January 2008

You will need your Bible when you read this…

“Our vision is to be a Christ-centered congregation affirming his love by practicing spiritual disciplines and serving others.”  What does it mean to practice spiritual disciplines?  Our vision statement gives us three clues:

1. It is an avenue to being “Christ-centered.”

2. It is a means of “affirming his love.”

3. It goes with “serving others.”

But how do we do it?  How do we practice spiritual disciplines?

Two principles surface when we consider how to practice spiritual disciplines.  First is the principle of desire – specifically a desire for a change in my heart and in my relationship with God.  Second is the principle of inspiration – the desire I have is actually my response to being sought by God.  Because God is already at work in my life, I begin to seek ways for God to be at work in my life.  God has some mysterious ways!

As Christians, we ask questions which reflect our desire.  Jesus actually encouraged such questions (see Mt.. 20:21, Mt. 20: 32, Mk. 10:36, or Jn. 5:6 – you willl need your Bible here).

The desire that we have has been a part of the Christian life since the beginning, and over the centuries the activation of desire has been accomplished through intentional practices, patterns, relationships, and experiences.  We have come to know these as “spiritual disciplines.”  One of the earliest outlines of the disciplines which shape Christian desire is found in Acts 2:42 (you need your Bible here).

How would you like to begin your spiritual discipline as we enter a new year?

Each month of 2008, I will be sharing a way to practice one spiritual discipline, as a kind of “jump-start” for anyone who wants to participate.  You can use this column to focus and shape your own desire to know and love God. (That is what disciplines accomplish).

The first discipline I will offer will help us to hear God’s word; the discipline is “Bible Study.” 

and hearing the Bible affords opportunities to grow in our relationship with God while opening our minds and our lives to God’s truth, God’s guidance, God’s correction, and God’s desire.  Bible study can reveal God’s love and priorities; it can also reveal OUR love and priorities.

Bible study begins with a desire to know what the Bible says and to see where and how it intersects with life. 

If you have a helpful way of Bible study which you would like to share with others, then I invite you to write a description of your method and give it to me to be included in the “Bible Study As Spiritual Discipline” handout (available at the end of the month).  If you would like some suggestions to help you in your Bible study, ask me or Sandy for “Bible Study Suggestions” which are already available.  There are also many resources in the “

for Faith Development” right here in our building.  I know that Martha can point out some of the more helpful resources (commentaries, study guides, etc.).

The most important thing, however, is to begin the discipline and practice it.  Set aside time each day or each week for your Bible study.  Choose a notebook so you can record the ways God is communicating with you.  And select a version of the Bible which you enjoy reading and hearing (you might also consider using two different versions).  This spiritual discipline will begin to change your relationship with God, because Bible study is a discipline which can transform Friendship.

April, 2008 

“Parking Violation”

(The Spiritual Discipline of Hospitality)

Hebrews 13: 1-3

Downtown Athens. A young woman, probably a UGA student and certainly a person of financial means, judging by her outfit and automobile, was stooping down next to an unkempt, disheveled man on one of those park-like benches. I saw her give him money; I saw her touching his arm as he talked; I watched their eyes connect; I could almost feel their hearts reaching out of their chests as he shared his story and she listened. Then a citizen intervened; I guess he thought he had a better idea. “You shouldn’t give money to those people,” he said. “There is a ‘parking meter’ just up the street; don’t give money to panhandlers -- put it in the parking meter.”

I wondered: how do you touch to the arm of a parking meter? How do you look a parking meter in the eye? How do you share your heart with a parking meter?

I don’t get it (but I have heard that the “parking meter” approach is used in many other cities, too). All over Athens, throughout our state, across this great country where we celebrate OUR independence, there are so many people who are not free. They are in need of hospitality; and there are millions of others who need to practice it: Hospitality.

The parking meter “solution” misses the boat; it’s not about the money -- it’s about hospitality. Giving is the currency of relationship; hospitality transforms a natural, human inclination into a life-changing relationship with God.

