our OGHS [One Great Hour of Sharing] money is already on the ground helping those who have suffered through the earthquake in Indonesia.  I hope you read it and keep those who grieve, who have survived and those who are helping in your prayers. Alan

Hope you'll read these two stories. The first is Berkeley's great article on the word games being played in preparation for General Assembly. The second, is about a New York court case concerning adultery. Now here's the great news for former pastor Tewell. He can simply claim that it's not against the Book of Order because he doesn't consider his seeking after other women a sin. Heck, I know half a dozen former pastors, many I considered good friends, who could get back in the denomination in a heartbeat if the ACC definition stands. Perhaps we should patent this idea and see if we can't sell it to our Roman Catholic brothers who are facing a whole bunch of grief over ordained staff who have preyed on others. It's a thought…

Ten thousand plus websites come up when you search "teaching tolerance" and Portland. Let Google search for "teach tolerance" and Portland and it drops to 1,300. Either way there are resources galore for those who are so inclined. But apparently they were lost on one poor progressive soul in front of Cleveland High School this May. Those Gideons who were at Cleveland were on the public sidewalk offering students a copy of the New Testament as they left school for the day. As usual, some took it and others didn't. Into this story enters our would-be progressive hero/savior. As I was told it , a truck pulled up with a man in it. He parked waiting for his children. My Gideon friend told me that he thought the guy could be trouble but he just went on with his distribution. After a while the man got out of his truck and went into the school to pick up his kids. He returned with the children, walking past the Gideon who offered a copy of the scripture to his children....