A Pastoral View

Halloween! For some, Halloween is still the dreadful Celtic pagan holiday, all about ghouls, demons and fear more than about things that are uplifting. Some associate Halloween with All-Saints Day in order to make it less demonic and more spiritual. Some call the holiday All-Hallow’s Eve, or HallowE’en. I love the costumes, play-acting, candy and Fall Festivals with games and rides. Halloween is just plain fun for the most part and I am glad to be able to make kids laugh with delight when they come to my front door for treats (No tricks, please!). Boo moans the ghost! Screech sounds the black cat! The cobwebs entangle and make the skin crawl. What fun!

In a way, I just don’t understand the concern about Christian vs. pagan holidays. Sure the early church did what they could to incorporate pagan holidays into the Christian year. A choice was mandatory – follow the old ways or begin new ways (with old dates like the beginning of the harvest season). So what if December 25th originally represented two pagan festivals: natalis solis invicti (the Roman "birth of the unconquered sun"), and the birthday of Mithras, the Iranian "Sun of Righteousness" whose worship was...

I write this post in memory of Jim Cummins, a friend who has died, a loving servant of God and God’s troubled children.

I used to tell my church families, "I have to be in prison twice a year whether or not I need it."  Though I could speak of times when I should have gone to prison like others, I didn’t.  But that’s another post.  I have been involved with a ministry named KAIROS since 1994.  KAIROS is a ministry to the incarcerated – men, women and juveniles.  It is such a meaningful ministry that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice allows the program, at selected units, to bring in food and letters from the outside that are not checked for contraband.  It is the only prison ministry granted this privilege by TDCJ.

I know you are probably like many others and thinking, “Prison confessions of finding religion are usually faked.”  In my experience with KAIROS this is not 100% true.  I cannot speak for the results of other prison ministries, but I can speak of many true and lasting conversions of brothers and sisters in white who have found hope...

I was thinking this morning about my boys, Trey, Chris, Todd, Cord and Bret (listed by age, not by the alphabet). Trey and his family live 50 miles from my home. Chris lives in Hartford, WI, Todd lives in Hollywood, Cord lives 100 miles away and Bret lives in Hollywood as well. Though I’ve tried the Lottery, I have not accumulated the money to travel to see my boys and their families. So, I miss them, and their wives and their children.

 For me the greatest tragedy the world faces is not war, or terror, but loss of family ties. The biblical story tells us of a time when there were multiple generations living in one home out of necessity. The ability to feed a family required many adult men and women working together in harmony. And some people who could not make a living for their families became slaves/servants in the homes of others. They were not treated as we might think of slaves and servants today. They were hired “family.” Their work contributed to the survival of the host family and they were remunerated for their labors. The biblical family was close out of necessity.

As I was...

Tags: biblical family, biblical times, family, mobility

I once had to baptize a stillborn baby.  It wasn’t yet completely formed.  The parents were Hispanic and didn’t speak English.  Hablo poquito Español.   In the midst of trying to say the Lord’s Prayer I forgot the words.  It was a most unsettling moment.  That experience, early in my pastorate, has guided me in many ways.

Holding that still child in my arms, calling her by name, and placing blessed baptismal waters on her forehead, solidified for me that God’s love reaches places beyond my understanding.  I wasn’t prepared by my seminary education for what was happening.  I wasn’t prepared by my denominational education to expect grief and joy to exist simultaneously.  I wasn’t prepared, even though I had done funerals, for the tearfully sincere appreciation for my presence, my re-presentation of God, to this couple and their child.  Thank God being prepared was not the point!  God guided me through those minutes that felt like hours.  God called me to be faithful, perform the Baptism and cry with the parents and staff.

 My wife, Judith, was the first to tell me, “God prepares those who are called,...

Tags: calling, excuses, guidance, holy spirit

Yesterday was the 6th anniversary of 9/11!  If you viewed TV at all you were reminded of the event.  The coverage probably remembered you of where you were and what you were doing that terrible morning.  I was at a spiritual retreat for pastors.  But not for long.  As soon as we got the news we had turned on TV and radios.  We mourned and prayed.  We cried.  We decided to return to our congregations to give and receive support.  We hurriedly packed and left.