Lot practiced the spiritual discipline of hospitality -- he fed the strangers, let them wash their feet, gave them rest and comfort, and encouraged them on their journey. Those who interfered with Lot’s welcoming provision and protection of strangers were guilty of violation of hospitality. (Gen. 19: 1-10) In the New Testament, Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7: 36 ff) did the opposite. He showed no hospitality, even when Jesus was his guest.

More people are alienated in this world than ever before -- even right here in our own neighborhoods. We can practice hospitality -- open hands and arms, open ears and hearts, with those who are alienated, yet among us. Christians cannot afford to stand back at a safe distance and simply feed the meter.

Hospitality to strangers is not so easy in a culture where there is much to fear. The hospitality codes by which Lot lived assured that protection was reciprocal, and that the guests who were received also demonstrated good will. In these times when the hue and cry against those among “us” who are “different” is as false as it is loud, we can take a lesson from Lot, and live by what we know to be God’s way.

To practice hospitality as a spiritual discipline is to confront the barriers to befriending the stranger and the obstacles which prevent the stranger from befriending me. To begin with what I have to offer is self-centered and controlling. To orient myself to the stranger or alien who stands at the threshold of my life changes my point of view. He or she, also a child of God, comes with something to offer as well. And often quite afraid.

A congregation or a family or a person who shuts the door to the stranger misses the opportunity to encounter God. Hospitality does not mean that we sit “in here” and wait from someone to arrive; it also means that we practice welcoming the stranger when we are “out there.” The door of hospitality, when open, swings both ways.

Christ comes to us just as He is. Therefore, we may not recognize Him. If we ignore or reject the stranger, we may or may not have the opportunity again. But in that instance, we miss the opportunity which God has provided for us to practice hospitality, which is at the heart of Friendship.

January, 2009

"What To Think About In 2009"

I wonder as I wander …

My mind wanders. I can be thinking of something and then -- seemingly right in the middle of a thought -- forget what I was thinking. (This makes it doubly important for me to use a manuscript when I preach!)

Another thing that happens: I can have an experience which calls to my mind a thought of someone that I have not seen in years. Or, I might see someone who reminds me of an experience that happened years ago. And my mind is off and running like a rawhide calf running away from the herd. (Just thinking that reminds me of Rowdy Yates who was really Clint Eastwood, who came out with a new movie on Christmas Day. Movies make me think of popcorn and that reminds me that Jocelyn and I got some FANTASTIC popcorn in the mail this Christmas.) See?! There I go again.

Does your mind ever do this?

My mind could use some discipline. And the best discipline for a mind like mine, to help keep my thinking crisp and positive, comes from The One who had the thought of me even before I was me. (Which reminds me, I can’t think of a time when God has stopped thinking of me…or any of us.) So. I went to The Book, and here is what I found.

In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul wrote about what to think. It doesn’t get much simpler that this: If you want to keep your thinking aligned with God’s, then stay focused in this way:

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8 - New Living Translation)

That tells us what kinds of things to think about. It keeps our thoughts from going all over the map; it helps avoid reacting to people and to situations which then leads to thoughts that we don’t need to have. And it keeps us thinking about what our Creator thinks about. And this kind of thinking -- in our relationships with God and with others -- makes for really good Friendship!

February, 2009

“Foot on the Brake”

When I was a teenager, we had a student from the Medical College of Georgia come to our church to conduct a youth revival. I admired this man (probably about 24 years old) more than anyone I had met in a very long time. As president of the youth group, I served as his host; he stayed at my house!!

Driving him to our revival meeting one evening, he paid me a compliment: he said I reminded him of Peter, the Disciple. Beaming with pride, I asked “Why? How? Tell me what makes me like Peter.” (At the time, I honestly believe I would have preferred to remind someone of Peter even over Jesus). His response: “When you are waiting for the traffic signal to turn green, even though you have your foot on the brake, you don’t stay stopped; you inch forward -- about three feet at a time -- until the car is in the middle of the intersection and the light is still NOT GREEN. You drive like Peter would drive, and it makes me NUTS.”

