The Color Green

Preparing for a paper on the sacramental life, I came across this video by Rich Mullins, titled The Color Green. I love the song, and after watching it I remembered just what an amazing gift he'd received to bring God alive in song. It is a grace I am not entirely certain we see often in this world:

A Little Sabbath Rest

Today provided some real Sabbath rest. I woke up late; didn't change out of my pajamas until after dinner; and didn't go anywhere. I tidied the house, checked e-mail, played some Wii, and hung out with my wife.

We run so fast. We never think there is enough time. The fact is an eternity wouldn't be long enough for the efficiency of American culture. We are what we do; and what we do is only what we accomplish. Sometimes, though, we need to settle back and give our cares back to God and name the lie that enslaves us: that we can control the world in which we live.

Enjoy you Sabbath rest and remember who we are is much more than we ever might accomplish.

I PASSED!

Finally received my grade for the January term. I got an "A". Yippee! My final project was an exploration of the Shema Prayer.

If that's something that interests you, you may find it here.

A Word from B.T. Roberts

So, I have been enjoying reading POPULIST SAINTS: B.T. & ELLEN ROBERTS & THE FIRST FREE METHODISTS. Written by Howard Snyder, it traces the Roberts' lives since their birth through their death. Wonderful stories!

One particular note of interest is that each chapter begins with a quotation from one of them. I'd like to share some of those here:

The Bible is a radical book. It never proposes half-way measures. ~B.T. Roberts

You must have your mind fixed on being wholly the Lord's. ~Phoebe Palmer to Ellen Roberts

I am happier than I ever was before, for I enjoy more religion. ~B.T. Roberts

The object of divine grace is to destroy our selfishness. ~B.T. Roberts

[T]o visit the people from house to house and converse with them closely about their religious state, requires grace. ~B.T. Roberts

We have been raising monuments to the victories of our fathers, when we ought to have been achieving still greater conquests. ~B.T. Roberts.

I must live more as in the presence of God and do nothing at any time incompatible with my calling. ~B.T. Roberts

I want to do what is best for both worlds. ~B.T. Roberts

We want this church [Free Methodist Church] to promote the kingdom of God. ~B.T. Roberts

The only way for us to hold our ground is to be as radical as we were at the beginning. ~B.T. Roberts

I love the challenge of those last words, spoken while Roberts served in a single -and contentious- year at Buffalo's Niagra Street Methodist Episcopal Church. Read them again, "We have been raising monuments to the victories of our fathers, when we ought to have been achieving still greater conquests." It's easier to celebrate the glories of our past than take up the cross ourselves. Hmmmmm. . . .

West Michigan Conference Hope

Grace and peace, brothers and sisters. It has been far too long since I regularly blogged here at Bethel’s Cloister, at least too long for me. Over the past year I have been adjusting to a new job, suffering two family medical emergencies, and starting work on my doctorate of ministry at Asbury Theological Seminary. Yet the grace of our Jesus continually calls me back to quiet places where a weary soul is restored.

This past week I celebrated my first annual conference in connection with the West Michigan Conference of the United Methodist Church. A Wesleyan through and through I find conference a beautiful expression of the communion of saints, a deliberate act of unity in mission. I was especially touched by the ordination service. All the ordained gathered in robes of all kinds and sang to God as we processed into the conference center. Before us sat the ordinands and those waiting to be commissioned. We prayed; we broken open the words of Christ to go out into all nations, baptizing in the name of Father, Son, and Spirit; and the leaders of our conference laid hands on those whose call to ministry has been recognized by the community of faith. It is a holy thing; a sacred act; a time to remember our own solemn vows to exercise a ministry of word, sacrament, and order.

But this moment also highlighted what was most difficult for me. Besides their robes and red stoles, some wore a rainbow sash symbolizing their solidarity with the gay, bi-, lesbian community seeking full rights within the United Methodist Church. The right to be married by our clergy. The right to be ordained without reserve. The right to exercise all the privileges of membership without the demands of the Discipline. In this sense I felt something that should have been holy and sacred was marred by the politics of the Reconciling Movement- an organization committed to these goals.

But it wasn’t merely the service itself. The conference was asked to consider a piece of legislation which would have restricted healthcare to conference personnel and their families. For the past several years coverage has been extended to include “domestic partners”, code for same sex partners.

During this debate I and everyone who supported the amendment was derided as immoral and dishonest. To consider overturning West Michigan’s policy was tantamount to a n act of injustice.

So many of those who argue on behalf of liberalizing the church’s policy towards homosexuality emphasize empathy. We need to understand the difficulty homosexuals suffer, the prejudice, and disrespect. If we would, we would understand and certainly support this as another victory for civil rights. What is never mentioned is empathy for those like myself who have devoted themselves to keeping our faith wholly. Empathy and understanding is not encouraged for those of us who understand that Scripture, reason, tradition, and experience do not speak towards an acceptance of this lifestyle as compatible with faith. This is the stand of the United Methodist Book of Discipline, yet we are the ones standing on the outside looking in as the conference makes a decision which undermines our connection to the church at large.

And so I hope many of you will consider some of the following with me. First, that you join West Michigan Conference Hope, a group of clergy and lay people joined together in support of traditional Christian beliefs. They are committed to a theology of holiness of heart and life. You may contact First United Methodist Church of Eaton Rapids for more information.

Second, sign up on the Confessing Movement’s Facebook page. It’s a great place to connect with those committed to a thoroughly Wesleyan faith and practice.

Third, subscribe the Good News Magazine, a publication for United Methodists urging renewal of the denomination. Maybe your church even wants to provide their literature to congregants.

These are resources that are out there for United Methodists who feel estranged from their own church. I would also suggest the West Michigan Conference Hope mobilize in order to become as visible within the conference as those of the Reconciling Movement.

Do I press send? I know this e-mail will alienate some, possibly infuriate others. But perhaps others will be encouraged to know they were not alone.

May all that is done be done to his glory.

Pastor's and Church Leader's Manual

Just received my copy of the Pastor's and Church Leader's Manual from the Wesleyan Publishing House. I haven't read through it quite yet, but I have to say it looks quite interesting, much more resource-full than the old Free Methodist Pastor's Handbook. There are sections on the the doctrinal emphasis of Free Methodism, the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, Wesley's Way of Salvation, perspectives on atonement, even an exploration of ROSE.

If you're a Free Methodist pastor I think this is a resource you are going to want! You may want to suggest these for consecrated deacons and board members as well.

The Gift of Faith

In the brief five and a half years of marriage, my wife and I have endured a great deal of personal trials. Whether the death of her grandmother or a long year spent in conflict with the congregation my wife and I were sent to serve. This week I received two phone calls. The first from my wife. She went with her family to her mother's oncologist, who told them that her cancner has progressed so far that treatment will do her more harm than good. There is nothing left they can do. Thirty-five minutes later, I receive a call from my mother. My father had just been in to see the doctor, and they found cancer in his lungs.

What is a son of God to do? I have cried out to him for my mother-in-law, and now I face a similar sickness in my own father. What can I believe when the answers don't seem to come, and storm gets all the darker?

I trust.I don't trust in the medical doctors and their science. Science ultimately fails us. Whatever ailment we survive in life, there will be one that leads us to death. I don't trust prayer methods. I don't trust that if I pray this way or that, that something will, something must happen. I don't trust my own will to force the hand of God to act this way or that. I trust the love of God for those he sends me to love. I trust that however much I might love my mother-in-law and my father, my Abba loves them all the more. They are his beloved, as he is my own.

Sola gloria Dei.