Serving at The Banquet

This afternoon we make our annual “pilgrimage” to The Banquet in Sioux Falls, SD to serve supper (see The Banquet for more information on this ministry). Salem, Belmont and Bethany Lutheran Churches bring about 35 to 40 people to serve supper for people who are homeless or just need a hot meal.  When I called last week to plan the meal I was told that The Banquet is expecting to serve about 500 people that day (numbers have been up from previous years).  In the past we have served 465, 421, 363, 396 people.  I guess I shouldn’t be surprised about the increase of people needing a hot meal considering the economy.

But as I think about making the necessary preparations to bring this group to Sioux Falls I find myself looking at our Gospel text for Sunday from Mark 12:38-44 (“The widow’s offering”).  Scripture commands us to care for the alien, the widow and the orphans.  Now I am not calling The Banquet guest “aliens” or anything of the sort, but they are people we are called (and commanded) to care for.  I mean…for the most part we live lives of abundance.  You have food in your refrigerator and you probably have a good idea where lunch and supper is coming from.  You probably even know what you are going to eat at those meals.  For the guests that utilize The Banquet for the livelihood, they don’t know…they don’t even know for sure if they can even get in to have a hot meal.  It depends if they get in line soon enough and the number of people there.  There are so many questions for those guests, but not so much for us.

A friend of mine has told me that they get frustrated with themselves because they feel they don’t do enough for others.  But maybe, just maybe, the poor widow from Mark 12 can teach us something:  It’s not the amount but the sacrifice.

I am looking forward to tonight; looking forward to what God is going to do through each of us…for His glory.

Praise be to God!

-edh-

“Stewardship” Sunday

“Stewardship is not about the church’s need to receive but rather about YOUR need to give.”

I heard the above quote at a stewardship seminar I attended a couple years ago (I may have even blogged about it but I can’t remember).  I bring this up because this coming Sunday, Nov. 8 is “Stewardship Sunday” at Salem.

“Stewardship”…Sunday…isn’t every Sunday about stewardship?

Isn’t every day about stewardship?

I mean seriously…shouldn’t we talk about stewardship as something we do everyday as a response to what God has done for us in Christ?
–Aren’t we stewards of the Gospel?
–Aren’t we stewards of our time, gifts and talents?
–Aren’t we stewards of “our” possessions?
And if we answered “yes” to all those questions (and we should) then “Stewardship Sunday” is something that needs to be done away with because “Stewardship Sunday” should happen every single day.

I also bring all this up in light of the Gospel text for this Sunday which is from Mark 12:38-44.  This is the story of the woman giving her two small copper coins (all she had) and Jesus commending her for giving out of her need (as opposed to the rich who gave out of their surplus).
–Is this text about us being better stewards?
–Is Jesus calling our attention to the fact that she felt driven to give despite her poverty; knowing God will care for
her?
–Do we use this text to highlight the church’s need to receive, our need to give, all of the above or none of the above?

I wonder if I need to do something different this year and totally throw people off.  Maybe I need to just rename this Sunday to “Turkey Dinner Sunday” because after all that is what we are also doing on Sunday.

Do you have a “Stewardship” Sunday?

-edh-

(Blogging) Sabbatical thoughts

It has been a while since I have posted something, but I guess that goes with being on a blogging sabbatical.  Throughout this time I have been checking in from time to time and have been pleasantly surprised with the comments people have still left and the traffic still coming through here.  Thank you for hanging with me.

I am not sure if I am back in full force yet, but I am beginning to think that I am about ready to, at least, slowly ease my way back in (kind of like slowing slipping into a hot tub).  I have missed writing even though it has felt nice to step away for a while.

Now that I am working my way back some may be tempted to ask “what did you learn on your sabbatical?“  I am not sure how to answer that.  It wasn’t so much a learning time than it was a time to recoup; rediscover and re-energize.  Those things I have accomplished…and it feels good.

I do have much to tell you.  And…I have comments to respond to.  I will get to all of those.  So in the mean time, have a very blessed All Saints Sunday as you remember and celebrate the saints that have gone ahead of us; as we celebrate the saints militant (the newly baptized) that have joined the journey and as we celebrate our saintliness that we have been granted through Jesus Christ.  It is indeed a day to celebrate and give thanks.

So as a close friend/mentor used to greet his congregation with: “Good morning sinners…good morning saints“.