Jocelyn has the same pet peeve as my MCG hero. She seems to appreciate everything else about my driving; I am a safe and defensive driver. But I can’t sit still at a RED LIGHT. I mean, I DON’T sit still at a red light. And you see what it’s done to her.

I guess it’s about time, at 57, that I start to learn how to stop.

So, here I am at home, stopped. As you know, this recently discovered infirmity in my cervical spine has slowed me down. (At first I was convinced it was my heart; but that’s a story for another newsletter). Jocelyn is now the driver. She stops completely (and gently) at the intersections. And she is a good driver. And I am learning that I need to learn how to learn to want to be patient. Know what I mean? (It’s listed among the “fruits of the Spirit.” I need to pick some low-hanging fruit, and fast).

Hey, here’s a revelation. I haven’t been practicing what I preach. I know for a fact that I have preached about the fruit of the Spirit. I have no doubt that I have encouraged you to let your life exhibit the fruit of love, joy, peace, PATIENCE, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I am so confident that the fruit of the Spirit has surfaced in at least half-dozen sermons that I would wager…well, I had better stop right there.

Anyway, we all meet new tests every day. Our response to the tests of life is a key factor in our advancement to the next test life will offer. Think about it. Just about any Bible character you can think of was tested at least once; and the ones who we remember as faithful, just, right, honorable, worthy of emulation, were the ones who faced the tests and responded with love, humility, and service to others. And who did the right thing in the process.

So often when we are tested, we get so concerned with ourselves that we forget that “no temptation (or test) has seized you except what is common to humankind. And God is faithful; God will not let you be tempted or tested beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted (or tested) God will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (I Corinthians 10:13). Another thing we (I) often forget in the middle of temptation or testing is that “it’s not all -- or always -- about me.”

God calls each and everyone for a Divine purpose. I stopped just in time to pay attention this time. My foot is on the brakes. I am going to be a couch potato for a few weeks (better than being a lounge lizard. See my explanation elsewhere in the newsletter.) But the point is this: just because I have practiced a bad habit (easing through traffic signals) for most of my life doesn’t mean that I can’t change. I’ve been enjoying the wrong fruit. When you see me again, I hope I have started enjoying a little patience. I can hardly wait!

I can tell you this because I know many of you to be patient. And because I trust our Friendship.

-Bob

March, 2009

"From Defiance to Reliance"

When you don’t get your way, who do you blame first?

I recently had a conversation with a friend about our tendency to defy God. If that sounds strange to you, think about it again. We have a tendency to defy God!

Defiance begins with disappointment: things are not going MY way. Who do I blame? Defiance continues with defensiveness: it’s not my fault. Whose fault is it? Defiance persists in doubt: God has either forsaken me, or I am not important. Who is to blame? (Please note: “doubt” in this sense is not intellectual doubt -- I believe that intellectual curiosity and inquisitiveness and testing are important. “Doubt” in the case of defiance is a loss of confidence, which results in fear which leads to blame). In defiance, I exert my will; I either distance myself from God -- “I can do it myself” -- or I push God away. When I do that, something inside me dies.

But God came to us in Jesus Christ to bring LIFE, and to overcome death. God comes to us -- is with us (Emmanuel) -- in order to change our defiance into reliance. Mine is changing…inch by inch it’s a cinch. Is yours?

Our reliance leaks out -- like through cracks in a church baptismal pool -- and defiance seeps in through our imaginations. Read that sentence again: “Defiance seeps in through” the images we cultivate in our minds and hearts -- our imaginations. The images begin with the desires which transform into demands which materialize as deities -- we turn our eyes (our physical eyes and the eyes of our hearts, or both) upon what we want. And those images need not be graven (Exodus 20:4) in order to be grave.

If you haven’t had this experience, save this article until next year. But if you have, then you know where it leads…and you know where it ends. It ends when our effort ends. But no effort to live in the light of Jesus Christ is too high, or too great, or too strenuous. We have not because we ask not (and I am referring to our lack of confidence, not our lack of stuff). We stop asking; we stop seeking; we stop knocking. And the results: we stop receiving, we stop finding, and the doors stay shut.

