tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-94831722024-03-07T00:40:07.085-07:00Friar Tuck's Fleeting ThoughtsHE WHO LOVES NOT WOMEN, WINE, AND SONG....
REMAINS A FOOL HIS WHOLE LIFE LONG----
MARTIN LUTHERFriar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.comBlogger2832125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-57493479436203220412024-01-05T11:43:00.004-07:002024-01-05T11:43:50.169-07:00Book Review of Little Prayers for Ordinary Days by Katy Bowser Hutson, Flo Paris Oaks, and Tish Harrison Warren and illustrated by Liita Forsyth<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbteIoB_VoDhjjf5E0_1Q7nPY7dNrgTUIieemJ05gB2U5sclx82a5dwFgyl80YG4bKiI5rEDNsBtE4wtWtDu7lSVdgUBeXpSoCisvoGxPpKWzRtKoixNA10ZoiaRr7jisvqIUHxodgqLJOpMWWSTnwqS6hXf8N_CoczlmbFeIukHJQZHTLNsDig/s375/little%20prayers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="375" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbteIoB_VoDhjjf5E0_1Q7nPY7dNrgTUIieemJ05gB2U5sclx82a5dwFgyl80YG4bKiI5rEDNsBtE4wtWtDu7lSVdgUBeXpSoCisvoGxPpKWzRtKoixNA10ZoiaRr7jisvqIUHxodgqLJOpMWWSTnwqS6hXf8N_CoczlmbFeIukHJQZHTLNsDig/s320/little%20prayers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Little-Prayers-Ordinary-Harrison-Warren/dp/1514003392/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=1334808456760884&hvadid=83425719042701&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=68980&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-83426413533800%3Aloc-190&hydadcr=27917_11247012&keywords=little+prayers+for+ordinary+days&qid=1704479672&sr=8-1">Little Prayers for Ordinary Days</a></b></p><p>by Katie Bowser Hutson, Flo Paris Oakes, and Tish Harrison Warren</p><p>IVP Kids</p><p>ISBN 978-1-5140-0039-8</p><p>Reviewed by Clint Walker</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>What a wonderful little book! Designed for kids, but appropriate for persons of all ages, <i style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://www.ivpress.com/little-prayers-for-ordinary-days">Little Prayers for Ordinary Days</a></i> is a collection of prayers for children for moments during the day. Some of the moments are more daily, such as putting on clothes and going to school. Some of them may be more occasional, such as when a child loses something or chooses to look at the stars. </p><p>Through each prayer, and through use of this book as a whole, children will be taught that God is near, that God cares about our everyday life and concerns, and that God wants us to connect with, talk to, and believe in Him. </p><p>The prayers that are written are brief, easy to read, and down to earth. I could see my girls using this. Even more, taking some of their favorite prayers and attaching them to a mirror in their bedroom, or something like that. </p><p>The biggest challenge, in this day and age, will be to get the kids you know to open and read a book with prayers in it on a regular basis. A lot of kids would prefer and an app or something like it. I would have preferred the book to be more of a standard size, but that is only because I would like to copy pages and hang them up. </p><p>This would make a wonderful present for kids at significant moments in their lives and faith journeys.</p>Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-4485540585070000022022-04-18T11:27:00.003-06:002022-04-18T11:27:40.201-06:00What Happened?--An Easter Message Rough Cut<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What
Happened?<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You know how it is. You may have
heard about it. Someone may have told you what was going to happen. But then it
happens, and even if you were expecting it, you were totally not expecting it?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I know, sounds
strange doesn’t it? Let me explain.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I knew that my
oldest child was going to enter kindergarten. Kind of looking forward to
smaller day care bills even! Yet, when we got to that point, I was really not
ready. I wasn’t ready for her eagerness to run in the door. I was not ready for
Mattea to scream and cry because she was missing her sissy (I have that on
video mind you). I was not ready. Even though I was prepared and ready.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I just sat down in
the quiet of that night and said to myself, “What happened?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>You decide to get
married. You plan a day. You have people gather around and you say I dos. The
reception, the honeymoon happen, and you walk into your new home together. And
all of the sudden you are like, “what just happened”. It was like you were
living your life, but you were somehow watching it in a movie at the same time.
And now I have to share all my space and all my stuff. Wow.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I suspect, that
this phenomenon is even more pronounced after deep trauma. And no doubt, the
death of Christ was a profound lifeshock, an earth shattering trauma. They
watched him beaten, bleed, and eventually suffocate and die. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The disciples were
not ready for Jesus’s death. He had told them he was going to die. He had done
this over and over. Even the week of his death, after that Palm Sunday procession,
he told the disciples that one of the women was anointing him because she was
preparing for his burial. But often we hear what we want to hear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Our loved one
tells us they are not going to make it much longer. We tell them to stay
positive, and to keep fighting. They tell us there is not much time left. But
we don’t want to hear it. And then….they are gone.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And then the death
of Jesus is interrupted by the Passover Sabbath. In Jerusalem. No opportunity
to care for the body. No ability for over 24 hours to bring spices, to care for
his corpse, to do any of that. He died and he was rushed off to a borrowed
tomb, and then a day of rest and worship where nobody could do anything. Which
brings us to where the passage starts, on the first Easter Sunday.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>They were still trying to find out, what happened? What happened
on Good Friday?<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So, early in the
morning, the Scripture says, the women get busy going out to care for Jesus’
body. There is a stone that has been rolled away from the tomb. They look in.
They do not find the body of Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>New Testament
scholar Tom Wright says in his translation called THE KINGDOM NEW TESTAMENT
that “they were at a loss what to make of it all”. The NIV puts it, “they were
wondering about this”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>They were
wondering what happened? They walked in ready to care for a body, but there was
no body there,<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The angels
reminded the women of what Jesus had said and taught about his death, burial,
and resurrection. The Scriptures said that the women then remembered what Jesus
had taught them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The women went and
told the 11 what happened. And they thought they were just women telling
stories, and they did not pay much attention to what the women had said.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now mind you, from
the context I believe they told the men about the empty tomb, but then they
also reminded them about what Jesus had said that they had remembered after
they were confronted by the angels. They preached their experience, but they
also preached some theology. Nevertheless, the men all thought that all that
they were saying made no sense. Probably just emotional women telling stories.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>All of them,
anyway, except for Peter (and probably John from the other gospel accounts),
did not respond at all to what the women had said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Luke says that
Peter got to the tomb. He too saw that it was empty. Wright translates it this
way, “he too saw the grave clothes, he went back home, perplexed at what had
happened”. THE NIV translates it as “wondering what had happened.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And that is how
that first account of the resurrection account ends. Perplexed. Shocked. With
the people who encountered the empty tomb saying, “what happened”?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It is a little
disappointing isn’t it? You mean the early disciples encountered the empty tomb
and they didn’t have it all figured out then and there? They didn’t have a
theology developed, a sermon prepared, and a ministry plan ready to go?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nope. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They didn’t have all the answers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>But, they were lost in wonderment.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The experience of the risen Christ rocked their world. Their
hopelessness turned to eternal hope. Their brokenness begun to be made whole.
