aSacredRebel

5 Things Lutheran Camps Can Teach the Rest of the Church

Wonderful article on camps and how we can do what they do to help make our gatherings more responsive to the needs of the communities we are in…

sinibaldo.wordpress.com

I love camp. I truly do. I spent five summers in the midst of college and seminary on summer staff at Crossways – Pine Lake Camp in Waupaca, WI, (under the tutelage of Penny Christensen [current Executive Director of Lutheran Outdoor Ministries in Ohio]) and a year in-between college and seminary on year round staff at Lutherdale Bible Camp in Elkhorn, WI. I haven’t worked at a camp in a dozen years now, yet every summer I crave that intentional Christian community. Last week my family spent two nights among friends at Camp Calumet in Freedom, NH. In August both of our kids will go for a session of youth camp at Crossways (where my wife and I spent those five summers, and got married in the chapel). For years we’ve gone to family camp with friends at Luther Crest in Alexandria, MN where one of those friends, Dave Holtz, is the…

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Know leisure…

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 (NRSV)

Christ healing the multitudes

The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. …

When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

Have you ever felt like there was no time for you to rest? Like the work was never going to end and even when you saw the end, that is when some one or something pops up that needs you to do another task…

That is exactly where Jesus and the disciples are in our reading today. For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. They had no time to eat or rest. So when your work is overwhelming Jesus knows your pain…

Yet when we are ready to give up, Jesus keeps going. Now you might say that there is a difference between my office work and what Jesus did. Maybe…

You were given a gift to use for the betterment of the body of Christ, so doing what you do is what Jesus did. Jesus came to show us a better way to follow what God had asked the people to do yo be in a relationship with him…

So do what you do so the world will change! And know that your leisure will come!

Complain to the Lord…

Jeremiah 12:1-13 ESV

Righteous are you, O Lord,
when I complain to you;
yet I would plead my case before you.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all who are treacherous thrive?
You plant them, and they take root;
they grow and produce fruit;
you are near in their mouth
and far from their heart.
But you, O Lord, know me;
you see me, and test my heart toward you.
Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
and set them apart for the day of slaughter.
How long will the land mourn
and the grass of every field wither?
For the evil of those who dwell in it
the beasts and the birds are swept away,
because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”
“If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you are so trusting,
what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?
For even your brothers and the house of your father,
even they have dealt treacherously with you;
they are in full cry after you;
do not believe them,
though they speak friendly words to you.”
“I have forsaken my house;
I have abandoned my heritage;
I have given the beloved of my soul
into the hands of her enemies.
My heritage has become to me
like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
therefore I hate her.
Is my heritage to me like a hyena’s lair?
Are the birds of prey against her all around?
Go, assemble all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.
Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
they have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
a desolate wilderness.
They have made it a desolation;
desolate, it mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
but no man lays it to heart.
Upon all the bare heights in the desert
destroyers have come,
for the sword of the Lord devours
from one end of the land to the other;
no flesh has peace.
They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their harvests
because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”

Complain to the lord surely not! Who would have the gale to complain to the lord?

But haven’t we all complained to the lord? Haven’t we all belly ached about or plot in life? Haven’t we all complained about the circumstances we are living in?

God is ready to listen to you to you complain about your life and give him a hard time. He is big enough to take your anger and hard feelings. God is ready to listen to you talk about the injustice you see in the world and the injustice you see in your life.

But be ready. God’s reply to you asking about why there is injustice and where he is he will probably respond where are you? God wants you to be the change in the world…

Seek God

Acts 17:22-31 ESV

So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Seek God in the hope that you might feel your way toward him and find him.

Paul spoke to the Greeks about the unknown God that was talked about in idols around Athens. The Greeks worshiped the creator of the universe yet did not know who he is…

Now part of me has problems with this because I believe I am saved because of grace and I can not seek God to obtain my salvation. Yet that does not mean we can not seek God to grow closer to him. We can hope that he will find us and draw us closer to him. We can seek him in our life to draw closer to him.

We are his offspring and he seeks us and we will be drawn into him if we seek him.

That is something we are assured of and cab hope in

Wonders of life and death and living like Jesus…

Well today is the second day of Citizens with the Saints the 2012 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s youth gathering.

It has been an interesting two days…

Just before leaving our hotel yesterday to walk to the Lutherdome a brother and sister from our group got the news that their grandfather passed away. We started the night with death and separation. It was not the way either me nor the rest of the group wanted to start our night.

But we made our way to the Lutherdome and was met with a wonderful worship experience. We had several people speak to us about justice and welcoming us to New Orleans. We were told we were gumbo- a wonderful mixture of who we are and the spice we bring to make the beautiful creation of the church. Then Nadia Bolz-Weber took the stage and spoke to us about being welcomed in the body of Christ. How she disliked Christians and the church and didn’t think she would ever be welcomed as a drunk and a drug addict. Who did things that were wrong and was not good. She wondered how she could be so good yet so evil at the same time. She said that the mythical creator that tells us we are lived by the grace of God and accepted as we are is not a unicorn but Lutherans and that is why she is one. She told us that God would use not only the gifts he gave us but the failures we think keep us from him.

