Interactive Sermon

Matthew Chapter 8 - The Big But pt. 2

Continuing a study through the Gospel of Matthew using appearances of the word 'but' as an outline, you can find previous entries under the category 'Big Buts' in the left hand panel.

In part one of outlining the buts of chapter eight we considered those in verses 4, 8 and 12.  It was the but in verse 8 that I considered the chapter's biggest - the place where testimony of Jesus' authority is most clearly seen.  But there are still three buts that we didn't cover and a couple of rather important portions of Matthew's record that don't contain the word but at all.

First, consider verses 14-17.  In this passage Jesus heals many, and among them is Peter's mother-in-law.  The wannabe comic in me is screaming to throw a punch-line on this, but I'll refrain.  Still, don't miss that Peter was married.  This isn't the only place in scripture where we are told of his having been married.  It does seem to contradict those who hold that Peter went on to become the never-married, first Pope during his later years in Rome. 

Then, also glance at verses 28-34 - a passage I like to refer to as 'deviled ham'.  In the passage Jesus delivers two men from demon possession by sending the many demons from the men into a herd of pigs - who thereafter rushed off a cliff to their deaths.  The text contains no buts, but there may just be a very thought provoking observation to catch.  Have you ever noticed before that those seven verses begin and end with Jesus traveling?  Jesus traveled to get to the region where these two men were.  In fact, if you look back to verse 18 you see that Jesus gave orders for the men to take him to the destination.  Then, at the end of the episode - the deviled ham having run to their end, Jesus stepped back in the boat to sail for home.  This is meaningful to me.  It didn't seem out of the way for Jesus to meet the need of just a couple of stranded souls.

But, back to the buts.  Verse 20 records Jesus strengthening the point that there is a profound cost to following Jesus.  He does so by saying of Himself, "Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head."

One of Jesus followers spoke up of a conflict - that he would need to wait until his father died so that he could do what was customary for a son to do.  Jesus answer began with a big but, "But Jesus told him, 'Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead'."

The final but in the chapter introduces a most curious picture.  In verses 23-27 Jesus and His followers have embarked in a trip across the lake and a fierce storm stirs.  The picture that is painted is one of waves bursting over the side of the boat; men in panic, fearing for their lives; winds howling.  But Jesus was sleeping.  What's wrong with the scene?  Jesus wasn't sleeping because He was indifferent to the situation.  He was sleeping because it wasn't as perilous, do-or-die from His perspective.  I wonder how often our very situation, in reality, resembles this scene.

Your thoughts?  We'll move on to chapter nine.

Technorati Tags: Interactive Sermon,Big Buts of the Bible,Online Bible Study

Chronicles of War pt. 8

Another piece of my historical creative non-fiction story.  Previous segments can be found in the category of Writing.

Job expected the cannonade to start with the sun. Instead, the day dawned with a peaceful quiet. Even the winds that had swirled through the night had stilled. It was clear and brisk, not a cloud in the sky – a very different feel than any morning in recent memory. Job ordered his things as he waited for direction. Some twenty yards away Colonel Milo Smith and others of the company commanders encircled an officer Job had not seen before. 'He was an amazingly groomed officer', Job thought to himself.  The officer's beard was meticulously trimmed.  His moustache looked as if you could hang a shirt from its stiff handles.  This man's blue uniform jacket appeared brand new and was adorned with blazing buttons aglow; a chord dressing his shoulder; a sash elegantly draping his torso, and a sword that looked as if it were spit-polished for a parade completed his ensemble. Though the men were standing in marsh, Job noticed that this man’s boots were virtually mud free. 

Before the men, this officer was pointing to a drawing that topographers had been working on overnight with the help of guides and scouts. They huddled over it, every so often raising up to follow this officer as he pointed and marked fixed points on the field. Several of the men nodded, as if they were receiving direction. Others looked confused.

This was the choreography of war – well kempt men in splendid uniforms dropping in to direct underlings who would, in minutes, hours or days, maneuver their foot-soldiers and artillery pieces into place. As Job surveyed those soldiers to his left and his right, they were all shoddily dressed, unshaven, their hair mussed from having just having rolled out this morning, and no doubt, many days in which the only tonic their scalps had seen was sweat, dirt and wind.

Colonel Smith, for his part, stood expressionless. Occasionally he would look away from the officer’s gesticulations and glance back at his men – nearly meeting Job’s eyes, it seemed, each time.