Their confusion was transformed to clarity. Their apparent loss and defeat was
turned into victory.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They may have been perplexed and confused, they might not have
had all the answers or put everything together right away. But this one thing
we see in the passage, and in the encounters people had with risen Lord
throughout history. People who were drawn into the movement of Christ were
captured by a sense of wonder.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You see, my friends, we may have lived life with great church
programs, wonderful Christian friends, awesome memories of great childhood
Sunday school teachers, and more.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But I worry we have lost the sense of wonder and awe that stems
from encountering the power and truth of Almighty God, and surrendering
ourselves to his call.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The men on the road to Emmaus had their hearts burn within them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Does your heart burn within you because you are living in the
presence of the risen Lord?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I have to be honest. As a pastor, one of my worried as a parent
has always been that we will live near the church, and they will live under the
day to day operations of church life, and because of all the kind of “church
business” that they live with day to day they will miss encountering the power
of the living God. Or worse, they will live with it so surrounding them that
they see it as commonplace. I have seen it in youth group with church kids
whose parents go to meeting after meeting, and the things of God become common
place. It concerns me. It grieves me. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is my prayer for you today: Don’t lose that sense of awe and
wonder that you have been called by the one who conquered sin and death, who
died a painful death to show us his love, and who now shows us how to live in
supernatural victory through transformed lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Don’t lose the wonder, friends. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning puts it this way,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>““Earth's crammed with
heaven, And every common bush afire with God, But only he who sees takes off
his shoes; The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Miracles are breaking through all around us. God’s glory is at
work in every nook and cranny of the universe. Some of you take off your shoes,
raise your hands and cry glory.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But many of us are oblivious, and so we just sit around and pluck
blackberries.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Don’t lose the wonder.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Don’t lose the wonder.</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’m still in awe that God broke through to my broken heart and
found me. A lonely teenage who was in middle school, wondering if my life was really
worth living, wondering if my life really was worth anything, wondering if I
had any value. Wondering if there was anything anyone saw in me that was
loveable. Wondering how long I could really go on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And somehow this fat, awkward kid, who had some semblance of a
knowledge of Christ from Sunday School years before, found his way into a small
church that met in the little league clubhouse, and then the seventh day
Adventist church on Sunday mornings. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And somehow I encountered this Jesus who loved me when I felt
unlovable, who called me to trust and follow him, who slowly pulled me out of
my life of hopelessness into a life that had some sort of purpose that he gave
to me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I am still wondering how and why I went on to sense some sort of call
of God on my life in full-time ministry, encouraging others to know Christ and
grow deeper in their relationship with him. I mean, I am not really all that
smart or gifted. And I am certainly not <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I am still in awe in how I am so blessed to have someone like
Jennifer to walk in this life with me, and how I got two little girls that are
so wonderful and smart to raise and hopefully point them Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Don’t lose the wonder, friends.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Christ is risen! God has done marvelous things, and given us a
lifetime to work out what happened on that first Easter morning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He has given us the opportunity stare in the empty tomb with
wonder. And to know that that empty tomb means new life, victorious life, a
life of beauty, and life everlasting.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-5290544838553863162022-04-18T11:24:00.001-06:002022-04-18T11:24:30.924-06:00When the Rooster Crowed--Maundy Thursday Meditation<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">WHEN THE
ROOSTER CROWED<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Can you imagine what it must have been like for Peter, when that
rooster crowed?<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He had seen Jesus have arrangements made arrangements for the
meal. And then as he walked into the meal, there he was, dressed like a
servant. Washing feet. The feet of his friends. Then Jesus made his way to
Peter. I must wash your feet as well. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“No way!”, Peter said. I should wash your feet.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Peter this is both a lesson for you and for others. You have no
part of my or my kingdom if you don’t let me wash your feet, “ Jesus replied.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Well, wash me all over then”, Peter said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Your feet will do just fine, Peter replied.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So passionate. So enthusiastic. So eager to be the one standing
by Jesus. Just a few hours before!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Can you imagine what it must have been like for Peter, when that
rooster crowed?<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Someone will betray me”, Jesus said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Who?”, Peter replied<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The one whose bread was dipped in the cup,” Jesus replied<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It was Judas, and immediately Judas left the meal.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I will not betray you, Peter said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Before this night is up, though, Peter, you will deny me three
times, Jesus said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">NEVER, Peter answered. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Soon the disciples went to the garden to pray. Pray with me Jesus
asked. Peter and his friends kept falling asleep. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Can’t you stay up for at least an hour and pray with me, Jesus
asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And soon Judas came with the soldiers to arrest Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Could you not stay up an hour, Jesus asked<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Can you imagine what it must have been like a few hours later,
when you were Peter, as the rooster crowed?<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The soldiers went to grab Jesus and arrest him. Peter took out a
sword, and cut off Malchius’s ear. Jesus healed the ear, and rebuked the
violence. They let him away.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Can you imagine what it must have been like, if you were Peter,
when the rooster crowed.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They led him to the house of the chief priest. A preparation for a mockery of trial
had already been started. Peter stood in the courtyard. People kept thinking he
looked familiar. You are with that Jesus, aren’t you. He denied him once. Then
again. Then a third time. As the led Jesus out the rooster crowed? Peter wept
bitterly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Peter started out passionately committed that day. Eager.
Enthusiastic. Passionate. Committed to Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">By the end of the day, Peter had argued with Jesus, failed to
stay awake with him, lashed out in violence and was scolded, and then finally
denied Jesus three times before the sun had even come up. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We have all failed. We have all lost our nerve. We have all
failed to have courage when we needed it most. We have all not done what we
should have, and we have all done what we should not. We have all sinned.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We have also all betrayed Christ. We have betrayed his trust,
denied his provision, failed to stand for what is right, failed to love the
least of these…..<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Can you imagine what it must have been like for Peter, when that
rooster crowed, and just as Jesus had told him would happen. <o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Maundy Thursday that Jesus was willing to serve us even when he
knew some of us would betray him, others of us would deny him, and others would
shrink and hide away in the difficult moments. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Maundy Thursday reminds us that we cannot be made whole through
our own efforts. Christ was broken so that we could be made whole. Christ’s
blood was shed so that we might be set free. Christ gave us the model of a
servant God and a sacrificial savior because he knew that we needed that model,
and he sent us his Spirit and his church because he knew we could not do this
on our own.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Can you imagine what is was like to have been Peter, I bet you can.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But we know now what Peter didn’t understand until later. That
grace is offered freely. That forgiveness and redemption are the hallmarks of
the life of a disciple. That no failure is ever fatal. That God’s love is
bigger than our failures.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So, lean on the Lord this evening and this week. Let his meal
sustain you. Let his example inspire you. Let his love heal you. Let his grace
