Click on the pics below to go to my flickr account to view and/or download larger versions of each.
Monthly Archives: February 2009
Two Simple Powerpoint Backgrounds for Advent (or Lent)
Click on the pictures to go to my flickr account to download larger images.
Technorati tags: powerpoint, backgrounds, advent, lent
Powerpoint Slides for Lent and Lent 1C
For some reason flickr is not working and that is making it difficult for me to post my powerpoint backgrounds this week. So, I am going to upload them directly into my blog. It I have it right, you just need to click on the thumbnail to see the full 800×600 px slide.
As I mentioned previously, some of the images I used for creating these slides are from Hermanolean Clipart. This site allows the use of its material for nonprofit purposes and features both color and black Hand white images suitable for bulletin covers and slides.
Here goes . . .
Technorati tags: Lent, Lent 1C, powerpoint, backgrounds, Jesus, Devil, Temptation
Today in History – February 20th
On this day in 1743, David Brainerd, missionary to Native Americans wrote in his journal: “Selfish religion loves Christ for his benefits, but not for himself.”
The poet Elizabeth Rowe died on this date in 1737. Rowe became a poet when it was considered unusual and even inappropriate for women to do so in her native country of England. It is believed that one of the last things she wrote was found after her death in a stack of papers near her bedside.
O guide, and counsel, and protect my soul from sin!
O speak, and let me know thy heav’nly will,
Speak evidently to my list’ning soul!
O fill my soul with love, and light, and peace,
And whisper heav’nly comfort to my soul!
O speak, celestial Spirit, in the strain
Of love and heav’nly pleasure to my soul!
This Is Very Cool
Being Nice, Love, and Living as a Follower of Jesus
On the blog inward/outward, the Rev. Alan Jones has a very good post entitled “Being Nice, and Other Barriers to Love.” I highly recommend you take some time to read the post in its entirety, though below you will find some of its beginning paragraphs.
One of the most damaging things about the popular view of love is that it requires being nice all the time. I don’t think that I am a particularly nice person. In fact, one of the reasons that I count myself among the believers is that I cannot rely on my being nice to pull me through.
Being nice is closely allied, of course, to being liked. The two go together. If I’m not nice you won’t like me, and if you don’t like me then there is no chance of love springing up between us. This kind of reasoning breeds dishonesty because it means that “love” becomes a code word for avoiding confrontation or disagreement.
True love requires a strict and accurate regard for truth. We lie in an age that would prefer the smooth lie to the hard truth. The result is that we are very poor at honoring genuine feelings and hard-won convictions. In the name of caring for each other we often do everything we can to diffuse one another’s passion. We are embarrassed by strong expressions of emotion.
Love, therefore, can easily become a device for avoiding unpleasantness and denying tragedy. In the name of love we tend to deny pity, joy, grief and passion and all for the sake of an egocentric “peace.” [There are] dire consequences in ordinary human life when these great Invisible Things are denied. Love is reduced to niceness and the passion and the grief are driven underground….
Please note that Jones does not go on to say that we need to become meaner people. Rather, he feels that love requires honesty. We need to be truthful to each other, and, as we know, though the truth can set us free, it can can also hurt at times. Further, many of us, and I know that this is true of me, want to be liked. We love being appreciated and loved, and we fear losing the love and respect of others if we are, at times, honest and truthful with those we care about.
Naturally our model in these situations ought to be Jesus, who spoke and acted truthfully at all times, and sometimes did so in ways that offended those on the receiving end of his actions and words. After all, who can forget his calling of some of the most religious people of his day “white-washed tombs,” and his driving out the money changers from the temple, using a whip of all things? And then there is also his rebuke of Peter: “Get behind me, Satan!”
The key, it seems to me, is that everything Jesus did was informed by his love of people and the world, as well as his desire that world and people be all that God desired both to be and become. And again, the goal is not to be hurtful or hateful in our words and actions, but to make sure that both have their foundation in love.
For those of us who are pastors (and this really applies to all Christians), we need to learn to speak and act the truth in love. This is a mark of a mature follower of Christ and of a maturing Christian community. As Paul stated in Ephesians 4:15-16: “Instead, by speaking the truth in love, we will grow up completely into the one who is the head, that is, into Christ, in whom the whole body is united and held together by every ligament with which it is supplied. As each individual part does its job, the body’s growth is promoted so that it builds itself up in love.”
Elizabeth Clephane – One Thing to Know about Today in History
Elizabeth Clephane, an orphaned Scottish poet, died on this day in 1869 at the age of 39. She gave the Church two beautiful hymns: "Beneath the Cross of Jesus" and "The Ninety and Nine," (both of which were published only after her death).
“Beneath the Cross of Jesus”
Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand,
The shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land;
A home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noontide heat, and the burden of the day.O safe and happy shelter, O refuge tried and sweet,
O trysting place where Heaven’s love and Heaven’s justice meet!
As to the holy patriarch that wondrous dream was given,
So seems my Savior’s cross to me, a ladder up to heaven.There lies beneath its shadow but on the further side
The darkness of an awful grave that gapes both deep and wide
And there between us stands the cross two arms outstretched to save
A watchman set to guard the way from that eternal grave.Upon that cross of Jesus mine eye at times can see
The very dying form of One Who suffered there for me;
And from my stricken heart with tears two wonders I confess;
The wonders of redeeming love and my unworthiness.I take, O cross, thy shadow for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His face;
Content to let the world go by to know no gain or loss,
My sinful self my only shame, my glory all the cross.———
“The Ninety and Nine”
There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold.