Smith was a hard man to read. He wasn’t known as a particularly warm man. Five years Job’s senior, he had been commissioned a Colonel by Governor Kirkwood when the war broke out, and assigned to form the 26^th. Rumor had it that Smith was not at all thrilled with having been selected by the Governor, but served out of a sense of duty. He had made a reputation for himself as the chief superintendent for successive railroad companies in Iowa and Illinois, as was known as a methodical man, driven to complete tasks in pursuit of a goal.

The meeting broke up.  Most of the company commanders returned to their men, no doubt, to put the officer's directions to work.  A few of those who had looked confused studied the map that the officer had left behind.  Smith among them, these men seemed to be agreeing with one another - their confusion looking every bit the part of concern, now.

Technorati Tags: Creative Non-Fiction,Job Trites,Iowa 26th V.I.,Civil War

Church & State pt. 2

A few weeks ago in part 1 of this conversation, I asked the question of whether or not a man should be held accountable for the assertions and beliefs of the church he has attended for some 20 years.  This, of course, was pondered in relation to Presidential Candidate Barack Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's views of race relations in America, and America in general that surfaced on the internet.  I expressed my desire to strip back the politics of it, and take the discussion in some different directions.

Let's talk about the race implications this time.  Rev. Wright made comments that were very disparaging of the white race.  In one of his messages he called America the "U.S. of K.K.K".  Much of his banter speaks of racial relations in these terms.  Here's my question: Why is it that when Rev. Wright speaks out in these terms it is called Liberation Theology whereas if I spoke this way on a Sunday it would be considered racism?  It seems to me that there is a double standard at play.

What do you think?

Technorati Tags: Interactive Sermon,Jeremiah Wright,Barack Obama,Liberation Theology

Preparing Our Hearts

As this weekend is upon us, we will be worshiping the Lord in different places - you gathering there at Christ's Church in NH and my family and I having the opportunity to worship with family and friends in Florida at Real Life (my sister Diann's church home).

At Christ's Church, Author and Pastor Dr. Bill Luce will be brining a message from the word entitled Celtic Evangelism.   If you want an advance look at the text he will speak from, take a read through Acts 17.  Jesse and a team of our musicians have a great set of praise and worship music ready to go, including a couple of great hymns of the faith, and worship songs by Lincoln Brewster, Matt Redman and Chris Tomlin on the list.

My family and I are thrilled to be able to visit with our family in Florida - thanks for letting us get away, and especially thanks to those of you who are holding down the fort on our home front.  Though we worship this weekend in two different places, know that our hearts are with you.  Blessings! 

Updates and Such

The Twinkie Will Travel ~ Yes, the 'epics' have it.  An overwhelming majority of Interactive Sermon regulars voted that my twinkie should travel the world and live to tell many stories.  So, let the journey begin.  Twinkie is headed to Florida and Disney World next week.  We'll see how he does in the heat and humidity.  I'm just thankful I don't have to buy him a ticket to get into the park.  Those of you who loathe the thought of Twinkie Diaries here on my blog... YOU SHOULD HAVE VOTED!  I personally voted for exploding Twinkie. 

Birthdays ~ Thanks to those of you who wished me a happy birthday last Sunday at church, and in cards and gifts.  Those of you who missed sending along a greeting, that's okay.  You can send cash - belated or not, I'll take it.  Maybe if you feel real guilty you should send a larger amount...  Ah, but the real birthday that matters this week is my wife Shari's - tomorrow.  Yep, she's catching me.  You can send me cash for her birthday too, come to think of it.

Preaching ~ Author, Pastor, Executive and all around nice guy Dr. Bill Luce will be bringing a message at Christ's Church on Sunday April 27th entitled 'Celtic Evangelism'.  Plan to be there.

Reading ~ Which reminds me, thanks Jackie, Christine and Steph for the book Celtic Way Of Evangelism for my birthday!  I'll be reading and blogging about it soon.

Writing ~ Here are the updates for those of you who have been encouraging me to finish something... anything...

The Big Buts of the Bible ~ (Non-Fiction/Commentary) I am plugging along and nearing the end of the first installment, Big Buts of the Gospel of Matthew.  I am considering a small group read at some point to help me broaden the appeal of the work's reach.

Open Season ~ (tentative title, Fiction: Suspense) This is the novel I completed during last November's novel writing challenge.  I made the 50,000 words to say it is complete, but I really need to go back through and edit it for story sake.  Thus far, I haven't returned to it since November 30th but I do have the best of intentions where this is concerned.

Parson To Person ~ (Fiction/Creative Non-Fiction) This is a novel I've been working on that I hope will both entertain but also provoke thoughts along spiritually relevant lines.  I'm roughly halfway through with it, accomplishing about a chapter a week at this point.  If I continue at that pace, I should complete this work before year's end.

