Congregational Care Circles

Congregational Care Circles

The first thing to remember about the Congregational Care Circles is that if you are not in a Congregational Care Circle with a long-time friend this does not preclude you from retaining regular contact with that friend. The purpose of the Congregational Care Circles is to deepen and extend the relationships of the members of Ojai UMC within the church community, and out into the larger community. Please continue to call on your friends as regularly as you had before. We are counting on that aspect to remain active so that we might have stronger and more meaningful relationships in this community of faith.

Each member of the Congregational Care Circles are responsible for calling on each other at least once every two weeks. The group leader is only part of this, and ALL persons are to be calling ALL OTHER persons in the circles. Congregational Care Circles may do so by phone, snail mail, email, telegram, telegraph, semaphore, braille, personal visit, or group gathering, or any other means the group can imagine for staying in touch with one another.

The leaders of the Congregational Care Circle are responsible to pass any current prayers to the pastor. This may include joys of anniversary, birthday, new birth, promotions, and any other exciting event in the life of the Congregational Care Circle. Concerns are also requested to be passed along the pastor, including, but not limited to, hospitalization, prolonged illness, non-attendance at church, change in location, or family concerns. When passing information to the pastor it is requested that permission from the originator be gained to share or withhold information from the congregation at large. Individuals within a cell are able to pass along information to the pastor directly, and will be asked who else they would like to inform of this prayer request.

If the congregation at large is to be informed of the prayer request (joys or concerns), please let the pastor know so that this may be included in the pastor's personal prayer list, any church listings of prayer requests in the bulletin, and distributed to the congregation by email/phone tree.

Regarding the phone tree/email notification. Lists are to be kept updated in the church office for the current persons with email in the congregation, and those who would prefer to have calls made by phone. [Insert local prayer chain coordinator] is the current start point for the phone prayer list, and [Insert local email coordinators] are the current heads of the email notification list. Please remove any persons from the calling list who are on the email list (unless otherwise notified by the individual directly) and from the email list anyone who is on the calling list, so that we can refrain from duplication. This will therefore, decrease the number of persons who are not notified, and helps maintain an order to the prayer lists.

Additional persons may be added to individuals within a Congregational Care Circle, for their personal calling lists, so as to create a larger network of persons in the community we need to be praying with and for. If you know of someone who is not currently attending church, whether they are unable, or unwilling to attend a congregation at this time, but are interested in being shepherded by Ojai UMC we are requesting those names to be submitted to the Office. The pastor, or the Congregational Care Circle coordinators (It is suggested that members of the congregation fill this role, as well as the Pastor) will be responsible for assigning them a shepherd. Do not expect that if you bring someone forward for this shepherding that you will be their shepherd. We are confident that you are already being a shepherd to that individual, and we are trying to create a network of at least three persons in each shepherding instance, so that we know that this individual will have additional care and support from the membership of Ojai UMC, for the purposes of "Making Disciples of Jesus Christ in faith, tolerance, fellowship and spiritual growth"

This is all in an effort to revitalize the relationships of Ojai UMC that we might faithfully participate in the Vision of Ojai UMC "to be showing God's love to the community of the Ojai Valley by the 4 Rs: Reconciliation, Revitalization, Renewal and Restoration". The hope is that old friendships will be restored; constant renewal of friendships might be achieved; the revitalization of Ojai UMC in the community will be realized; and that the restoration of the Body of Christ would become lived.

A Pastor's Prayer Time

The duties of pastor are wide and varied.

This morning I was reminded of one of the duties that often gets neglected in the life of a pastor.

Personal Prayer and Study of Scripture.

My wife and I have been taking time each morning to read a passage of scripture and pray together with Bug, our 9 month old girl. This has been healthy and healing for all of us, and I am grateful for the practice.

Last month I took some time one day, shut my doors at the office and at home and went out to one of the retreat centers in Ojai just to pray. How vital that was to my learning and growth. I have tried this from time to time, and know that Jesus set the model for just such away time in the Gospels.

I have proposed to the church I served that I should be provided time in my schedule of pastoral duties time for personal prayer and devotion to the scriptures, over and above time to prepare for Bible Studies, Sermons, and praying with parishioners, individually or communally.