set you free. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-10531751176663952382022-01-06T15:45:00.000-07:002022-01-06T15:45:01.166-07:00Book Review of Isaiah and the Worry Pack<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBs4ZYupZctS41w3DoQbE3Q3HJn7UpXfHKyXVdHGbBz1Gx0MXdSy3ALdkW9cSPLxbvg24vgMr7xNMypttfizb1KRrIezTQJ-R-Ngj24Ivth_1VhbNGRTSsEozcRj8OuOLUTd0aEZfBjMTAsWiEaf8czIMV4Vr4cDsCWVsY0_K2WLfsATXzHrs=s970" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="970" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBs4ZYupZctS41w3DoQbE3Q3HJn7UpXfHKyXVdHGbBz1Gx0MXdSy3ALdkW9cSPLxbvg24vgMr7xNMypttfizb1KRrIezTQJ-R-Ngj24Ivth_1VhbNGRTSsEozcRj8OuOLUTd0aEZfBjMTAsWiEaf8czIMV4Vr4cDsCWVsY0_K2WLfsATXzHrs=w320-h162" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBs4ZYupZctS41w3DoQbE3Q3HJn7UpXfHKyXVdHGbBz1Gx0MXdSy3ALdkW9cSPLxbvg24vgMr7xNMypttfizb1KRrIezTQJ-R-Ngj24Ivth_1VhbNGRTSsEozcRj8OuOLUTd0aEZfBjMTAsWiEaf8czIMV4Vr4cDsCWVsY0_K2WLfsATXzHrs=s970" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b style="text-align: left;"><br /></b></a></div></div><p><b>Isaiah and the Worry Pack</b></p><p><b>by Ruth Goring</b></p><p><b>Illustrated by Pamela C. Rice</b></p><p><b>IVP Kids</b></p><p><b>ISBN 978-1-5140-0106-6</b></p><p><b>Reviewed by Clint Walker</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b> </b>Isaiah has a lot of concerns that are heavy on his heart. Will his mom make enough money? Can his dad do alright living away from the rest of the family? Will his sister ever behave? Will he ever be able to sleep? So he carries his concerns with him everywhere, like a backpack full of heavy blocks.</p><p><span> One night his mother comes to check in on him. After listening to his worrries, she leads him in an imaginative prayer exercise where he encounters the loving and risen Christ. Jesus helps Isaiah lean how to deal with his worries.</span><br /></p><p><span><span> Written with a child's ear in mind, the author shares a story of compassion, thoughtfulness and deep spirituality that relates to the lives that kids are living every day. The book provides a good story for kids, and some helpful tools for the adults who are reading with their kids in helping their kids bring their burdens to Christ.</span><br /></span></p><p><span> What a beautiful book.</span><br /></p>Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-29025540018429458232022-01-05T21:58:00.001-07:002022-01-05T21:58:50.475-07:00Book Review of Saint Nicholas the Giftgiver<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv5V88UZHI3ZfytosihgINLfh8VO3X2nbzFnj8-UemyNBQCohkCTbBQW8jDx6PTmYqwkDKAokzAM59p0egbuFFVSajwA0O3_Y-HgspwWUPgd1rijafiC02BO0PdO8_aCmYZzhl-Q/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv5V88UZHI3ZfytosihgINLfh8VO3X2nbzFnj8-UemyNBQCohkCTbBQW8jDx6PTmYqwkDKAokzAM59p0egbuFFVSajwA0O3_Y-HgspwWUPgd1rijafiC02BO0PdO8_aCmYZzhl-Q/" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b>Saint Nicholas the Caregiver</b></p><p>Retold and Illustrated by Ned Bustard</p><p>IVP Kids</p><p>ISBN 978-1-5140-0180-6</p><p><br /></p><p>This book is a deftly written story weaving the historical story of Saint Nicholas, and some of the modern legends of Santa Claus. Careful to on one hand not destroy a child's Christmas by saying "there is no Santa", while on the other hand describing the modern Santa more mythologically, author Ned Bustard seeks to ground all Saint Nicolas stories as a reflection of the gospel. </p><p>The illustration work is well done. It at times refllects the story at face value, while at other times the drawings add to the story reflected in the written word. </p><p>Subtle Christian symbolism permeates the artwork. Stars are reflected throughout the book. This connects with the author's efforts to tie the generosity of Saint Nicolas to the wise men. Also, the Trinitarian symbolism in the final drawing is just brilliant. </p><p>I highly recommend this book to families. I would suggest, as we are now at Epiphany eve, that people buy the book this year, so they are prepared with it when Advent begins next year.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-77837664680797785882022-01-03T11:08:00.002-07:002022-01-03T11:08:14.033-07:00How John the Baptist explains repentance<p> John the Baptist, most people believe, was an Essene. This means that the community that formed him and trained him for ministry was a community that valued withdrawl from societal institutions and norms in order to be faithful to God's call on their life. Although we have no proof of John the Baptist's Essene bona fides, his appearance and ministry tends to demonstrate and affinity for Essene ideals. Essene's were in the desert preparing for the Messiah and the end of the world as they knew it. They had baths for regular ceremonial washings of repentance and purity. They dressed and acted a little different. They did life on the geographic and social periphory of ancient Israel. All of this seems to be reflected in the life of John the Baptist. </p><p>Yet, according to Luke 3,when people were baptized with John's baptistm of repentance, and they asked John what they should do, John always gave them answers that encouraged them to return to their community and vocation. As they did so, John encoruaged them to practice their vocations in different ways. To the tax collectors, they were told not to extort money. To the soldiers, they were told not to abuse their power. To the rest, they were told to share their extra clothing with those less fortunate. </p><p>John called the repentant to simple, practical acts of engagement in community and culture, not withdrawl from culture as a sign of loyal faithfulness and true repentance. This has important ways of challenging us today. </p><p>There is a part of Christian culture that thinks that we should withdrawl into homeschooling, homechurching, home working as an act of faith. These same people guard their associations with others. Yet, in Scripture, the model of cultural withdrawl in taking on the role of the prophet encourages others to engage community and culture faithfully in order to give glory to God. </p><p>Something to consider here.</p>Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-69925645113530428332021-04-16T13:58:00.002-06:002021-04-16T13:58:58.576-06:00Book Review of What Is the Church and Why Does It Exist by David E. Fitch<p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin8Smc15IZg6sZGKI3m1jLS5mM1y9hIe2B-OIGltBe8tbaR0UgLJp3JKVt0edTRjBKaA2OWMCd_5G-zjjcctS17yL4J-YDdlQIPbQX83BX6XsYi9FhiU4XhPaBEW7_UThgklG6Og/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="177" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin8Smc15IZg6sZGKI3m1jLS5mM1y9hIe2B-OIGltBe8tbaR0UgLJp3JKVt0edTRjBKaA2OWMCd_5G-zjjcctS17yL4J-YDdlQIPbQX83BX6XsYi9FhiU4XhPaBEW7_UThgklG6Og/" width="150" /></a></b></div><b><br />What is the Church and Why Does It Exist?</b><p></p><p>by David E. Fitch</p><p>ISBN 978-1-5138-0570-2</p><p>Herald Press</p><p>Reviewed by Clint Walker</p><p><br /></p><p><span> David E. Fitch has written a new book that is being published this spring. It is from Herald Press, and is part of their "The Jesus Way" series of small books that pack a big punch. Fitch's contribution to this series is fitting, as he argues for a missional ecclesiology, and gives some helpful hints in how to put this way of doing church into action.</span><br /></p><p> <b>What is the Church and Why Does it Exist </b>is a book centered around three questions: What is Church? Why Church? and How do we do Church?. The book has a partner video curriculum by the same name with the new streaming platform SeminaryNow as well. For those familiar with Fitch's other writings, Fitch borrows heavily from some of the content in his book <b>Faithful Presence</b> in communicating his vision for how churches should structure and function, but each work stands apart from the other with a slightly different focus. <br /></p><p><span> Fitch challenges his collegues and student to be pithy in their communication, and works on that himself. However, anyone who has went to David Fitch's lectures or had a conversation with him knows that he himself leans less toward the earthy pithiness of Ernest Hemingway in his communication, and more toward the wordy thoughtfulness of Nathaniel Hawthorne. </span></p><p><span><span> </span>For this reason, this book is an accomplishment for Dr. Fitch. He packs a lot of his conceptual work he has done over the last twenty years or so about what the missional church is all about in a relatively brief, thoughtful, easy to understand book that you can share with people in your small group or congregation. There are discussion questions in the back of the book that allow conversation to begin.</span></p><p><span><span> </span>I have worked through the material in this book with a small group in my congregation. They interacted well with it. At times they thought what David Fitch shared was common sense, and at other times they were challenged by his perspective, which is exactly what I wanted. For our people, we were affirmed in our commitment to congregational life, and also challenged to practice our faith together, in our homes, and in our communities. </span><br /></p><p><span><span> This will be a helpful resource for any church to look at as they consider how to connect with the continually changing, post-Christian world. It honors the wisdom of having a community called the church. Yet at the same time challenges us to move out of siloed churches and siloed living into a wholistic, authentic way of living for Jesus together as believers in the world for the love of humanity and the glory of God.</span><br /></span></p><p><span><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-56545183072492965952021-03-24T16:10:00.004-06:002021-03-24T16:10:56.465-06:00Detectives of Divinity<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">On Being a
Detective of Divinity<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So, this morning I
got a call for someone with an unusual request. “Pastor, I live at the Liberty
House, and we have been on lockdown. My brother says I need someone to bring me
communion. I really want communion. Will you bring me some?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Sure,” I said, “do
you believe in Jesus?”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“I believe in the Father, Jesus, and
the Spirit. And I am a Baptist, because John the Baptist was a Baptist too,”
she replied.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Will 2:30 work?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Yes! I will see you at 2:30. Thank
you! Thank you! Just come around the back and will meet you there.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So, like a meth dealer around the
corner of a rehab clinic, I smuggled the body and blood of Jesus down the back
alley of an assisted living facility on lockdown. “This ought to be interesting,”
I thought. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As I approached, I prayed, “Lord, be
present in this moment. Let your love and grace present in the sharing of the bread
and the cup in such a way that we are all sense your Spirit at work among us.