Then this morning we went to practice justice. We were to he cleaning up lots in the lower 9th ward the worst hit part of New Orleans. There was a minor set back though as the dumpsters were not there for our projects. While we waited we walked around the neighborhood hearing stories of heart break and sheer will and determination as the people of this community hung to the hope that they would be able to return home. Then about 45 minutes before we were suppose to be done the dumpsters arrived and we were able to clear some debris from lots. It was wonderful to have people honk as they passed to thank us, and to have people tell us how much the appreciated our being here and helping.

Then we went back to the dome and heard stories of Discipleship. What it means to be a disciple and how we can live as disciples. It was a wonderful night of stories of missionaries and how they were called and that we all are called to go and be God in our neighborhoods and communities. The night tonight ended with a moving talk from Shane Claiborne telling us about his life experiences and how we can make the church be what Jesus meant it to be. He ended his talk by telling us a story of the donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem and how the donkey might have thought all the hype was for him, but it was for Jesus and we are just like the donkey. “We are all the asses that get to carry Jesus in.”

More to come…

God can use you…

Colossians 1:15-23 (NRSV)

God reconciles all things through Christ

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers -all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him -provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

In this text Paul tells us that we are all reconciled to God through Christ. Do you believe this?

You have done things which draw you from God. You have done things which van never be forgiven. At least that is how I feel…

Last night at the 2012 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Youth Gathering Nadia Bolz-Weber spoke about being a drunk and using drugs. She spoke about how she usually dated criminals those who did things that would lend them in jail. She was a person who did not believe in what the Christian church believed. And yet today she is a pastor in the ELCA. Because God does redeem all things. And God will redeem you.

Let God use the gifts He has given you and the failures you think keeps you from Him.

God loves you! And will use you. All of you that which you think is good and the things you think keep you from Him.

How do you judge…

Luke 7:31-35 ESV

“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,
“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”

How many of us have seen someone doing something and you automatically assume they are one way, or you know what kind of person they are? Is that judging? We see people and their actions and we think we know them or their whole demeanor by simply seeing one aspect of the life, or seeing them do one thing that could be completely out of character for them. I did this yesterday as I was walking the streets of New Orleans. The group I was with saw a trio of people doing something we did not think they should be. We actually could not verify they were doing this but I still judged them. But this is not what we are called to be or do.

Jesus tells us in Luke that John the Baptist didn’t drink wine or eat bread and people said he had a demon and Jesus drank and ate and he was a glutton. So maybe we are not a good judge of character…

So who have you judged lately that you really don’t know the situation of their life?

Let’s learn about others lives and live in relationships with them before we assume who they are and why they do what they do.

God-incidence

Have you ever felt like someone was out to get you?

Like there were clandestine meetings of people plotting your demise?

That is where Paul is at today in our reading from Acts:

When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”
Now the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.” So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.” The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?” And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.” So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.”
Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night. Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.” And he wrote a letter to this effect:
“Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings. This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen. And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”
So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. And on the next day they returned to the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him. When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he learned that he was from Cilicia, he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod’s praetorium. (Acts 23:12-35 ESV)

Many are plotting against him, wanting him dead. 40 to be exact, or at least 40 because that is the number that said they would not eat or drink until he was dead…

And how many times have we had someone come to us and say that they heard of a group meeting, or people talking about what they were going to do to us. Warning us, stepping in and being a word of warning…

I believe there is no such thing a a coincidence, but God-incidence… I recently read a post from Donald Miller that talked about God not having a plan for our lives, but that does not mean that God does not use us where we are with the gifts He have given us to be an influence in the world around us. God has people in our lives for reasons we will never know, but the one we all know and sometimes ignore is that we can not make it alone in this world!

Paul needed his sister’s son, centurions, the tribune, the legion of soldiers, the governor and many many others. But God gave all of them life and put them in a place where they could be a use to Paul in a time of need. God may not have planned every last detail, but the author of creation created people and nature and put them together so His will was done. God-incidence…

So the next time the world is against you, cry out to God and look around you for the people He has placed in your life to help you!

Cry out to the Lord…

With my voice I cry out to the LORD;
with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD.
I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.
When my spirit faints within me,
you know my way!
In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
Look to the right and see:
there is none who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
no one cares for my soul.
I cry to you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
Attend to my cry,
for I am brought very low!
Deliver me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me!
Bring me out of prison,
that I may give thanks to your name!
The righteous will surround me,
for you will deal bountifully with me.
(Psalm 142 ESV)

Wow if a verse ever hit us at home, this is it for me. I’m crying out to God asking for comfort, asking for him to guide me through this maze of hurt and distractions, and things that can keep me from Him.

How many of us have been in a place where we wonder how we will ever get out? You wonder how this will end and pray that it will end today but you know the road ahead is long and hard…

We see things and situations that make us cringe and step back in detest and fear and those are the situations some of us live in every day. And those of us in developed countries, have more in our distress and fear than some of the wealthiest people in underdeveloped countries. Even the demarcation of developed and underdeveloped is a way to keep us separated.

But this psalm not only talks about how the psalmist is crying out for God’s help, but how He will help. “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living” God is our refuge, He will hide us under His wing and protect us and shelter us from the storms of life. And He will surround us with the righteous and deal bountifully with us.

As I read this psalm and thought about how it fits my time now with searching for where I belong, I wondered how many others were searching or wondering where they belong and thought as the psalmist did that no one cares for your soul… Well my friend, I care for your soul and so does God… Even in the darkest valley He is there. Cling to Him and He will see you through this and every moment of your life.