Praise be to God always and forever, Amen.

-edh-

Sabbatical

I little while back…post #499…I mentioned that I still feel called to write this blog but as I sit here and even write this post I am struggling to think of the words to type.  I have gone through lulls in the past, have taken breaks, etc, but this is different.  I am not sure how this is different (I can’t put it into words) I just know it is.

So with that I am taking a “sabbatical” from blogging for a little while.  I am still going to follow the blogs that I have been following; I just won’t being writing much for new content.  I am not “closing shop”, just taking a break.  I hope you will be patient with me and periodically check in.  I am hoping that not having a regular routine of blogging will either stir the desire in me to keep writing or confirm something else in me (i.e “Has this blog run it’s course?”).  I lot of questions will be addressed within me and I hope answers come soon.

I am going to continue my connection and communication with people through Facebook and Twitter so feel free to check in with me there as well.

So I am off…on blogging sabbatical.

Til we meet again.

God bless!

-edh-

Leadership

A friend of mine sent me the following text message last night:  “Define Leadership”.

I thought about that for a second and send back the following reply: “In a text message?”

It wasn’t too much later when my friend replied with: “and in as few words as possible.”

I could see a glint in his eye and I knew there was something going on.  Well…I mentioned to my wife what my friend texted me and she said (with a sly look on her face):  “JESUS!”  Not a bad answer so I send that text to my friend.  Of course he accused me of playing the “Jesus card”, but also admitted it was a good answer.

I eventually called him and we chatted about this for a while…not coming up with an answer but decided to get together with some other guys and discuss this.

So I throw this out to you:  Define Leadership

I am curious what you think.  Try to keep your responses relatively short (long “books” are hard to respond too).  In this day and age, strong leadership is important.

Let’s see if we can write a good definition together.

-edh-

God is good!!!

If there was ever a time when I needed to be reminded that God will never give us more than we can handle…it is now.

Here’s the situation in brief:

–As I have mentioned before this weekend is Salem’s 125th anniversary and there is an open house at the parsonage tomorrow (Saturday).

–The bathroom is being remodeled.  We ordered flooring but as of Thursday is just arrived but no one was available to put it in = messy house for open house = stressed wife = stressed husband (me).  Help!

–[Here's God intervening] One of my trustees has a son who installs flooring (why I didn’t remember is beyond me).  She heard about our setback and called her son and he said he could come on Friday to install the flooring.  PRAISE BE TO GOD!  He just left (Friday morning) to get is tools so he can start.  The  bathroom will now be done by the open house = less stress for my wife = less stress for the husband (me). PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!

–[Here's God intervening again] Project #2…the patio.  One parishioner is working on this (former landscaper) all by himself = lots of work.  Yesterday and this morning people have been calling me left and right saying they are coming over to help Joel and get this done (Joel is happier).  PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!  And now I am feeling overwhelmed by God’s greatness and faithfulness.

–[The priesthood of all believers] People from the anniversary committee, the congregation president, various other council members, parishioners, and friends from the community (a friend of mine who happens to be the council president at the other Lutheran church in town) have stepped up to make this weekend happen.  Thank you and PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!

In response to this all I can say is “God is good…all the time.  All the time…God is good!!!”

PRAISE BE TO GOD!

-edh-

The week in review

<Deep breath>

I have been trying to stop and to that from time to time…stop and take a breath…but it has been tough this week.  Here’s my week in review:

Monday: Relaxing day with a hint of stress and anxiety over what was coming up during the week.

Tuesday: A do-to list that looked a mile long.  I would check one thing off and add two others (one step forward and two back…all day).  But in the end I did get all the Tuesday items checked off plus 3 for later in the week (a minor victory).

Wednesday: A day that was a little more low-keyed (since I got so much done on Tuesday).  Ministerial meeting, out-of-town hospital visit, and council meeting.  All the while overseeing the new patio that is going in at the parsonage next door.

Thursday (today): Plan two worship services for Salem’s 125th anniversary weekend, sermon prep, parents coming through to have lunch with me (I can hardly wait), and an out of town Shetek Lutheran Ministries board meeting this afternoon/tonight.  And sometime today I need to get to a building supply store to buy some retaining block for the patio landscaping.  This should be an interesting day.

Friday: This is supposed to be my day off but I got a feeling it might not be.  At the very least I will sleep in, but beyond that…who knows.  It all depends on today.