Amen.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I drove down the alley to what
appears to be the main entrance of the facility. I brought with me the elements
I had packed. Three pre-packaged and sealed communion servings were loaded into
three plastic easter eggs to make the transport of the elements easier and were
sitting on the passenger seat of my car. I had no idea why I packed three
servings, I just felt led to do so. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I get out. “Are you the one bringing
us communion?” my new friend yells out. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“I am. Do your friends want to share
with us?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Yes, two of my friends heard and
want to do communion too.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So, I get out all three Easter eggs
containing the elements of the Lord’s Supper. I read through I Corinthians 11.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The body of Christ, broken for you,”
I proclaim. Then I help each one of them open their wafer off the top of the
cup.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“This is the new covenant in my
blood,” I say, and help them with the cup. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It was a sacred moment. Three
adults, each with challenges that make it hard for them to live independently,
stood hungry for the inbreaking of the transcendent God into their lives. Having
the body and blood smuggled to them through a back alley delivery, they
experienced the love of Christ in the ritual of the Lord’s Supper. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through presence of the church in delivering
and sharing this moment with them, and in their longing for a tactile way to connect
with the grace of God, the Spirit of God broke through in a powerful way as
four people shared communion in a parking lot on Sixth Street and Willow. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Alan Roxburgh, a prolific Christian
author and leader of the missional church movement, says that missional
leaders/pastors do their work best when they are detectives of divinity. In
other words, as we go out into the world around us, we do our best work when we
open our eyes to what the Spirit is doing and join God in it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I have no idea, in the end, how
meaningful that moment was for my new friends. But I know it was meaningful for
me. It helped me to remember that God is as work in ways I never expect. And it
reminded me that sharing the table, and remembering the sacrifice of Christ, is
a powerful way to experience the love of Christ, and to offer solidarity and
love to one another. It reminded me, as I enter Holy Week, that I should not
take the Lord’s Supper or what happened on Calvary for granted. As a matter of
fact, we should all be hungry and thirsty for the presence of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I drove out of the parking lot today remembering the Emmaus Walk of those two people with Jesus, who discovered in
the breaking of bread that Jesus had been present with them all along. And I
mumbled to myself, “Wasn’t my heart burning within me in the breaking of bread?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-72180600101521092582021-01-06T13:09:00.007-07:002021-01-06T13:17:24.482-07:00Amen and Awoman<p> </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJTN51XirdNLYNSN7UtxtlpQSOq2d4NnW6Np_D9fEDOowQCGJh4Y0aLbnp-a-agQDMJ09-qhx0T5v4MBgRAPI-_VieEfyooBJQKUov_Q-piU8gONc40u6nFeQMmXdjdvmFriyzBQ/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1200" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJTN51XirdNLYNSN7UtxtlpQSOq2d4NnW6Np_D9fEDOowQCGJh4Y0aLbnp-a-agQDMJ09-qhx0T5v4MBgRAPI-_VieEfyooBJQKUov_Q-piU8gONc40u6nFeQMmXdjdvmFriyzBQ/" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Of all the controversies that evangelical Christians have created and embroiled themselves in, the <a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article248266055.html">backlash regarding the closing of the Rev. Emmanuel Cleaver's prayer</a> may have been the most petty. You would think, from the response of many people I am aquainted with that he brought a golden calf into an altar in the worship space of a Christian congregation, or wore a t-shirt promoting the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piss_Christ">Piss Christ</a> (yes there are such t-shirts). Instead, the last word of his prayer was a pun, intended to celebrate the inclusion of the first woman chaplain to the House of Representatives, as well as the larger proportion of women in this term's Congressional delegation. The closing of the prayer fit with much of the rest of his prayer which called for spirit-led peacemaking and inclusion of "the other". In the prayer Rep. Cleaver called for peace and an end to partisan tribalism. The final word of the prayer fit with this theme. Although it may have been a little dorky, it should not have made news. Furthermore, it should not have Christian around the country offended and ready to wage a Twitter/Facebook jihad. </p><p><span><span> Cleaver's prayer wasn't perfect. In my opinion, Rev. Cleaver's mistake was this: don't mistake a prayer for a sermon. For public prayers, it is almost always a temptation to take the opportunity to lecture folks, or to placate those in authority through the use of prayer. Don't do it. When you pray, pray. Even in congress. And when you preach, preach.</span><br /></span></p><p><span><span><span> Nevertheless, I am intrigued that many evangelicals are pretending that misusing the word "amen" is like taking the Lord's name in vain. The earliest manuscripts of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6 do not even use the word "amen". Many faithful Christians and secularists use the term "amen" in everyday conversation to communicate agreement, not as an expression of prayer. It is not required to "hang up" a prayer with the word "amen". It is just a tradition.</span><br /></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span> So then, is there a controversy about the term "awoman"? My suspicions are as follows:</span><br /></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>1. In light of Warnock's upcoming election, evangelicals wanted to disparage the African American church, especially those grounded in some sort of liberation tradition, as being untrue to the gospel. It was a way of both attempting to attack African American religious tradition as illegitamate, as the SBC has done with its repudiation of critical race theory, and of peeling away any support in the upcoming election from Warnock.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>2. It communicated many conservative evangelicals lack of willingness to support racial and gender inclusion, unless it is completely subjugated to constructs of white power and male power. And, any movement of faith that affirms instead of deconcontructs the structures of abusive power, including mitigating against full inclusion of both women and minorities, is anti-gospel. </span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></p>Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-30410554647058523062020-09-22T12:48:00.002-06:002020-09-22T12:48:56.765-06:00You've got the giftI think that the concept of spiritual giftedness in Scripture is greatly misunderstood. <div><br /></div><div>First, I don't think that the lists in different parts of Scripture are an exhaustive list of all potential spiritual gifts. The lists are examples, with specific gifts mentioned because they are the most prominent in that community. This does not mean that the classic spiritual gift inventory is a misguided venture. As a matter of fact, I think these quizzes really help people think about the unique contributions they can make. I just don't think we should say that everybody's gifts and gift mixes are always going to fit into the model of first century church labels and funtion.</div><div><br /></div><div>Secondly, I think giftedness is contextual to the given group of believers you are a part of. God either creates or highlights different gift mixes in different contexts. When I was a 25 year old just out of seminary, I drove our church secretary nuts with my lack of administrative skills, but teaching and leadership gifts came to the forefront. Now that I am 47, my doctoral supervisor says that I have the gift leading our cohort in organization. When I was in my early 30s, I recieved feedback that my preaching skills were lacking. Yet, in this church and my previous congregation, people mentioned my preaching abilities as an area of giftedness. I could go on and on. God raises up certain gifts at certain times for specific needs and contexts. They are for the body of Christ, not just one individual.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Why?</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>What gifts and abilities have come to the forefront as you have participated in Christian community, no matter what its form?</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div>Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-41754118911385579572020-07-17T17:58:00.000-06:002020-07-17T17:58:54.126-06:00What I am reading (for my sermonating)I am preaching through the book of Philippians on Sunday mornings. It has been interesting because Philippians has taken on a different feel as I study through it to preach it, keeping my congregation in mind. Paul covers a few issues that are especially relevant to our time in this book, and it has been exciting to see how it holds new relevance in our current situation as a nation, a community, and a congregation.<div><br /></div><div>Specifically, the text addresses the following issues:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>anxiety</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>emotional health</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>how to deal with others in the midst of conflict</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>imitating Christ</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>learning to have the right mindset </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>and more.....