Yesterday, I had my ordination council. It’s kind of like a bar exam for a pastor. It doesn’t make me a pastor but it licences me as one. Thankfully, after three hours of gruelling questions from a room full of visiting pastors, I was recommended for ordination and am now taking care of some of the paperwork toward finalizing everything. There will be an ordination service at Grace in the coming weeks. I was asked many questions about all kinds of areas of theology and pastoral ministry. There was one question that is often asked of candidates that didn’t come up though, “What is a baptist?” Could you answer that question?
We watched some home videos last week as a family. They reminded me of the dizzying, early years of our parenting. There were lots of smiles and laughter but it looked exhausting as well. Where did we find the energy? Dangers to watch out for, behaviours to correct, attention to be given, warriors to wrestle – parenting can be an all-consuming task. It made me think back on the many years of parenting that has passed since that time. If I could pick two words that have made the most difference for me as a parent, I’d choose the words “resolve” and “heart.” Let me explain.
When I lived in Japan, one afternoon, without warning, I got a hurried call from a church member. She was in the area with her daughter and wondered if they could stop by. I sensed that there was some urgency to the visit, but neither of them was giving me any clues as to what it might be. I didn’t know what to say, but it was one of those times where you take a chance, not knowing how the person will respond or what God might do.
What do you think about when you think about Easter? Many Canadians have traditions. Your traditions may involve eggs, chocolate and family get-togethers. Or your traditions may involve a more spiritual bent towards church and a reflection on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Regardless, I fear that millions of Canadians who attend church for Good Friday and Easter this weekend, won’t act Christian – even at church! Let me explain.
When David Bowie passed away, according to his wishes he had a “direct cremation” without any funeral service. He was just gone without an opportunity even for family to mourn his loss. Are funerals outdated traditions? Should we replace them with happier substitutes? Or maybe just do away with them altogether?
Before my time, the 60’s boy band, the Monkees, recorded a song called Shades of Gray with the following words: “But today there is no day or night; Today there is no dark or light; Today there is no black or white; Only shades of gray.” If they thought there were only shades of grey back in the 60’s, what would they say today? Surely, in our generation there is even more fuzziness in people’s thinking. On Sunday, we had the joy of celebrating a baptism. And later we looked at Revelation 20 and saw that two books will decide the fate of all people. While I didn’t plan to connect that passage with the baptism, ever since I’ve been thinking about the relationship between them. What strikes me is how black and white they are to our world of grey.
On Friday evening, I attended a screening of Over 18, a hard-hitting documentary aimed at combatting pornography addiction among children and teens. It’s goal was to provide a wake-up call regarding the extent of pornography’s terrible social impact and to encourage the establishment of laws requiring meaningful age verification to prevent minors’ access to pornographic material. Interviews with porn stars and producers and people recovering from pornography addiction painted a gruesome picture of what this industry is doing to our society.
I’m grateful for the ministry of Living Out, a UK-based organization led by Christian leaders who experience same-sex attraction. They’re doing a service to the church in providing resources and support to people who are struggling with questions of gender. One of the issues they address at their web-site (www.livingout.org) is how to respond if your child comes out to you. As a follow-up to Sunday’s message on “Gender and Attraction,” I thought it would be helpful to summarize their advice.
I remember as a new Christian, everything seemed brand new. The possibilities for the Christian life seemed limitless. I couldn’t imagine why everyone wouldn’t want all that the Christian life promised. But before long, I learned that none of that could be taken for granted. I came to see that things like stubbornness, complaining and complacency were present in the church. And I would learn that they were never far from my own heart as well. I’ve spent most of my Christian life trying to understand this gap and what causes it. So, I was glad to read Bryan Chapell’s account of his own journey in this area in his book, “Christ-Centred Preaching.”
I missed the whole phenomenon of Duck Dynasty. I was out of the country when it made it’s splash on A&E. I’m not a huge fan of reality television and so I likely would have missed it anyway. And at this point, I’m not about to try and catch up. But I was touched by Kay Robertson’s honesty in recounting the struggles of her early marriage and how Jesus rescued her in the video by “I am Second”. There were three lessons that stood out to me.