Saturday – Sunday: Salem Lutheran Church’s 125th anniversary celebration.  If you hear from me next week it means I survived the weekend.  I am looking forward to the celebration but part of me will be glad when Monday arrives.

Now that you know my calendar for the week I what to share something with you that was written on my Facebook site the other day by a friend and reader of this blog.  He wrote:  “Live within the limits of the day.  God is also the Lord of the undone.“  Thank you, Patrick, this has been helpful this week.

God bless all of you and take care!

-edh-

More processing…

O.K….I am back, writing about “the vote” at the ELCA CWA, but all I want to do here is share with you a couple snippets and let you process/respond to them.

FIRST — a woman came into my office last week to express her feelings about where the ELCA is going.  We had a very fruitful discussion, even though we have differing views.  She stopped in again today and handed me a piece of paper with 2 Cor. 6:14 – 7:1 written on it.  She said that this is where she is coming from.  She was on her way to another appointment so we couldn’t talk about it.  What do you think about this scripture in relation to the homosexuality discussion?

SECOND — I received this link on Facebook today.  It is a news release from the ELCA titled “The Church’s mission is bigger than one issue”.  I found this helpful.  What do you think?

Like most other people I am still processing.

Praise be to God!

-edh-

New links to check out

I have added some new links to my left side bar that I want to call your attention to.  With so many over there it is easy for news ones to get missed.  So here they are:

(1) Pretty Good Lutherans:  Susan is an award winning journalist and Christian writer.  I was introduced to her through Twitter and have thoroughly enjoyed following her tweets.  Check out this quote from her site:
“Susan Hogan believes 21st century evangelism demands a new model for congregations to remain relevant. Jesus demonstrated a grassroots approach based on storytelling. He listened and observed people wherever he traveled. He told stories that related to their lives. He didn’t seek the advice of public relations experts; he told the truth with compassion and love.”
I am looking forward to reading more from her.

(2) Enter the Bible is a link I just added to my favorites websites.  This is a Bible study resource from Luther Seminary.  When you sign up for a FREE account you get access to commentaries, study plans, notes, etc.  I have found this helpful in sermon prep and personal Bible study.  It’s worth a look.

(3) Greg Boyd (Christus Victor Ministries): Greg Boyd is a very insightful and passionate author, speaker and pastor.  He is the author of the books:  Myth of  a Christian Nation and Letters from a Skeptic (among many others). You may not always agree with him but he will make you think.  The following is a quote in the “About” section of his site:
“Christus Victor Ministries (CVM) facilitates Greg Boyd’s ministry outside of Woodland Hills Church, where he is Senior Pastor. Greg believes that challenging both believers and non-believers to think critically will lead them to a well-grounded and coherent faith. Through books, sermons, speaking engagements, debates and this website, Greg continues to encourage people to embrace a vision of God and the Kingdom that is intellectually compelling and spiritually fulfilling.”

Stop by and check these out.

Let me know what you think about them.

And…if you have some other sites worth checking out, let me know that too.

Take care and God bless!

-edh-

A change of pace

I have been taking a little break from blogging the last couple days.  This past week has been a whirl wind since “the vote” at the ELCA CWA.  Many of my posts and comments here have dealt with issues from the CWA (Churchwide assembly).  This will continue to be an important topic to think and pray about and discuss…but I need a little break to process.  There are some comments on this blog that I need to attend to and I plan to respond to those early this week…so I thank you for your patience.  I am also working on a plan to meet with parishioners in small groups to listen to their concerns and questions while I share more information about the ELCA.  I have yet to finalize details yet, but when I do I will be sharing this plan with you here.

These next couple weeks may continue to be a whirl wind for me though:
–Salem’s 125th anniversary celebration is just 2 weeks away…with much to do yet.

–Confirmation, release time and Wednesday Night Live is beginning in mid-September.

–My wife and I are in the midst of home remodeling…which we are trying to finish before the 125th anniversary (we are having an open house at the parsonage).

So there’s much to do…and with that probably much to blog about.  But if you see a little dip in postings from the past week you will know why.  As I say every year…September is one of the busiest months of the year for me (next to December and Holy Week/Easter month).

In any case (and as always) I thank you for your comments and for stopping by.  Your presence here is extremely important to me and to others who visit.  Your thoughts and questions cause me (and others) to think.  So thank you and God bless!

-edh-