</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>I am using some resources in this study which help me along in the journey</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkln4faIoDYE07YazGyU9TE8F6Pmw8yQsLbg3crCjzkFNJ6b6qf-ZrScFIF9Vd3JMTfuAZN9H4S6dA-uHhnyljdXxvXyY1UT9bktLXn3R74XQLF8QxNH5mQrB2JM6Gp3hK_CY8VA/s160/barth+philippians.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkln4faIoDYE07YazGyU9TE8F6Pmw8yQsLbg3crCjzkFNJ6b6qf-ZrScFIF9Vd3JMTfuAZN9H4S6dA-uHhnyljdXxvXyY1UT9bktLXn3R74XQLF8QxNH5mQrB2JM6Gp3hK_CY8VA/s0/barth+philippians.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Karl Barth is the most influential theologian of the last 400 years in my opinion. This commentary is helpful because he gets me to look and and think about the passage that I am reading differently. When I am preparing a sermon, I need something to push me to think outside of the box. Barth does that.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHWNY9E9G-loQ7m59_u5Avb7VlIeMK1n-_BqV64fZrDvNlx0lNwGnjmcmQwjGx_IYm8dOVyQstI1nWEJe1bX7tckNpkfGAYnBIAePrELQaZvgzH_DNcTibhApAxcid5IFr0Xm2Pg/s100/cohick+philippians.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="100" data-original-width="100" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHWNY9E9G-loQ7m59_u5Avb7VlIeMK1n-_BqV64fZrDvNlx0lNwGnjmcmQwjGx_IYm8dOVyQstI1nWEJe1bX7tckNpkfGAYnBIAePrELQaZvgzH_DNcTibhApAxcid5IFr0Xm2Pg/w195-h195/cohick+philippians.jpg" width="195" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Cohick's commentary strikes the right balance between academic study and pastoral insight. A great resource by a good scholar.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXj1_ZpLgCbO7sfD1hScNkRibKFyJoZW0NTAeaemio0QmaQFzc-AU0-CVHqYtrt3TjRIoslxo09hl8kX6OidP9pF8gUuz12953qzxN2vsn73kyT0JJak_9MCDXNGLUSuF8llLZAA/s250/embracing+shared+ministry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXj1_ZpLgCbO7sfD1hScNkRibKFyJoZW0NTAeaemio0QmaQFzc-AU0-CVHqYtrt3TjRIoslxo09hl8kX6OidP9pF8gUuz12953qzxN2vsn73kyT0JJak_9MCDXNGLUSuF8llLZAA/s0/embracing+shared+ministry.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> A great book to offer insight on the "flattening of authority" in Paul's corpus, and what it means to live in mutual submission as the body of Christ. Hellerman is great with Philippians.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMg0VLlalC6HrrAvz1RIc_kzNp-FSc_yKdgQnX1oFY4OLoaRfH_RwvNNdvdVFTas-TFJPKCVrB5cQ-UNrrgugQPBufLs2qUkqo8onoZZEnvZ52uMIzPxsVNex4IpeovJgBOHwKow/s150/fee+philippians.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMg0VLlalC6HrrAvz1RIc_kzNp-FSc_yKdgQnX1oFY4OLoaRfH_RwvNNdvdVFTas-TFJPKCVrB5cQ-UNrrgugQPBufLs2qUkqo8onoZZEnvZ52uMIzPxsVNex4IpeovJgBOHwKow/s0/fee+philippians.jpg" /></a></div>Gordon Fee is a well-respected Bible teacher. This is another commentary that tries to blend exegetical faithfulness with practical insight. It has been very helpful.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQ8Jtr74m1YzyNh-6P5YrPVzvbhS5S-VLO7svxtNMnmQTCGI35VeyLZJ7OE7MNff5PtzFu6gwYtkzUl39yptvxZxsgqYN7z9kQzwQj6iMsBp13JknzVKCdAnGL00ixl0MBZgizg/s1059/life+app+philippians.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1059" data-original-width="794" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQ8Jtr74m1YzyNh-6P5YrPVzvbhS5S-VLO7svxtNMnmQTCGI35VeyLZJ7OE7MNff5PtzFu6gwYtkzUl39yptvxZxsgqYN7z9kQzwQj6iMsBp13JknzVKCdAnGL00ixl0MBZgizg/s320/life+app+philippians.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> Meant as a tool for Bible preachers and teachers, this commentary focuses on what they Scripture says to us right now, and how we can live the word. It helps remind me to get to the "so what" in my message. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrXemZYRQ7-fAya_DRgYh3n89_FnSNOhHdQhsSF31LVMM4lCPPV5D2pzIyHr5-jpq48Dm2HPPgNWiA30ZVdnn2A3L2GjUKUbaltzHosY9AYv1ReCSTY7f8iUZp09wk0hyphenhyphennDTJ1bw/s900/nijay+commentary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrXemZYRQ7-fAya_DRgYh3n89_FnSNOhHdQhsSF31LVMM4lCPPV5D2pzIyHr5-jpq48Dm2HPPgNWiA30ZVdnn2A3L2GjUKUbaltzHosY9AYv1ReCSTY7f8iUZp09wk0hyphenhyphennDTJ1bw/s320/nijay+commentary.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> I have just finished a class with Nijay, and have adored his down to earth, yet winsome approach to teaching the content of the book of Philippians. Michael Bird is a top notch scholar in his own right, and this book is a great resource for any bible teacher's library.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWe9lLXtkGYu9eQC3E623M_BSygQDVyTgdfUWtVqTdZNdxJdTGnEJ_iVzpF3rJ1lydlmTnDV0C0eJvmnQkOF0DlfSBEaEBlTfkrmnXu73P43Gg5mAugcIxlys6ctoRvsvWgxdmbg/s500/paul+for+everyone+prison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="345" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWe9lLXtkGYu9eQC3E623M_BSygQDVyTgdfUWtVqTdZNdxJdTGnEJ_iVzpF3rJ1lydlmTnDV0C0eJvmnQkOF0DlfSBEaEBlTfkrmnXu73P43Gg5mAugcIxlys6ctoRvsvWgxdmbg/s320/paul+for+everyone+prison.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I love NT Wright's "for everyone" commentary. It is structured like the Barclay commentaries of yesteryear, only better scholarship and more relatable. No section is very long. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkPhcxIvJFbwRtcVFOd05Ibbp1XvwMCgT5l1v6Y66kfh39PtmDu9uDPies9pEJtoF87Svu9sPWksNMZKDoT-_bnAWYXNsRmyZP6HsI1RTlOAnu-7sdC-jmGUMt51tOJBqebsUJ-w/s180/reading+philippians.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkPhcxIvJFbwRtcVFOd05Ibbp1XvwMCgT5l1v6Y66kfh39PtmDu9uDPies9pEJtoF87Svu9sPWksNMZKDoT-_bnAWYXNsRmyZP6HsI1RTlOAnu-7sdC-jmGUMt51tOJBqebsUJ-w/s0/reading+philippians.jpg" /></a></div><div> This is Nijay's simpler study of Philippians, and I have LOVED IT. Nijay is a good writer, the format of the commentary flows well, and I find little nuggets all through it that work great for preaching/teaching. </div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><br /></div></div>Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-69911945731529431002020-06-18T15:20:00.001-06:002020-06-18T15:21:02.054-06:00Saying What Needs to Be Said JUNE NEWSLETTER COVER ARTICLE<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Saying What
Needs to be Said, But Should Go Without Saying<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Racism is wrong.
Violence based on racial prejudice is wrong. Christians should stand for
justice and equality of all persons. These values not only define what it means
to be American, these American values were derived from Scripture. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>God is the creator
of all persons, and longs that they all experience his love and grace. God
longs to create a multi-cultural family of believers that then go out into the
world as peacemakers, reconcilers, and seekers of justice. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>God is working
against bigoted, prejudicial behavior through all of Scripture. God punishes
Aaron and Miriam for their bigotry against Moses’ wife Zipporah for her skin
tone (Numbers 12). God calls his people to welcome the stranger. He places
persons with different nationalities in Jesus’ bloodline, like Ruth. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When Jesus
describes a “good neighbor” in the New Testament, he describes someone from a
rival ethnic group to good Israelites (a “good Samaritan). He tells his
disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. Jesus places justice for the
poor as the centerpiece of his ministerial call (Luke 4). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In Acts, we see
God challenging mistreatment of widows of different backgrounds, and the
apostles creating a system to protect the minority group that was being
mistreated. We see God breaking through in challenging the church to welcome
Gentiles into the family of God. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Paul calls the
church to be reconciled, places peace and cooperation of persons of different
ethnic groups as the centerpiece of the books of Romans and Galatians. He calls
for tolerance and acceptance of different social, racial, and cultural mores,
as long as the behaviors are not directly contradictory to Biblical teaching.
He says regardless of gender, race, or economic background we are all united as
equal members of the body of Christ (Galatians 3:28). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The history of our
nation, however, bears with it a long history of racism and racial
violence—often while simultaneously claiming to be acting on Christian
principles. Americans fought a war over slavery, and careful students of
history will know that much of the Nebraska territory was as divided on the
issue as well. North Platte had a race riot in 1929. Very few places have been
immune to racial or cultural conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The United States
military, in a series of conflicts lasting over 100 years, slowly killed off a
large portion of the Native American population after stealing their land. They
forced the rest onto reservations even though many of the people lived in a
nomadic culture. These wounds continue to reverberate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>American racism
has not been limited to blacks and Native Americans. Our treatment, both
through legislation of law and acts to protect American security, has been less
than stellar in how we treat Asian Americans and Latin Americans as well. And,
too often, churches and Christians were either silent or complicit in all these
forms of racism.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And so it needs to
be said, that when a man named George Floyd, an outspoken Christian believer by
the way, gets killed by a police officer on the street, that we need to say
that this is wrong. This needs to be recognized as part of a systemic issue of
violence against vulnerable people of color that includes lychings, cross
burnings, and more. The same is true with a group of white men in a pick-up
truck hunting down and shooting a black young man in Georgia in broad daylight.