From Kerrville, TX to Del Rio, Tx is no short jaunt.  I had plenty of time to listen to radio reports and think about the state of our world.  I can clearly remember the report about the President's whereabouts.  He was in Air Force One being flown to a safe haven undisclosed to the public.  I cannot imagine the variety and number of horrific scenarios those advising him had to sort out.  I cannot imagine how he stood beneath the weight of the decisions he had to make in what must have seemed to him as the least desired circumstance to challenge his administration of the strongest, most powerful nation in the world.  And then...

Tags: 911, fear, terror, war

Just wondering . . . since I am retired do I still get to celebrate this holiday? Should there be a holiday named for retired folks? Maybe this could be Labor/Retire Day. Another thought . . . is today named for women who are having children (labor)? Sorry, I went into hyper-imagination mode. Nothing to do but think in retirement!

In my wandering I have been thinking of the labor of the 21st century versus the 1st century. Of course, I could write thousands of thing that are different due to the advances occurring for the last 2000 years. But the thing that keeps coming to mind is the motivation for labor.

For the most part the motivation for labor in the 1st century was survival. There was a merchant class (you might remember that Lydia dealt in purple cloth) but most people labored in the agrarian society and lived hand-to-mouth. Things were so bad that some had to hire themselves out to the upper class as slaves. Most of us in the church today don't really comprehend the severity of life spent as a field laborer barely supporting our family.

It seems to me that beginning with my generation,...

Tags: labor, labor day, lydia, survival

The sermon I heard today from Pastor Linda O'Neal at Blue United Methodist Church was based on Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16. Linda stressed how basic the principle of being kind to others was for our Christian faith. How true!

Take a moment and read those words from the Apostle Paul.

My one fear in beginning Bro.Ken Ministy and following the vision of directing the unchurched to local churches is that the local churches might not be hospitable to ALL those who come to them seeking hope and healing. My experience is that most churches have a "culture" that is not always inclusive. It is not a planned culture the church draws up in committee that states, "We are going to be less hospitable to this kind of person and that type of sinner." It just evolves over the years and is hard to identify much less change. If someone like myself can direct one unchurched visitor to your church will that person find the hope and healing I have said you will offer as God's representatives of His promises? How am I going to know that I am connecting this ministry to churches that truly have an "open door and open...

Tags: calling, cold water, evangelism, god, healing, hebrews 131-8, hope, hospitality, hot coffee, kindness, local church, love, outdoor preaching

Still trying to figure out some technical things but feeling better about my capabilities.

Today a little theology I think.   Father, Son and Holy Ghost - the Trinity.  My first article of faith is that God is beyond human understanding and words.  God, the Divine, cannot be described with the mundane (human terms).  Since this is a Truth for me, the terms Father and Son are neither adequate nor appropriate for describing the Godhead.  The biological term father is obviously an inappropriate description of the conception of Jesus within Mary since there was no intercourse as we understand it.  If we look to the scripture we will find that if there is any "sex" involved it is with the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:35).  So why do we hear "Father" as a term applying to God so often in scripture.  I think it is because the scriptural writings came in a patriarchal time when the Father was the "head" of the family.  If humanity is the creation of God (and it is) then God must be the embodiment of fatherly characteristics for this human family.  Hence, God the Father!

Jesus the Son seems an inappropriate manner with which to describe...

Tags: god, godhead, jesus, son, spirit, theology, trinity

The simple truth is I miss doing a newsletter article twice a month and now I have so much more time to give to it.  Ironic isn't it?  So, I'm going to try the "Blogosphere." The blame for this effort goes to my many newsletter critics over the years.  You said too many nice things.  This is your punishment and my reward.  So here we go.

I have begun to struggle with my retirement.  I miss the Body of Christ and its many demands on me.  I miss the crocodiles and the saints.  I miss the committee meetings that were quarrelsome but empowering of the people of God.  I miss preparing for a sermon even though I knew it was God at work, never me.  I miss the opportunity to serve alongside men and women who tried so hard to make the kingdom of God real in the here and now.  I miss those who were infuriated by my sermons but never ceased calling me friend.  I miss the awe of Sunday morning as a pastor amid the Sacraments, the flowers, the hymns, the praise songs, the Word, the prayers, the Children's time and the disciples.

My question of you...

Tags: awe, disciples, god, pastor, retired, sunday