You Are Call

Words to Ponder … You Are Called … Morrow Mirror, October 20, 2013 

If you have attended church, at least a few times in your life, I imagine you have heard Christians talk about God's call.  If you have heard me preach or teach, you heard me say, "God calls all people into ministry". I believe if we are intentional about our walk with God, God will help us discern His will for our lives.

When I was a child my mother called me for supper, she also called me to take out the trash, to clean up my room and for numerous other reasons.  It is a mistake to think of God's call as a single event. God never stops calling us.  Relationships do not begin and end with one call. Relationships grow with a continuous call and response interaction.

To be Christians is a calling, but it is just the first call. God continues to call us to new life changing journeys.  Age opens the door for new adventures and new calls for the building of God's Kingdom and as we age we need to continuously evaluate our call. If our actions are not growing the kingdom of God, making disciples, then we are either doing it wrong or it is not our calling.

God calls God's people to important work and the work is never finished, it changes but it will not end as long as there are those who need to hear the Good News of the Gospel.

In Dr. Lovett Weems Jr.'s book on Worship he said, "God calls God's people to gather for worship—and to worship God alone."  [Lovett H. Weems Jr. and Tom Berlin, Overflow, Increase Worship Attendance & Bear More Fruit (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013) 27.]  Dr. Weems sites numerous references from the Old Testament where God commands the people of Israel to worship. He believes God calls us to worship only God, not for any narcissistic reason, but because when we "pledge our faithfulness solely to God, we are transformed and we grow toward the reflection of the One we worship. Like those exiles long ago, we are restored to new life in worship." [Ibid].

I believe worship can and should be the church's strongest evangelistic ministry. Worship not only draws the people of God into stronger relationship with each other, it is the bond that holds us together as a community of faith and the light that draws others to Christ. "Through the power of the Spirit we are enriched by the journey " [Ibid] and God's grace shines forth drawing others by our actions to Christ.

"Why worship? God's people cannot live and grow as faithful disciples apart from worship, and those who do not yet know the good news of the Gospel will be unlikely to hear it [Ibid].

Words to Ponder...In Christian Love, your pastor and friend in Christ Dr. Ed Judy

Halloween

Words to Ponder … Halloween … Morrow Mirror, October 13, 2013

“Halloween is the highest holy day for various religions and satanic cults. Its roots lie with the ancient Druids, who worshiped Samhain, god of the dead, whom they believed called the souls of evil men out of the grave to play tricks on people. Villagers wearing masks to disguise themselves from the evil spirits collected food for the celebration. If you gave, you were promised food. If not, a trick.

 

Early Christian missionaries sought to replace this celebration of death with a day to honor the lives of Christians – All Saints Day. The previous evening was All Hallowed-Ones' Eve or Hallow'een.”[1]

In rural America, I remember Halloween as an exciting time for both children and parents. As children we dressed up in costumes then we piled in the car with our broom sticks, ray guns, and plastic masks for the ride to town where we walked the neighborhoods hoping to fill our paper grocery bags with chocolate, hardtack, and other sweet goodies.

Going door-to-door on Halloween has become a footnote in our American history books.  Parents today, for good reasons, would never dream of letting their children walk alone after dark to solicit candy from strangers.

Halloween was a big event in my hometown.  It was the one school day a year children loved because the grade schools put away the books and took out the games. Children and many of the teachers dressed in costume, played games, and won prizes.  As children we did not know why we celebrated Halloween, nor did we care, we just liked dressing up and getting candy.

In the late sixties things began to change. It was then that razor blades were found in candy apples. After that my mother inspected all our candy before we could eat it and if it was unwrapped it went in the trash.  That was when the innocence of Halloween was lost and neighbor began to distrust neighbor.

Today churches and communities offer alternative events like trunk-or-treat and fall festivals as a way to continue the tradition of Halloween and to celebrate community.

Halloween began as a day to glorify death, but as Christians we honor, not death, but life.  Life eternal, because Jesus has defeated death, as He does all evil that tries to destroy our innocence, to God be the glory.  

Words to Ponder...In Christian Love, your pastor and friend in Christ Dr. Ed Judy

Mark your calendars, and don't forget to sign-up to volunteer. October 26 is Morrow First UMC's Fall Festival and Annual Barbeque. There are positions for everyone young and old. If you can only work for an hour then work an hour, but if you can do more that too is great.  Work as long as you can then enjoy a wonderful barbeque meal followed by a homemade dessert.

 "It is an all day affair" when Morrow 1st UMC comes together as community in Jesus' name.

---

[1] Jeffery Raker, Halloween, http://www.bristolhouseltd.com/our-faith-today/

The Wisdom of Sabbath

Words to Ponder … The Wisdom of Sabbath … 

Morrow Mirror … October 6, 2013

Wayne Muller wrote in his book The Sabbath, "When we go to the movie, the lights go dark and we enter the world on the screen. We are seduced by the illusion on the film. Slowly, we surrender even our emotions to the illusion and enter into the world of the 'characters' on the screen, coming to know them, care for them, even worry about them. Our body responds, our heart beats faster, perhaps we laugh or weep, as if we were actually present and involved in that world."[1]

"In the same way we can, over time, become enthralled in the trance of our work. It is all-important, it must be done right away, it won't get done without me, I cannot stop or it will all fall apart, it is all up to me, terrible things will happen if I do not get this done. I have to keep working because I have things to buy and there are bills to pay for those things and I have to buy faster computers and more expensive telephones to help me get more done so I can keep and make money to pay the bills for the things I need to buy to help me get these things done …"[2]

Muller says, "once we are in this trance, there never seems to be a good enough reason to stop."  This is the wisdom of Sabbath time, on the seventh day God rested from all he had done (Gen 2.2).  It was time for rest so God stopped to rest. Look around you; reflect back on time and space, God did not finish creating on the sixth day. The universe is still expanding and life, as we know it, is not the same as it once was nor is it the same as it will be tomorrow. God continues to be involved in creation; making things new. Yet, in the beginning (not our beginning but the beginning of creation) God stopped and rested. 

"Sabbath time is time for rest. We cannot wait until we have everything we need, because the mind is seduced by endlessly multiplying desires. We cannot wait until things slow down, because the world is moving faster and faster."[3] 

If I have any addiction besides expensive coffee it is books. I have several hundred books in my office and every room in our home has bookshelves filled with books. When I finish with a book I place it on a shelf and I think one day I will read that book again. However, I never seem to get around-to-it because everyday a new book is published and there is not enough time to read the new ones let alone the old ones.  To paraphrase Paul… I know what I should not do but I keep on doing it.  I wonder if there is a library in heaven?

Sabbath time is time for rest; we cannot wait until we are finished, because we are never finished.  Words to ponder...In Christian Love, your pastor and friend in Christ, Dr. Ed Judy

---

[1] Wayne Muller, Sabbath, Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in our Busy Lives (New York: Bantam Books) 209

[2] Ibid, 210

[3] Ibid, 210f