This is wrong as well. As are many other examples that have become too numerous
for me to remember every name.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It is also wrong is the way we often
treat and speak of persons who speak Spanish as their first language, the way many
of us make broad sweeping generalizations about Native Americans. Again, the
examples are lengthy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All of this, this biblical teaching
that racial prejudice and violence is wrong, needs to be said. It needs to be
stated and restated by believers and clergy alike. And so I am doing so, in a
church newsletter, at a timely moment in our national life. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">At the same time, I feel frustrated,
because I think understanding this truth and being sensitive to this issue
should go without saying. You know, I think loving our neighbors, and doing
justice for the mistreated is like Following Jesus 101. Actually, it is like
“Common Human Decency 101”. But, over and over again, it needs to be restated. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Its as simple as this. Choose not to
be a jerk. And when you are a jerk, repent and ask for forgiveness, and try and
make things right. Love your neighbor. Love your enemy. Turn the other cheek.
Don’t hate those that are different than you. Stand up for those that don’t
have the power or the ability to stand up for themselves. Help those in need. Be
a person of justice. Be a person of mercy. Be a person that has a passion to
break down walls of ignorance, prejudice, and hate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br />Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-75061275011442267432020-06-18T15:18:00.001-06:002020-06-18T15:18:59.942-06:00Church Newsletter: June 18<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I Never
Thought I Was Going to Be a TV Preacher<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text";">There is a meme going around in pastor circles
with a picture of a pastor doing a live stream a few months ago. It had a
pastor standing in front of an iPhone and said, “Every pastor is a
televangelist now”. I laughed out loud, both because it had a ring of truth to
it, and because being a TV preacher was never high on my list of goals. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Sitka Text";">I
remember one time some of my African-American ministerial collegues jokingly
tried to push and friend of mine and I in that direction. In that moment at the
ABC Minister’s Council Senate about 11 years ago some of the pastors were
talking about their “anniversary” gifts and their “pastor appreciation” gifts
that were given from the congregation. They included an all expenses paid trip
to Hawaii and a time share with an extra week of vacation, or $25,000 in a
Christmas bonus. I told them (truthfully) that my cash salary at that time was
not $25,000 a year. They jokingly made plans for my friend Tim and I to set up
our own studios, make videos, and broadcast them across the nation to
supplement our incomes. I tried to tell them I had a face for radio, and a
voice to pair with water boarding in interrogating terrorist suspects, but they
would have none of it. We laughed for what seemed like hours. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Sitka Text";">Look
at me now! I have devotions and sermons broadcast around the world each week
via the internet. It makes me as uncomfortable now as it did then, but in a
worldwide crisis, you do what you are going to do! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Sitka Text";">And,
of course, streaming our services on line, and sending recordings to folks who
could not be here has been a blessing. It has kept us connected, and challenged
us to grow. Wes, Jen, Wayne, Todd, Jim, and others have done great in getting
our services put together with sound and video, and broadcast to the parking
lot and the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Sitka Text";">Early
in the COVID epidemic we received funds to set up a livestream broadcast that
will be a little higher tech. It took some planning and shopping, and the
supplies are almost all here (Sony shut down its video camera factory during
COVID-19 restrictions in Japan, so we are waiting on that). Soon we will have
the ability to stream a nice video feed with a high-quality camera on a more
permanent basis. We will also be able to develop other video materials. This
will be a blessing for folks that are homebound, for several of our people that
do shift work that keeps them from attending, and for many others. Some believe
that live streaming can be a gateway to invite people into our fellowship. I am
excited that we can share our ministry in all these ways.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Sitka Text";">In
all of this, I do have one concern. Online worship should never be a full-time,
permanent replacement for gathering in person. I am concerned that there are
several of us that are perfectly comfortable watching worship in our jammies with
our coffee in one hand and our bagel in the other. There is a reason the
Scripture says, “Do not forsake the gathering of yourselves together” (Hebrews
10:25). We need to be present to and connected with one another. It is hard to
“one another” watching a screen. Now, many of you are caring for your health
and being safe. That is good and right. But slowly we will need to get out,
connect, care for one other, gather, worship, and pray with our church family.
When that time comes, use our live stream as helpful supplement, not as a
permanent plan for spiritual nourishment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-60979403362109144812020-06-18T15:16:00.004-06:002020-06-18T15:16:47.341-06:00Dealing with Difficulty (FBCNP Newsletter June 11)<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Dealing with
Difficulty<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Sitka Text"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Therefore,
since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand;
and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we
also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and
endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not
disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy
Spirit that has been given to us. (Romans 5: 1-5)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Sitka Text";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I got caught complaining the other
day. I administrate our Doctor of Ministry cohort Facebook Group. I also
facilitate our Zoom calls. This is all as a way of participating in a helpful
way, and adding something of value since I am one of the slower and more
dimwitted in our group. I was reading one of the books, which everybody is
finding challenging, and put up a little post saying I did not like the book
because it was too dense and “rambly” (how is that for a doctoral word?). The
professor for the forthcoming class left a comment on my post. His input was
basically that we needed books to challenge us and stretch our limits of
understanding if our coursework was going to have any value. Of course he is
right (I still hate the book).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Sitka Text";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sometimes we are so pain averse that
we avoid challenges that are set before us that God can use to help us to grow
and thrive as a believer in Christ and as a church community. We avoid the
difficult thinking, the difficult conversations, and the work of processing
through challenging stuff because it is a lot easier to stay where we are. We
can be like the Israelites, afraid to enter the promised land because there
might be giants in the land.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Sitka Text";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The last few months have been
challenging. They can, if we let them, also be profoundly formational for us as
persons and congregations. We can learn in the midst of this time, new
practices for worship, new ways of reaching out, and deeper ways of connecting
and caring for one another. But, we have to be intentional about facing the
difficulties that change presents, suffer through those difficulties, and grow
through them with deeper roots and stronger character on the other side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Sitka Text";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As we continue to adapt to a world
dealing with a pandemic (these adaptations will take varied form and be with us
for a while), let us begin to think about how God may be helping us “be the
church” in a deeper or newer way. I know one person in our congregation who
checks in on another member more frequently than they had before. Another
person I know who has difficulty attending in person due to distance from FBC
hasn’t missed a Sunday service online. And, a pastor I know is working really
hard to preach shorter, pithier sermons. We can all continue to grow through
hardship, if we are willing to receive God’s grace to do so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-15762638456357258852020-06-17T10:11:00.002-06:002020-06-17T10:11:14.955-06:00The Ken Mills Principle<img alt="No photo description available." src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/v3/y4/r/-PAXP-deijE.gif" /><br />
<img alt="No photo description available." src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/v3/y4/r/-PAXP-deijE.gif" /><br />
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I started as the youth pastor in October of 1998, the fall after graduating from seminary, in Belgrade, Montana. The church was then called Belgrade Community Church, and I was the youth pastor in growing community located 10 miles from the college city of Bozeman, MT.<br />
<br />
Ken Mills (along with Pat Ramler) were the Sunday School teachers for the high school class. We had a Friday night hike to the M in Bozeman planned. I think we billed it as a "midnight hike". We would leave about 9:30, get to the trailhead a little after 10, get organized, and start hiking until we got to the top of the trail, and overlook the city in the middle of the night. We would have a few songs and a brief devotion, and enjoy God's creation as we looked over the Gallatin Valley.<br />
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I was keeping my eye on the weather. A possible thunderstorm was forecast for the evening. I wondered if we should continue to hike. I called Ken.<br />
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"Well, I suppose you can call off the hike on the account of a potential storm, but if you cancel activities based on potential bad weather around here, you will not really ever get much done," Ken said, "If a storm comes during the hike, we can always change plans then."<br />
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I came to the conclusion that Ken was right. He knew the kids. He knew the land. I trusted him that evening. The storm didn't come. It was a great night.<br />
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As I have went along in ministry and in life, I have found that the Ken Mills principle is a good way to approach not just weather concerns in ministry, but ministry and life more generally.<br />
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If you scuttle your plans because of potential complications that may arise, you might as well sit on your rear end, never do anything, and wait to die.<br />