I was surprised at the resistance to such a thing. Then, I remembered that most people think this should be personal time, and that the pastor would have no particular need to set apart time in pastoral duties to do so. I even went back to the Book of Discipline for reference. In the duties of pastor, these important activities are not delineated as part of the pastoral role, at least not explicitly.

There are a couple of clauses in par. 340.2.a.1 "To preach the Word of God, lead in worship, read and teach the Scriptures, and engage the people in study and witness" and par 340.2.a.1.b "to lead people in discipleship and evangelism outreach that others might come to know Christ and follow him."

These clauses hint at study of Scripture, and leading the congregation in discipleship. Somehow that gets distorted in the reading and transmission into something that does not include time for personal study and prayer that are the core of leadership. One must do, in order to lead. The other option is to just order, and the role of Pastor was not intended to be one who just orders the people around.

I am thankful for those who have reminded me of these activities of leadership. Now to the practice that goes along with leading. It is time to restore these activities more fully to my ministry, and to the congregational understanding of the duties of pastor.

Peace,

Sermon Notes April 26, 2009

2 Timothy 1:3-14

 ³I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. ⁴Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. ⁶For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

 ⁸So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, ⁹who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ¹⁰but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. ¹¹And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. ¹²That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

 ¹³What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

I want to take this morning to talk to Nick. I will inivte you to listen in. I will offer a few asides as I share, and do my best to help you hear this letter as the community of faith did so long ago. You Paul was a traveling pastor, he was an apostle, a herald and a teacher, much as I think of myself. Timothy was just a young man whom Paul had seen for leadership in that early faith community of Christians.  

(turning to Nick) I know Timothy had his Grandmother and mother top guide his faith development, you even have your great-grandmother, and I know that you have learned from their faith, and grown in your faith because of their teaching.

I want to affirm the call you have heard from God into ministry. You are a young man of good character, faith, love for God, and devotion to the Word. You model your life after Jesus of Nazareth, and bring it to life for today, being wholly yourself as well. 

I want to tell you that this job as a pastor is not easy work. It is for this reason that Paul tells Timothy, and I tell you, that God did not give us a spirit of fear, cowardice or timidity, but a power in the spirit, bringing love, hope and resurrection. You will need to have self-discipline and you will have the power of the Holy Spirit to guide you.

Do not be ashamed of the gospel, of this church, these people, or of me. I have been here but a short time, but I have tried to teach with sound teaching, faithful witness, and love of Jesus Christ. This same love is the love with which I have loved you and the people of this congregation. 

(Turning back to the congregation) I now entrust to you the great gift that has been entrusted to me. I ask you to love and nurture Nick in the faith, encouraging his ministry, and developing your own ministries.  Guard this treasure with the help of the Holy Spirit.

...and now as I have shared some of Paul's testimony to Timothy, and Timothy then was to share with the congregation in his presence, I invite Nick to share some of his testimony with you about how he has heard the call to ministry.

[I would likewise invite you to ask the "Nick" in your congregations to share their testimony]

Confirmation

I had the privilege of doing one of the best confirmations yesterday.

I am developing a theme for ministry in the days ahead...that of commissioning. All members of the United Methodist Church ought to consider being commissioned to ministry, in whatever form best fits their local ministry. 

Yesterday, I had a young man of 13 in my congregation as I preached from 2 Timothy 1:3-14 (more on that later this week). During the course of the sermon I had the chance to lay hands on him and confirm his call to ministry, allowing him the opportunity to share a little of his call with the congregation.

That, my friends, is what a Confirmation ought to be. It is the beginning of ministry for an individual. We will work on the Confirmation of all of our members in the weeks ahead. 

I am excited for his future in ministry, and hope to pave a way that sets the tone for the church he will have a chance to lead. 

Quote of the Day

From Jonathan Christopher, via Facebook

Jonathan Christopher Today, instead of feeling guilty when my head swims with ideas and thoughts during worship at church instead of the lyrics, I'm going to admit that maybe God made me that way, that ideas are the voice He gave me to sing with and my heart can't help but respond with ideas when it bumps up against a moment of worship.

