Holy Wednesday

Last night we had our Holy Tuesday Healing and Anointing Service. It was a powerful service and I would like to invite you all out for tonight's service as well. Tonight is our Holy Wednesday Remember Your Baptism Service. This will be a time to remember that we have been bought with a price and that God has made promises in our baptism. Promises to be with us always in the power of the Holy Spirit. The service is on Wednesday, March 31st at 7pm at Warren's Grove. See you then.

Holy Tuesday

Last night we had our Holy Monday Foot Washing Service. It was a powerful service and I would like to invite you all out for tonight's service as well. Tonight is our Holy Tuesday Healing and Anointing Service. This will be a time where we can do what it says to do in the book of James 5.13-14: "Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord." The service is on Tuesday, March 30th at 7pm at Warren's Grove. See you then.

Who are you on Palm Sunday?

This Sunday, March 28th is going to be Palm Sunday. The children of the church are going to be doing a play on Palm Sunday and there will be a question posed. The question is: Who are you on Palm Sunday? Are we Caiphas? Are we Thomas? Are we Judas? Are we a person in the crowd? Are we Mary Magdalene? They all come to Palm Sunday in different ways and with different baggage. As we enter into Holy Week, let us examine what baggage we bring with us on our way to Calvary. While we journey with Jesus my prayer is that we will leave behind the things that weigh us down from taking up our cross and following Jesus.

Atlanta

I went to Atlanta on Sunday to check out a church called City on a Hill United Methodist Church. This is part of an ongoing project I am working on with Dr. Stephen Gunter concerning Effective Church Planting. This Church is 3 1/2 years old and is a dynamic and growing church. They meet in an elementary school in Woodstock, Georgia. They are going to be moving into an old library by the fall. Their pastor is Chris Bryant. I thought I would share with you some pictures of how they turn a cafeteria into a worship space every week.

The Church

This is a quote from Karl Barth's book The Humanity of God. "The Church is not too mean a thing for God but, for better or for worse, sufficiently precious and worthy in His eyes to be entrusted with His witnessing and thus His affairs in the world---yes, even Himself. So great is God's loving-kindness! For this reason there is no private Christianity. For this reason we cannot but take seriously, affirm, and love this community in its peculiarity ..... For this reason, too, theology cannot be carried on in the private lighthouses of some sort of merely personal discoveries and opinions. It can be carried on only in the Church---it can be put to work in all its elements only in the context of the questioning and answering of the Christian community and in the rigorous service of its commission to all men."

Spring Break is over

Spring Break is over ---- now it is on to some papers. In reflection though, it is amazing to think that this could be my last Spring Break. It seems like my life has revolved around seminary for so many years that it is hard to grasp the notion that I will not have spring break next year. It was a good one though. We went to Topsail and one day I was at the beach ----- it was sunny with no wind and 78 degrees. The kids were running around with t-shirts and shorts.

It was awesome!

The game was awesome last night. I hope you all got to watch it. I am so excited about going into ACC Tournament weekend. This was the first win that Duke has had at home against Carolina since I have been in school at Duke. The bonfire was awesome and I had a great "seat". Go Duke!!!

Communion

I have been preparing for confirmation. Tomorrow I am going to be teaching on Communion. I remembered this excerpt from this movie called Romero. It is based on the Arch Bishop of El Salvador named Father Romero. This is a telling scene of how rich the sacrament was to his understanding of the church. If you cannot see this clip then visit my blog and you will find it.

Is it possible to not bear fruit?

In Luke 13.6-9 Jesus tells a parable about a fig tree that does not bear fruit. So, I guess the answer to my question is a definitive ------ yes! While at the same time, we expect a tree that is a fruit tree to bear fruit. Here the owner of the vineyard makes the decision to discard the fruitless fruit tree. There is a reason for this decision, in verse 7 the owner says: "Why should it be wasting the soil?" The gardener intercedes on behalf of the fruitless fruit tree and convinces the owner to wait a year. This wait and see year is going to be filled with manure and with the poking and prodding of shovels. I see some parallels of this in my life. Do you all see any parallels in your lives?