Whose way do you want? Yours? or God’s? Whose way do I want? Mine? or God’s?

When we turn from reliance on God to defiance of God, we stop lifting our eyes to God (see Psalm 123:2). We hang our heads. When the leak begins, pay attention to what is causing the cracks, and adjust your eyes. “Look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” (Luke 21: 28).

If we really believed that God means what is spoken to us through Scripture…and Nature…and the experiences of the wise and faithful…and the traditions of our Faith…what would our lives be like? God wants to be all that God promises to be. At the core is the essence of faithfulness -- God’s nature, and God’s desire for us. And reliance on God, lived out in faithfulness, is the foundation of Christian Friendship.

- Bob

April, 2009 

“Easter Emotions”

                We all have them.  And for the most part, we have them all!!  Mad, sad, happy, glad…and many, many more.  Emotions.

                The range of human emotions which we experience day in and day out gives us a glimpse into the complexity of the highest and best of God’s Creation: Humankind. It is who we are.

                Easter, and the lengthened Season of preparation which we call “Lent” is an opportunity for a walk through the labyrinth of the Heart, with all its emotions – conspicuous and mysterious.  Reminded of the ashes of our origin as well as of our destiny, we step into a season of self-examination and, for some, self-denial.  We see ourselves as God and others see us; it is our time of confession and cleansing.  Regret, shame, fear, remorse, anxiety, grief.  Lenten emotions, dark and heavy. 

                Holy (or Maundy) Thursday arrives and we wonder how those first Disciples could bear what they understood of His words in that upper room, or how they could sit still as He washed their feet.  The weariness in the Garden transformed into panic as the sounds of soldiers surrounded Him.  Some lashed out; the others scattered – emotions running rampant into an unknown future.

                They had to collect themselves.  And God made a Way.  And a Place.  “Kneel at the cross; leave every care; kneel at the cross. Jesus will meet you there.” (Charles E. Moody)  To one, also gasping for his final breath, He spoke words of comfort and hope: “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.”  And to one He loved as a brother: “Hold your mother.”  And to his beloved mother: “Look and see – your son.”  And to his Father: “Forgive them…”  

                I have not met an emotion yet that failed to bring tears to my eyes: mad, sad, happy or glad.

                The mourning of preparing the Body for burial – wailing and weeping --  gave way to gentle washing, careful and loving touch,  and the aromas of sacrificial love.  The final placement of the stone sealed with imperial wax stopped hearts, dashed hopes, suspended dreams, ended visions.

                The emotions we know in the pits of our stomachs and in the pits of life itself, they are real, there (here) for a purpose.  But God, on Easter, ignited the remnant of Life, the thread of hope not yet broken in that woman who had just enough “oil in her lamp” to see the risen Lord in the shadows of that first light on the first day of Forever.  Can you see Him now? Can you see Him through your tears of Easter joy?  Can you see him through the tears of whatever is demanding the attention of your heart right now?

                He appears to be a gardener.  (And God knows this earth needs a Master Gardener to restore what has been damaged, lost and destroyed.)  Can you resist touching Him until He says “It’s Time”?  Can you go and tell the others what he has told you to say; will you?  Can you experience and express the emotion of Easter long enough for it to be supplanted by the Spirit to come forty days hence?  And then live in the power of the Resurrection 24/7/365?  Can we be Easter People, with all the emotions (from agony to joy) that Easter entails?  Can we be – with the whole range of emotions that make us who and what we are – what our name says to the others in our corner of Creation: Friendship?

Friendship Christian Church is committed to learning and practicing Spiritual Disciplines.  Our newsletters often address one or more of the traditional disciplines for Christian practice, Christian living, and Christian spirituality.  Join us on Sunday mornings as we practice the Spiritual Discipline of Corporate Worship: 10:30 a.m.