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold.
Away on the mountains wild and bare.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.“Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
Are they not enough for Thee?”
But the Shepherd made answer: “This of Mine
Has wandered away from Me;
And although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep.”But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert He heard its cry,
Sick and helpless and ready to die;
Sick and helpless and ready to die.“Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way
That mark out the mountain’s track?”
“They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.”
“Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?”
“They are pierced tonight by many a thorn;
They are pierced tonight by many a thorn.”And all through the mountains, thunder riven
And up from the rocky steep,
There arose a glad cry to the gate of Heaven,
“Rejoice! I have found My sheep!”
And the angels echoed around the throne,
“Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!
Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!”
Michelangelo – One Thing to Know about Today in History
On this date in 1564, the artist Michelangelo died in Rome. Below is a picture of his Pieta, one of the most beautiful sculptures in the world, in my opinion. To see a larger version of this on my flicker page (and I encourage you to do so), click on the picture.
Today in History – February 17th
Image via Wikipedia
Today I could find nothing serious or very religious to write about, so I thought I would share three little known and light-hearted facts about today.
On this day in 1861, an improved version of he flush toilet (with a separate water tank and a pull chain) was patented by Thomas Crapper (Yes, that was his name, and for his simple innovation I think we can all be thankful). Please note, however, Crapper did not, however, actually invent the toilet; he merely improved its design.
1929 Popeye made his first appearance on this day in 1929 in the comic strip "Thimble Theatre.” It is a little known fact that Popeye’s famous line “I yam what I yam” is very close to something the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:10: “But by the grace of God I am what I am . . .”
"I Write the Songs" by Barry Manilow hit number 1 on the U.S. pop chart on this date in 1976. What is interesting about this song is that Manilow did not actually write it; the Beach Boys’ Bruce Johnston did. And all I will add to this is that I wish Johnston hadn’t written that particular piece of music and those lyrics.
Pastors and Blogging
In the past, some have wondered why I, as a pastor, blog. This post is an attempt to answer that question. The reasons are many, but allow me to list a few.
1. Over the almost four years I have blogged, my blogs have been viewed over 300,000 times. Blogging allows me to reach a wide range of people, many of whom never attend church. Some may come to read a personal reflection, a funny post, a movie review, or to view a photograph, but more than a few of these visitors stick around and read some of my writings on faith as well. Blogging allows me to share my faith.
2. Besides being a committed follower of Jesus, I am a person with a wide range of interests and hobbies. I am an amatuer photographer and potter. I am also a voracious reader, lover of all types of music, and an avid film buff. Blogging allows me to share my interests with others. And very often I am able to find connections between these more cultural interestd and my own faith. I am reminded of a phrase John Wesley used: ”plundering the Egyptians.” As Rich Tuttle writes on his blog (and I hope he doesn’t mind my pasting most of his post here:
One of the coolest concepts in Methodism is “plundering the Egyptians.”
The day Moses set the Israelites free, an ironic twist took place. The Israelites had the audacity to ask the Egyptians for jewelry and clothing…and the Egyptians obliged (Exodus 12:35-36). The last part of verse 36 is great: “so they (the Israelites) plundered the Egyptians.”
The father of Methodism, John Wesley, used this phrase as way to express the importance of using the best of what culture has to offer to grow in knowledge and faith. Wesley made himself aware of current events, recent scholarship, scientific discovery, medical breakthroughs, new technology and pop culture by reading, listening and being available. He thought it was essential to know what was going on around him so that he could grow in knowledge of God’s truth. Scripture was always primary and essential for Wesley and that’s why he was not afraid of “contamination” by the cultural “texts” in which he engagned. Wesley gleaned everything he could from the best of the culture around him because he believed God could speak in more than one way. Wesley “plundered the Egyptians” without fear, because he did not have to question the source of ultimate and timeless truth.
As a Methodist, I will proudly carry on Wesley’s practice of “plundering the Egyptians,” not just for the sake of relevance, but because I believe God can and does speak through the cultural “texts” of today.
3. During my time blogging I have met many wonderful people and have developed more than a few friendships that would have never been possible without this particular form of communication. While my friends and I may disagree on various issues and even faith (and who has friends that see eye to ey with them anyway), my blog has allowed us to dialogue with one another and develop a sense of comaraderie that I value greatly.
Now I realize that not every visitor to my blogs will appreciate everything I write or post. But as a Christian and a blogger, I have a few guidelines for myself.
- Never break confidentiality when writing a post. Nothiing ever told to me in confidence will ever be shared on my blogs.
- I will try and expect any commenters on my blog to try to maintain a civil and courteous level of discourse. This is especially true when dealing with more controversial issues. While we may not agree on everything, we can certainly be civil in our disagreements.
- While my blog reflects who I am in a larger context (after all it is about faith, culture, technology, photography and life), I always hope that my own faith in Christ is ultimately is visible in what I write. This is not to say that every post will be religious in nature, but that when taken as a whole, it will be apparant that my blogs are written by someone with a deep commitment to my faith in Jesus.
So there you have it. A few reasons why I blog and some guidelines for my own blogging.
To everyone who visits this blog, or one of my other blogs, I say “Welcome, and I hope you will find something of value here . . . perhaps something to deepen your own faith, or something to make you ponder an issue or concern, or maybe a little something to make you smile. “
Will