Because it happens

One of the things about being in ministry is that one has to have a healthy ego.

I know this happens more than it should, and I wonder how often the clergy actually say it to the laity...directly like this...rather than more circumspect like Paul...here and here...

So - go out and take it like a clergyperson:

ht: ASBO Jesus

Boot Camp Notes II

What are the agencies that “rent” from us? What additional connections do we have with those groups? How many of them attend this church? How did they come to use our place for their ministry? What groups have recently been displaced and are looking for a new location to do their activity? Can we offer them space?

Who determines what worship looks like? What information is gathered from all age groups to see what they are wanting in worship? What are we doing to meet their need to give back to God in Worship?

Plan multiple “people gathering” events
- not the “just 4 us” events
- just for them events

Boot Camp notes

Pray first. Prep the people. Get the prayer support. Connect to the community by praying over it. Develop a sense of what the call of the church in the community is to be.

Listen!

After the Mission and Vision of a church are established, it is time to put legs on the words. Putting things into action is great, but it can be even more revealing to put the ministries already in action before the people, affirm those ministries, and advertise the church at work.

Commission the people of the church to the ministries they are already participating. Consider doing this once a week, once a month or annually. I think monthly or weekly is more successful, as it sends the people out with a new task each week. Think of sending each person to a single ministry. If there are other people who do this same ministry, ask them to stand in place, and affirm/send them in the commissioning of the one.

Now, for the work of determining the ministries to be sending folks into, and building a commissioning liturgy for each ministry/person. Is this a generic statement, or personalized each week to each person or ministry?

Get the congregation to name the community agencies, persons of interest, connections they want the pastor to make. Get out in the community and meet them. Meet the congregation in their homes, at their work place, in third spaces to get to know the community better, as well as the congregation.

What are the places people congregate in town? Where are the people who are forgotten? (i.e. the hookers, the migrant workers, the half-way houses) Who are the most important people in town? (Is there someone who knows those people and can make introductions?)

Who is being left out of church? How do you know this?

A Man

The past few weeks and days, I have been taking stock of myself. There have been a few good motivators in this.

First of all, I have completed my latest task, which was helping Ojai UMC define and own a Vision during this appointment year.

To be "Showing God's love to the community of the Ojai Valley by the 4 R's: Reconciliation, Renewal, Revitalization, and Restoration." (Ojai UMC 4/2/09 [Ad Board 4/8/09])

Second, I have lost a lot of weight recently, and am now having to redefine my wardrobe. You see, I apparently never learned the rules of weight gain. I threw out all of the old clothes I had that didn't fit anymore. I kept what still fit, and kept right on going with my life. I need new clothes before these all fall off me at a very inopportune time.

Third, I am coming up on some significant milestones. I am turning 35, and will no longer be considered a young adult in the UMC. I am going to celebrate 10 years of appointment this July. I will celebrate 5 years of marriage to an awesome woman this May. And later in July my baby girl will celebrate her 1st birthday.

So it was with interest that I saw these articles come across my reading platforms on the web. To all the men out there reading this. I suggest you take a look and take stock for yourself. You may find you need some work, or are farther along than you thought.

31 Things Every Man Should Own [I own 23 of 31]

http://digg.com/d1oFPN

Dating Question: What Is a Man? [Since I figured I better brush up before celebrating my 5th Anniversary]

dating.yahoo.com

Peace,

My First Time

Believe it or not, today will be the first time I watch an A-Day game.

Yes, they had them when I was at the University of Alabama. No, I did not go. I went to every home game (except one when I was on-call as an RA) while I was at the University.

Now, if only the Celtics would lose to the Bulls already.

Dan Dick

Dan Dick has long been one of my favorite people at the General Board of Discipleship. This past year he was let go, and like so many let loose he began to blog in earnest, with all the things he had been doing for the church.

I have loved his approach to taking figures, turning them sideways to help us examine them more clearly. His blog has rapidly risen to one of my top 10 favorite blogs to read.

The other day he posted on the church, and why the faithful are leaving. I was touched by this and recognize in this post, the needs that the church has to meet in the community to stay vibrant and active beyond the life of the reputation.