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This week our family has been talking about plans. What should we do regarding summer vacation? Do we plan for the kids to be in school full-time in the fall or not? Should I officiate a wedding next spring? The questions go on and on. There is so much uncertainty. And the kids are wondering, should we just stay in a holding pattern? It is like planning a midnight hike with a 50 percent chance of rain.<br />
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And Ken Mills principle keeps running through my mind. If you hold off on plans based on a potential storm, you will probably never really get very much done. So, we have to move forward. Use precautions when necessary, yes. Consider back up plans, of course. But you can't just hide from a possibility of a storm that may never come.<br />
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The Ken Mills principle applies to how we approach congregational leadership as pastors, and how congregations approach their ministries as a congregation. This is especially true in 2020. We have taken time as a society to hunker down to protect ourselves and others from a disease. Might even have to do that again. However, we can't plan our ministries based upon worse-case scenarios. We have to live. We have to step up and step out, even if that means we might have to make changes later.<br />
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Fleeting thoughts I needed to write out before they escaped my mind. Maybe I will develop them better at a later date.Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-43068313869639709492020-06-13T16:52:00.002-06:002020-06-15T09:03:21.697-06:00Book Review of Reformation Commentary on Scripture: New Testament Volume XII 1-2 Thessalonians, 1-2 Timothy, and Titus, and Philemon<br />
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<img alt="1-2 Thessalonians, 1-2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon (Reformation ..." height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51zofVHvCiL._SX346_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="223" /></div>
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<br />
<font face="georgia"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Reformation Commentary on Scripture: New Testament </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Volume XII</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">1-2 Thessalonians, 1-2 Timothy, and Titus, and Philemon</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">ISBN 978-0-8308-2975-0</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">edited by Lee Gattis and Bradley Green</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">IVP Academic</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Reviewed by Clint Walker</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This is a book is that is a part of a larger study called the <b>Reformation Commentary on Scripture. </b>In each of these studies the editors attempt to go back to original source material of the Reformation, and then put different Reformation ministers and theologians side by side in their take on a specific passage of Scripture. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>The Reformation Commentary on Scripture</b> has four goals:</span><br />
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</font><ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><font face="georgia"><b><i>Renewing contemporary Biblical interpretation</i></b> by bringing to light Reformation era interpretation</font></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><font face="georgia"><b><i>Strengthening contemporary preaching</i></b> through exposure to biblical insights of Reformation writers</font></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><font face="georgia"><i style="font-weight: bold;">Deepening understanding of the Reformation</i> and the breadth of perspectives represented within it</font></span></li>
<li><font face="georgia"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">Advancing Christian scholarship </i>in the fields of historical, biblical, theological, and pastoral studies </span>(xix-xxi)</font></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><font face="georgia"><br /></font></span></div>
<font face="georgia"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Reformation, although deeply committed to the full witness of Scripture, brings the epistles of Paul to the forefront in understanding the good news of Jesus Christ. So, in their introduction, they spend a considerable amount of time discussing the Pauline corpus of the New Testament as a whole, and then delve deeper into the specific books that they are studying. My favorite quote of the book is in the introduction. As these authors work to put the work that they have done in historical context, they found a "money quote" from B.B. Warfield. It says, "<span style="background-color: white;">The Reformation, inwardly considered, was just the ultimate triumph of Augustine’s doctrine of grace over Augustine’s doctrine of the Church" (xliv).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">This commentary traces how different Reformers approached key passages. For instance, how strictly did they believe the church of Jesus should adhere to the nomenclature and structure for church leadership in the pastoral epistles. How did they deal with these things in light of their experience with the Roman Catholic Church, and their attempts to organize church structures post-Reformation to mitagate against some of the abuses they had seen? Unexpectedly, Reformers put a lot of attention on 2 Thessalonians 2 as well, working through the issues of lawlessness, faithfulness, and authority.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Of this series of commentaries, this may be my favorite so far. The authors are humble yet well read, they bring Reformation issues into conversation with 21st century issues in a unique way, and they bring in voices from the Reformation that others may have ignored, especially in relation to these epistles.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Great job IVP Academic!</span></span></font><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
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<br />Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-39523624052062506232020-06-12T11:15:00.001-06:002020-06-12T11:15:08.607-06:00Book Review of Still Evangelical edited by Mark Labberton<img alt="Still Evangelical?: Insiders Reconsider Political, Social, and ..." height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91uEjZVACfL.jpg" width="213" /><br />
<b>Still Evangelical?: Insiders Reconsider Political, Cultural, and Theological Meaning</b><br />
edited by Mark Labberton<br />
ISBN 978-0-8308-4537-8<br />
IVP Books<br />
Reviewed by Clint Walker<br />
<br />
Written after the 2016 election, a number of persons from varied backgrounds were asked, in light of the election of Donald Trump and his overwhelming support among persons who identified themselves and evangelicals, if they could still adopt the label evangelical and consider themselves a part of the evangelical community. The eleven contributers come to different conclusions, approach the question differently, while each of them educate along the way.<br />
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The contributors are seminary presidents, activists, scholars, and members of the Christian media. They are Asian, Latinx, African-American, and European-American. Although I would have liked to see more African-American authors, this is a diverse group of authors.<br />
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I started reading this book over two years ago when I began a small group studying the text. I was not enthusiastic about it. I am kind of a lone-wolf and an introvert. I had a hard time understanding how someone could change their theological spots, so to speak, because some racist idiot got elected President. I guess I would consider myself an evangelical, but I am not a big fan of labels and cliques anyway.<br />
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So, I started reading these authors. Some feel like they need to defend evangelicalism. Some feel like they need to criticize evangelicalism. Others just feel like they need to testify about their experiences and the experiences of their community. Through the process, I learned a lot. Specifically I was afforded the possibility of thinking deeper about the following:<br />
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<ul>
<li>The difference between compassion and justice</li>
<li>How the history of how the marriage of conservative politics' intimate relationship with evangelicalism is historically grounded in institutional racism</li>
<li>The history of anti-Latino/a sentiment in America</li>
<li>How for many minority communities, silence by evangelicals is seen as complicity with racrist practices</li>
<li>How the default of defining ourselves by theology and belief instead of practice in Christian circles leads to complicity in evil at best and guilty participation in poltical evil at worst.</li>
</ul>
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There is much more here than this. Christians need to read more and think more about these issues. Not just because there are Black Lives Matters rallies each day, but rather because racial dialogue and reconcilation is going to be a huge part of our societal and ecclesial future. If we don't address this issues now in empathetic yet reasoned ways, there will be a price to pay in the future. </div>
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<br />Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-26427394170515938472020-06-03T08:54:00.001-06:002020-06-03T08:54:19.349-06:00Thoughtful articles regarding race and current eventsKareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote this thoughtful piece for the Los Angeles Times:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-05-30/dont-understand-the-protests-what-youre-seeing-is-people-pushed-to-the-edge?fbclid=IwAR2F3qeVOjTUhmpwb2nky1UCr94YxPSbLo6_b_KDA4XZYA5Y3srzJoOxy-0">Don't Understand the Protests?</a><br />
<br />
Phil Vischer (of Veggie Tales fame) wrote this on remembering his story differently<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.holypost.com/post/how-racial-injustice-has-benefited-me?fbclid=IwAR1VbTYtslf83pLLdeQnotms7VW9dJJqvIFomZBW9nZO8lCMm2uVT-sVdpc">Racial Injustice has Benefited Me</a><br />
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Cornel West<br />
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<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/01/george-floyd-protests-cornel-west-american-democracy">A boot is crushing the neck of American democracy</a><br />
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<br />Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-40339848323826322122020-05-07T13:48:00.001-06:002020-05-07T13:48:39.861-06:00Chaising Rabbits: Who has heard of the Plague of Cyprian?I just discovered an article called, "Christianity has been handling epidemics for 2000 years" by Lyman Stone at foriegnpolicy.com. <br />
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Did you know that:<br />
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There was a plague, possibly related to Ebola, that hit the ancient world in the third century.<br />