Chronicles of War ~ (Historical Fiction) This is my newest composition; writing began a month ago.  I began this just for fun to explore the genre, which requires a tremendous amount of research that I've actually been gathering for quite some time.  The main character in this novel is an ancestor of mine.  I'm not sure what I'll do with this.  Presently I am about 5,000 words into it, progressing at about 500 words a week.

Missions Re-Defined ~ (Non-Fiction) The story of Christ's Church's redefining of short-term missions (and missions in general) is something that I believe ought to be told.  I continue to compile parts of this story - and literally, they continue to unfold before me.  I'm not sure what the finished writing project looks like, but I believe it's a worthy pursuit.  Presently it's about a 34,000 word text, with more than that yet to be composed.  I have gathered notes, journals and stories from two of our previous trip's participants and intend to do more with this over the summer.

A Glimpse Into My House ~ (cartoon from The New Yorker)

Blogging ~ Of course, all the while my blogging endeavors continue to be a real writing outlet for me.

Interactive Sermon ~ You're reading it now.  And, thank you, by the way!  I manage to post just about daily here whatever it is that crosses my brain - so that in itself can be scary.

Pigskin Preacher ~ My NFL Football Blog that I maintain for the Tampa Tribune/TBO Sports.  I completed my second full season over there, and am hoping to continue in the coming season.  I'm maintaining a less frequent posting calendar over there at the moment, but figure that if they'll have me continue, I'll be back to full-tilt come Training Camps in July.  Of course, with the NFL Draft this coming weekend, I've got a few things happening there now.

Shaw Family History ~ This is the newest blogging haunt for me.  I created it as a way to check out a newer platform called Vox and planned to delete it when I was done.  But, instead I've decided to post up some family history stuff for my clan.  Genealogy has been a hobby for me over the years, and I have files of things no one in my family has seen.  So, I invited my family to check it out once in a blue moon, and I've started tossing things that way as I'm able.  I don't expect many outside of family will appreciate it.  Having said that, if you lack a family tree researching relative, you can always join my family.  My brother Dave will adopt you.

Ben Stine's Movie ~ Expelled was a good documentary.  I recommend you see it if you're up for debate over Intelligent Design.  Anyone?  Anyone?

Technorati Tags: Interactive Sermon,Ben Stein,Expelled,Blogging

The Chronicles of War pt. 7

Another piece of my historical creative non-fiction story.  Previous segments can be found in the category of Writing.

Job was up with the sun every morning. In twenty years of marriage the only time he slept past sun-up was when he had typhoid fever back in ‘53. That was actually how Harriet knew he was sick before he exhibited symptoms – it was so unlike him to stay in bed. He was a fixture when she would rise in the morning, always sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee in hand and the Good Book open on his lap. She would watch him sometimes. He would glance down at the page for a moment, and then raise his head to fix his gaze on the horizon. He’d sit like that for several moments and then repeat the pattern. “Chewing the cud”, he would say whenever she’d ask what he was doing.

Now that he was away, she held his Bible in her hands. It was well worn, especially the pages that contained the Psalms – the cud he spent the most time chewing.

In the back of his Bible were many notes written in his own hand. She looked through them. She came upon a list of all of their children – names, and the dates that they were born. Included on the list were the names of the two dear children they had lost, Louisa who had come prematurely and died within hours of being born and Francis Leonard. Next to Francis’ name Job had scribbled the words “Why not me, Lord?” As if it were yesterday, Harriet recalled that October morning in 1853 when Francis succumbed to the fever. Job had been the first to come down with the dreaded Yellow Jack. Harriet had experienced several symptoms, but her case was never more than mild. Nancy-Ann, only eight at the time, had somehow managed to avoid the sickness altogether, even though she had taken an active role in helping her mom care for the rest of the family. Lewis, at six, had given them all quite a scare. Many nights Harriet was forced to bathe him in cold water from the river in order to reduce the fever. In time, he recovered. But not Francis. “He was just too little to fight”, Harriet tried to comfort her husband. Job cried out to God, “Why not me?” Looking now at the words written in Job’s hand, she ran her fingers across the ink impression, her eyes filled with tears.

So faint that it was barely legible, Harriet noticed a note scribbled next to the name Louisa as well. It read: 2 Sam. 12. Having been raised in the church, she recognized immediately that passage – the death of King David’s child where he grieved greatly, and then concluded that, although his child could not return to him, one day he would go to the child. She was sure that was how Job had comforted himself in their great loss. Job wasn’t a man who wore his emotions on his sleeve for everyone to see. When they had lost Louisa and again when they had lost Francis, he maintained a very strong composure – for her, she imagined.