Go take a look and check it out.

Non-Viral

A quick post...but longer than a tweet.

Ashton Kutcher @aplusk has a challenge out to his Tweeps. "Get me over 1,000,000 followers before CNN and I will buy 10000 nets for Malaria in Africa."

someone pointed out I should do 1000 anyway.. good point if I get to 1 million b4 cnn i'll by 10000 bed netshttp://www.malarianomore.org6:57 PM Apr 14th from web

This is a much better proposition than his original, "get me over 1,000,000 followers and I will ding-dong ditch Ted Turner."

I am all for adding 10000 nets to Africa for Malaria relief, and it got me following Ashton. I am amused if he does Ding-dong ditch Ted Turner, but that almost got me to follow CNN.

And even then I might have done it wrong, as it is @CNNbrk, CNN breaking news Ashton has challenged.

Sign up today. Follow Ashton, let's get some more nets for Africa

Soul Cleansing

When was the last time you offered confession?

I saw this and seriously thought I might need to go do it again.




h/t: Church Marketing Sucks

To My Friends

today'sFUNNY===========================

Are you tired of those Sissy 'friendship' poems that always sound good, but never actually come close to reality? 

Well, let's try this my way...just the stone cold truth of our great friendship. 

1. When you are sad, I will jump on the person who made you sad like a spider monkey jacked up on Mountain Dew!

2. When you are blue, I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.

3. When you smile, I will know you are plotting something that I must be involved in. 

4. When you're scared, we will high tail it out of here. 

5. When you are worried, I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be until you quit whining, ya big baby!!!! 

6. When you are confused, I will use little words. 

7. When you are sick, stay away from me until you are well again...I don't want whatever you have. 

8. When you fall, I'll pick you up and dust you off--After I laugh my head off!

9. This is my oath...I pledge it to the end. 

'Why?' you may ask...because you are my FRIEND! 

[forwarded by Kevin Miller]

today'sTHOT============================

When times are tough, you know what you can ALWAYS count on? Your fingers.

=======================================

PASS IT ON! 
Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you're REAL nice, you'll tell them where you got it!www.mikeysFunnies.com 

A Visioning Call to Worship

CALL TO WORSHIP

Leader: By God’s grace we are called to live the church in the world.
People: We have heard your call and we claim this vision:
All: Ojai United Methodist Church is to be showing God’s love to the community of the Ojai Valley by the four “R’s”:
Reconciliation, Renewal, Revitalization, Restoration.
Leader: We are to be reconciling.
People: We will be reconciling one to another and the world to Jesus Christ.
Leader: We are to be renewing.
People: We will be renewing our baptismal and membership vows to be the church with our prayers, presence, gifts, and service.
Leader: We are to be involved in revitalization.
People: We will be revitalizing the mission of the Ojai United Methodist Church:
“To make Disciples of Jesus Christ - in Faith, Fellowship, Tolerance and Spiritual Growth”
Leader: We will be living out restoration.
People: We will be restoring our spirit of hope, restoring our community with vibrance, and restoring our lives in joy.
All: We the people of the Ojai United Methodist Church are showing God’s love to the community of the Ojai Valley by the four “R’s”:
Reconciliation, Renewal, Revitalization, Restoration.

Next Steps

Dear Friends,

As we move into new life with a clarified Vision at Ojai UMC, we need to set out some of the next steps.

First the Vision: 

To be "Showing God's love to the community of the Ojai Valley by the 4 R's: Reconciliation, Renewal, Revitalization, and Restoration."

For the benefit of my memory, and your general benefit, here are some of the steps I see us taking.

Reviewing against Mission Statement "Making Disciples for Jesus Christ in Faith, Fellowship, Tolerance & Spiritual Growth"

Channeling all Work Area Groups (committees) through this to design one or more goals in concert

Educate, Educate, Educate: What do we mean by the 4 Rs? 