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That this plague was named after a preacher that encouaged his congregation to care for those afflicted with this plague "heedless of danger". His name was Cyprian.<br />
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That non-believers took notice of this compassion, and that this compassion led to a widespread growth of the Christian message<br />
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Anyway...thought that was interesting...Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-47066908252204652682020-05-03T00:27:00.002-06:002020-05-03T00:27:29.661-06:00Shepherd Sunday and the Contextualization of the FaithI saw someone write the other day that they appreciated that a speaker did not use the pastoral, rural imagery of a shepherd when he described meaningful ministry. Instead, he described something more modern and urban. Most of us don't live in rural places where we take care of animals anymore he said, and so we needed to update our language when we speak about God and the Bible.<br />
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I did not like this perspective very much. First of all, it left me wondering if people like this pastor back east thought of everything between the Eastern Time Zone and the West Coast as a desolate part of the world that you flew over but never engaged with. It also left me disappointed because the writer and the speaker that he wrote about lost the opportunity to understand a metaphor in light of the bible world, and its missional focus.<br />
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You see, much of the world of the Bible prior to the death of Jesus took place in more rural environment. There were exceptions of course. Egypt seems rather populous. As does Babylon. These places where the Israelites were broken down and beat up don't bring back the best memories however. Then there is Jerusalem. The city on a hill! But often, even those that make it to Jerusalem do so after starting out mucking stalls and chasing around sheep.<br />
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The language of shepherd was a powerful image in the Hebrew mind because it mixed rural sensibilities of pastoral life with the blue-collar training it took to be a good leader. Moses was a shepherd. David was a shepherd. Abraham was a shepherd. Shepherding was at once a plain job that rural folks often engaged in, and an imagery of care and protection that people projected upon their leaders, and upon God himself.<br />
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God guided in wilderness. God led us through difficult terrain. God provided. God protected. We can move on to similar extra-biblical metaphors. Maybe that helps, But, perhaps, maybe we miss something when we run away from the ancient rural sensitvities of Scripture into modern concrete terrain with invisible waves carrying messages through the air.<br />
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Furthermore, if you want to see someone contextualize the gospel from a pastoral setting to a more urban one, all you need to do is look at the Apostle Paul. He, like Jesus and the biblical writers of old, communicated the gospel into his context. He did a mashup of Greek philosophy and Christian theology in Athens. He spoke to principalities and powers in Ephesus.<br />
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Other new testament writers do this as well. Perhaps most clearly, the book of Revelation contextualizes the language of heaven for urban folks. Although there is much discussion of the Lamb at the beginning of the book, by the end of the Apocolypse we see a new city, a new Jerusalem as an image of heaven. This is quite different from the language of Isaiah who talked about all sorts of created animals and people lying down together in a relatively unpopulated pastoral landscape.<br />
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Maybe I overreacted. Maybe I did not. Either way, before we run to contextualize the language of Scripture, let us examine the truth and beauty the original image conveys.Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-49361154239337948612020-05-02T09:00:00.000-06:002020-05-02T09:01:57.965-06:00Very Brief Review of He is Enough by Asheritah Ciucui<img alt="Amazon.com: He is Enough: Living in the Fullness of Jesus (A Study ..." 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" /><br />
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<b>He is Enough: Living in the Fullness of Jesus</b><br />
by Asheritah Ciuciu<br />
ISBN 978-0-8024-1686-5<br />
Moody Publishers<br />
Reviewed by Clint Walker<br />
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This is a daily, verse by verse study of the book of Colossians. Although it could be used in groups, it appears to have its primary focus in guiding personal study through this book on a daily basis. The author uses the FEAST method of digging into the Word, a method she developed herself after years of leading and participating in Bible Study. Although it is marketed as a women's study, much of the book is appropriate for either gender.<br />
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Full of appendices and other helps, it is a weighty resource for a 6-week study. Although I would use other resources than the bibliography indicates, I think this is a study I would hand to someone in my church who really wanted to go deeper in studying God's Word.<br />
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<br />Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-36651010850818875542020-05-02T08:48:00.001-06:002020-05-02T08:50:07.645-06:00Book Review of The Healing Gout Cookbook by Lisa Cicciarello Andrews<img src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcQd-yATdGo4OkFLNfptCtPPvf_PHW6MD9lFgFcQYxLxOJcDixsXDHBlYasYMoryNTsDuTLPI_pe&usqp=CAc" /><br />
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<b>The Healing Gout Cookbook: Anti-Inflammatory Recipes to Lower Uric Acid Levels and Reduce Flares</b><br />
by Lisa Cicciarello Andrews<br />
ISBN 978-1-64611-446-7<br />
Rockridge Press<br />
Reviewed by Clint Walker<br />
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My doctor suspects I have gout. She has not tested me for gout, because I only come in when I have flare ups. Gout is pretty painful. What is worse than the pain, for me, is that it limits my range of motion and ability to be active. Also, the wife walking around behind me singing Adam Sandler's "Lunch Lady Land" is not all that pleasant either.<br />
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This cookbook is designed to help persons with gout eat in a way that lowers their uric acid levels, thus reducing or eliminating gout symptoms from a persons life. Who, who has suffered from gout, would not want that?<br />
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The early chapters educate readers on what gout is, levels of gout, and how gout is treated, and how dietary practices contribute to gout's development and treatment.<br />
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This cookbook is detailed, with clear notes on prep time, whether or not something is vegan, diabetic-friendly, gluten-free and more. Many of the recipes sound tasty. I will most likely use a few of these recipes.<br />
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My only concern with this recipe book, as is with every recipe book, is that it often requires me to purchase items that are in the grocery store, but I have never really seen or considered purchasing. This is not without reason. I am not an experienced scratch cooker, and I do need more nuts and seeds in my diet. But we don't just have chia seeds or orange extract just hanging around the house. Perhaps if I would clear off my BBQ sauce shelf we might have room for such things!<br />
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<b><br /></b>Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-24515939381856869182020-05-01T16:26:00.000-06:002020-05-01T16:26:02.301-06:00Book Review of "He Lifts My Head High" by Jasena S'vani<img alt="He Lifts My Head High: 3-Minute Daily Affirmations for Christians" height="320" src="https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/9781641525015-us.jpg" width="228" /><br />
<b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1641525010#auig">He Lifts My Head High: 3-Minute Daily Affirmations for Christians</a></b><br />
by <a href="http://voyageatl.com/interview/life-work-jasena-svani/">Jasena S'vani</a><br />
ISBN 978-1-64152-501-5<br />
Althea Press<br />
Reviewed by Clint Walker<br />
<br />
I recieved this book for review from the Amazon Vine Program. It is a pretty interesting little book. Written by a younger gal that appears to be from Atlanta, she has organized a book that has daily affirmations of faith for the whole year. In addition to this, she also has a slightly lengthier monthly devotional that sets the tone for that month's thoughts.<br />
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Each affirmation has a verse or an inspirational quote, and a little encouragement to stay in the battle of faith and keep on going through life with your head up. I'm not sure I will use it for a regular devotional, it is a little too simplistic for that. But I will keep it somewhere near my desk and take a quick peek at it when I feel I need some Christ-centered positive encouragement.<br />
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<br />Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-46775312698954308302020-04-28T22:21:00.000-06:002020-04-28T22:21:38.010-06:00Pet Peeve regarding COVID restrictionsA lot of people don't get their vocabulary right regarding the kind of guidelines and restrictions they are subject to with COVID-19. Here is a helpful reminder.<br />
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If you are in one of about six states that are simply enforcing the CDC guidelines, you are not under quarantine. You are under social distancing guidelines, or laws. You are able to get out. You are able to drive through the drive-thru for meals. You are able to order from Walmart online, and then run to town to pick up your order.<br />
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If you are on a stay-at-home order your life may truly suck. But you can still interact with your family. You can go for a walk. You can move freely about your property. You are simply not to congregate with others, and stay home as much as possible.<br />
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If you are quarantined, you are generally a COVID positive or a potentially COVID positive person. You are most likely banished to one room of your house, or if you have a big house perhaps the entire basement. You have restrictions on using the restroom, on how you touch door handles, etc. etc. This really sucks.<br />
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My pet peeve is persons who get frustrated about not going to church, or being able to congregate in a bar, and then say they are under quarantine. They are not. Quarantine is a much different thing.<br />
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End of rant.Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9483172.post-10404534980593332232020-04-23T14:30:00.001-06:002020-04-23T14:30:24.957-06:00Karis' Pictures of the Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Friar Tuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18404281343475373969noreply@blogger.com0