Also folded in the back of his Bible were lists of ciphers – page after page of scratches and tally marks. ‘The weather’, she thought to herself. Job was meticulous about observing and recording whatever patterns of weather they were experiencing and following them closely where his farming was concerned. She smiled as she read through what looked like a foreign language to her – his own manner of short-hand that he maintained.

Finally, there was one other note that caught her eye. The paper it was on appeared new in comparison to the others. Folded, it was marked with the words “To my beloved”. Harriet unfolded the top to reveal the greeting: “If you are reading these words, I’ll not be returning home.”

Technorati Tags: Creative Non-Fiction,Job Trites,Iowa 26th V.I.,Civil War

Preparing Our Hearts

Compassion Sunday.  You can make a difference.  You can change the world.  I hope that you'll come prepared in the morning to consider the part you can play.

Jesse and members of the music team will have some poignant songs prepared for us to sing.  Others will share and offer testimonies of their involvement with Compassion International.  You can find more information here. 

If you are looking for an advance read in the scriptures we will consider and the surrounding context, give Genesis chapters 36 through 47 a summary read as we will consider God's Sovereignty in relation to His calling.

Whether you choose the 9am or 11am service tomorrow, I look forward to gathering with you to worship our God.

The Cops Finally Busted Madam Marie

An important piece of my teenage years is gone today.  Danny Federici, the keyboard player for Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band died yesterday after a three year battle with melanoma.  Federici took a leave of absence from the band last November as he's been battling the disease.  He made a surprise appearance with the band March 20th in Indianapolis - his last - to pick up his accordion and accompany Bruce in an old favorite, Sandy- 4th of July.  You can check the video here.  Bruce's music, including Danny's B3 organ and synths, was the soundtrack of my youth - in fact, I lived most of those songs.  Those of you who are not Springsteen fans cannot know the tremendous talent that has been stilled.  The rest of us will miss Danny Federici.

Technorati Tags: Interactive Sermon,Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band,Danny Federici

Let's Get Expelled!

Okay, friends, I've landed on a time and date to see the new movie Expelled - Ben Stein's movie taking on Academia over Darwinism.  The trailer makes it look like the Scopes Trial of this generation.  See for yourself.

Shari and I are planning to take in the 2:20pm showing at the Cinemagic 15 in Hooksett on Saturday afternoon, April 19th.  If you care to join us, drop a comment on this post so I'll know to look for you, or give me a call.  Or, I suppose you could simply show up at the theatre and mill around, trusting that given chance, time and some natural process we will bump into each other.  Note that this is the Hooksett Cinemagic (as opposed to Merrimack).  This is the closest theatre showing the film this weekend.  The theatre is located at 1226 Hooksett Rd.

The video clip above is the official movie trailer.  I've also run across this little clip on the web of a song spoofing Evolutionary Biologist Richard Dawkins that I imagine has something to do with Ben's film.  I warn you before you push play that this is not necessarily a safe clip.  It is a hip-hop spoof with some cultural content... but I laughed when I saw it.  So, if you're squeamish about things that are a little off color, don't watch this.

Hope you enjoy.  And, I hope to see you at the theatre!

Technorati Tags: Ben Stein,Darwinism,Intelligent Design,Expelled

What's On My Mind?

A mind is a terrible thing to chaste.  So, liberate thy thoughts.

The Fate of the Twinkie ~ When I posted my twinkie meter a week ago I promised that I would do with or to the twinkie whatever my Interactive Sermon regulars choose - and come April 20th when the polling ends, I will do just that.  However, when I created the poll at Buzz Dash I took a stab at placing a public poll there.  As of last night, I had 477 votes there.  Wow!  People have nothing better to do than take random polls on twinkies.  Amazing.  Oh well.  If you haven't voted yet, here's your chance.  Go to the original post, here, and let your voice be heard.

Ben Stine's Movie ~ Perhaps you remember the game show Win Ben Stein's Money.  This weekend I intend to Watch Ben Stein's Movie.  This picture is creating quite a stir on the internet.  It's called Expelled.  Google it up.  Or watch the trailer, here.  If you're interested in seeing it, I plan to post when I will see it later tonight.  Join me!

A little bit of politics ~ Very little - but I found irony in the scenes of German born Pope Benedict XVI pronouncing "God Bless America!" today during his visit at the Whitehouse in light of all the hoopla last month concerning videos that surfaced of Barack Obama's pastor crying the opposite.