-Add Biblical Foundations for each

-Affirm where we are already at work in this endeavor

-Challenge areas where we can stretch more

Newsletter Article May 2009

Incorporate into worship beginning Easter Sunday (5th R: Resurrection). Add as call to worship; develop prayers around this theme. Publish, Publish, Publish - Newsletter, Bulletin, Blog, Website, Committee Minutes

Structure Ad Board around reviewing how work areas are achieving the Vision

Find the intersection of OUR GIFTS, THE VISION, and COMMUNITY NEEDS to establish viable and productive programs 

-This means getting to know the people of the community beyond the demographics, or our own little sector of the community (thought each sector is important and we need to pull what we can from each)

Connect with persons and groups that can help guide us along the way (Chamie Delkeskamp: Raising Micah)

Develop a three, five and ten year outlook

Review annually with the Covenant For Vital Ministry, Congregational Assessment.

Find ways to achieve the The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations

• Radical Hospitality
• Passionate Worship
• Intentional Faith Development
• Risk-Taking Mission and Service
• Extravagant Generosity 

Identify how the Vision connects to the Ojai UMC Key Factors

OJAI UMC KEY FACTORS:
Core Values: Hospitality, Music, Community
Common Spiritual Gifts: Assistance/Helps, Generosity, Hospitality
Church Spiritual Gifts: Hospitality, Joy, Healing

He Descended Into Hell

ht: Mad Priest

Visioning Scriptures

...or at lest the ones that have guided me, to this point, and the ones I am using to keep moving forward.

Guiding Scriptures for Developing a Vision

Joel 2:28
[ The Day of the LORD ] "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

Acts 2:17
" 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

GUIDING SCRIPTURE FOR FORWARD MOVEMENT
2 Timothy 1:3-14
 ³I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. ⁴Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. ⁶For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

 ⁸So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, ⁹who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ¹⁰but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. ¹¹And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. ¹²That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

 ¹³What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

John 14.7-17

⁷If you know me, you will know^* my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’

8 Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ ⁹Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. ¹¹Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. ¹²Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴If in my name you ask me^* for anything, I will do it.

15 ‘If you love me, you will keep^* my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,^* to be with you for ever. ¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in^* you. 

What God does/What we do/What God promises we can do
Action / Response / Covenant

A Vision

To be "Showing God's love to the community of the Ojai Valley by the 4 R's: Reconciliation, Renewal, Revitalization, and Restoration." (Ojai UMC 4/2/09 [Ad Board 4/8/09])

Loving Neighbor as Self

I may be a little late to the party with this one...

But I think that we ought to be looking at fostering relationships with our neighbors for these reasons and so many more (Oh, like it is the second phrase of the Great Commandment, given to Jesus and to Moses).

But, when even the presidency says we need to be deeper in relationship with our neighbors, it really is something we ought to realize has gone too far away from this.

Staying with my folks reminded me of this. My dad said hi to just about everyone in town, knew their names, and I am amazed at the number of organizations he is working with now, that I didn't know about before. This is news with my dad, my mom has been doing it since the day we arrived in Bishop. Thanks for the reminder of what it means to be building community. 

Time for me to get out and see more people in the community, probably even a few who are not in the church! ;-)

I hate it when I'm wrong

This news ought to make my dear friend, and PastorPoet, Steve happy.

But for me, it means I really need to figure out how to write more haiku, sonnets, and iambic pentameter...or do more rhyming in my sermons, ala Al Sharpton.

The Poetry of Pastoring

Is “poet” a biblical model for ministry?

Juxtapositions

I was reading through my bloglines the other day. I ran across these two articles. I put the two together, and want you to ponder the two as well. We need church to be attractive, and we need life to be lived in reality and with relationship as the key.

Would You Put Your Pastor in a Box?

(Filed under: Evangelism & Outreach)

One church would, and they're even aiming two. In a David Blaine-esque stunt, they've promised to suspend their pastor in a box for three days if 4,000 people show up on Easter.

You can visit the site, but there's not much more to say about it other than that.

This type of marketing doesn't sit exceptionally well with me. It communicates that you should go to whichever church will pull the biggest stunt, and it creates a pressure for one-upping other antics. One youth pastor will drink a cheeseburger that has been run through the juicer, but the other will shave his head.

I realize we should be willing to go as far as necessary to make disciples, I just don't think I'm convinced that these sorts of stunts are a good way to do that.

“We have turned churches into 'vendors of religious services and goods' where people shop for worship, instead of 'a body of people on a mission'. People choose a church by what makes them feel good, instead of belonging to a community in which God will kill us, and then raises us up into the new life of obedience!”

- Marva J. Dawn, Living in the Lamblight,
ed. by Hans Boersma

Sermon Notes April 5, 2009

Text from Matthew 21:1-11

Pulled these excerpts from eSermons.com. Reminded the people that Jesus came to save, we then have to go and do the work.

Parade or Demonstration?

I’m persuaded that as Mark describes it, Palm Sunday sounds more like a

demonstration, than a parade. Rather than a leisurely, organized march

into

the city, picture a potential mob scene. The legionnaires did. The

political

and religious authorities did. Given the unrest and violence which had

marked Passover festivals in the recent past, festivals celebrating

Israel’s

liberation from Egypt, officials knew better than to wade into the

middle of

a spontaneous protest. Indeed they waited until dark before acting.

They

held off until Jesus was in an isolated spot, away from the crowds.

Start with a parade on Sunday, and you’ll never get to a reason for an

execution on Friday. But start with a demonstration in a tense city

jammed

with pilgrims marking an earlier liberation from an oppressive regime,

and

you have a tinder box ready to explode. Listen to the chants and shouts

of

the demonstrators: “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the

Lord!

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!” The Legionnaires

went

from yellow to orange alert. These were nonsensical claims for someone

mounted on a silly donkey. Perhaps they suppressed a smile, but they

also

gripped their weapons more tightly.

As this scene unfolded, as Dominic Crossan observes, “there was already

one

human being,” who was “accepted by millions of people as Divine, son of

God,

God, and even God of God.” Yes the empire already had one who was

“hailed as

Lord, Redeemer, Liberator, and even Savior of the World – the Roman

emperor

Octavian the Augustus.” The little band going before and behind Jesus

on the

road to Jerusalem with hopes for liberation running high was on a

collision

course with an immovable force which imposed peace with power.

Craig Anderson, Parade or Demonstration?

___________________________

Easy to Cheer, Hard to Serve

You have seen those bumper stickers that read "Honk if you love Jesus."

Then

there was a follow up: "Tithe if you love Jesus. Anyone can honk."

Everyone

loves a parade, everyone loves to get excited. Sometimes we, too, get

caught

up in the excitement of the moment. We are filled with great

enthusiasm, a

fresh burst of energy over a particular project. Unfortunately our

enthusiasm soon fades. We lose interest. It was great while it lasted

but

now it's gone. It's easy to shout , it's hard to serve.

King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com

______________________

About the Donkey

People often speak of donkeys in belittling terms. You may have heard

the

expression, "I'm just someone who has to do all the donkey work." Or

"So-and-so is as stubborn as a mule" (a mule is part donkey).

These sayings overlook the contributions of a truly valuable animal.

Donkeys

have served the human race for thousands of years. They were once

prized as

symbols of humility, gentleness, and peace.

In Bible days, donkeys that had never been ridden were regarded as

especially suitable for religious purposes. So it was most fitting that

Jesus sent for a colt to perform the royal task of carrying Him into

Jerusalem. How enviable was that donkey's mission! How like our mission

as

Jesus' followers!

A missionary in China calls herself "the Lord's donkey." She's a humble

believer, "carrying" her Lord faithfully into town after town and

training

others to do likewise. The Lord has need of many such "donkeys" in

today's

world, humble people who will carry Him into their Jerusalem and make

Him

known.

The donkey had to be untied before Jesus could use it. We too must be

released from worldly attachments if we are to serve Christ. Are we

willing

to be the Lord's donkey?

Our Daily Bread, March 24, 2001

Geek Breakfast #2

Geek Breakfast Ojai #2

Host:	Geek Breakfast Ojai
Type:	Meetings - Club/Group Meeting
Network:	Global

Date:	Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Time:	7:30am - 8:30am
Location:	Papa Lennons
Street:	515 W El Roblar Dr
City/Town:	Meiners Oaks, CA