I appreciate the way they have framed this discussion and believe they have put together some of the freshest and clearest language to explain this distinction.  For example:

• The real Jesus taught that his followers should take a flexible approach, doing what love requires in any situation (Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 3:1-6). Many churches today teach that rules are more important than love.
• The real Jesus offered hope (Luke 4:18-19); one of his most common statements was, “Be not afraid” (Luke 12:32). Many churches today actively promote fear.
• The real Jesus defended sinners from attack (John 8:1-11). Many churches today lead the charge against them.
• The real Jesus empowered women spiritually (Luke 8:1-4; John 20:11-18). Many churches today teach that only men are worthy of spiritual leadership.
• The real Jesus encouraged simple living (Luke 12:13-34). Many churches today celebrate flashy materialism.
• The real Jesus celebrated diversity in God’s creation, including gay and transgender people (Matthew 8:5-13; Matthew 19:1-12). Many churches today call diversity an abomination. (For more info, explore these resources.)
• The real Jesus boldly crossed racial and ethnic boundaries (John 4:1-30; Luke 10:25-37). Many churches today are segregated by race and ethnicity.
• The real Jesus celebrated life and loved having a good time (Matthew 11:16-19). His first miracle was to create wine (John 2:1-11). Many churches today give the impression that fun is dangerous.

From their website

This list prompts me to think of few other examples.

• The real Jesus rejected earthly shows of power.  Many churches today embrace secular and political means of power.
• The real Jesus was never into a numbers game to prove his worth.  Many churches today evaluate their authority by their popularity.
• The real Jesus spent a lot of his ministry in the outdoors. Many churches today operate exclusively within their own walls.
• The real Jesus never played it safe and was constantly on the move. Many churches today are content to do the same thing over and over again.

How about you?  What differences and comparisons would you add?  In any event, this exercise makes for a great and interesting discussion.

In your opinion, “Who stole Jesus?”

It always amazes me how quickly natural disasters are attributed to some intentional strategy of the divine.  Insurance companies commonly call them “acts of God.” While this may help distinguish such frightening and terrible events from any human causality or responsibility, it makes for an even more frightening and terrible theology, an understanding of God’s actions in the world rejected by none other than Jesus himself.

Speaking about some of the current events of his day, Jesus reflected in Luke 13 about a tower that perhaps under construction or during repairs fell and took the lives of 18 workers. In the same context, another recent tragedy involved a group of outsiders from the established group.  Jesus asked rhetorically, “Do you really think these people were any worse than others? He preached in his celebrated Sermon on the Mount, “the sun shines on the good and the evil and the rain falls on the just and the unjust.”

Jesus taught what we all know as deep down truth. Not only do bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people, but even our understanding of who is really good and who is really bad is as shaky as ground beneath our feet and as capricious as the sky over our heads.  So let’s be careful drawing lines of causality and blame so quickly and irresponsibly.

In my own practice as a minister, I quickly learned to never take credit for good weather. Beautiful days can turn on a dime, especially in Kentucky.  Before I might even know it, I could just as likely be blamed for the inevitable string of bad weather sure to follow.

That’s why the slogans “sh*@ happens” and/or “blessings happen” are partially correct and equally wrong.  Pastoral experience reveals plenty of both in every life.   While some suffer more terrible consequences because of their own poor choices, even the greatest of saints are not insulated from calamity. It all comes with the territory of living.

Preachers and politicians alike should be more careful when attempting to speak for the Almighty.  It’s just as wrong to profane the sacred as it is to tie universal experiences together with specific pronouncements of God’s judgment.   Both take God’s good name in vain and betray a prejudice far removed from God’s true intention for the world.

As I seek to interpret the gospel’s true message, I find God is always in the redeeming business, to be a source and strength for the troubles that will undoubtedly come our way.  Good times are great, but will not last.  And better if the challenge of a disaster brings out the best in us.  When that happens, let me then be the first to say, “Look, a sign from God.”

Michelle is a former member of the youth group I led and now married and serves as an attorney in Washington D.C.  By opening her heart and sharing her memories, she is a hopeful and courageous example to others who have endured or might need to face a similar journey.

In this way, she continues the redeeming story of one beggar showing another beggar where to find bread.  Thank you Michelle.

This summer in a New Orleans coffee shop, I noticed a room full 0f customers sitting all alone except to be connected in one way or another to the grand mother of this new creation – the internet.

Instead of Sally, Bruce or Bob, they sat across from iPad, Apple and Blackberry.  It was as quiet as a church and nearly as reverent.  All eyes fixed upon back lit screens, faces washed in their warm glow.

I guessed at their interests: social networking, reading the morning’s paper from a city far away, surfing an endless wave of mind-numbing distraction.  Then, it hit me.

This devotion was more than passing the time, more than ritual or habit and certainly more than a passing fad.  This was sacred space in the soul’s quest for something greater than individual existence.  This was a congregant searching for a congregation, a believer looking to access a higher power.

The treasured domain of seeking a more fulfilling purpose to gain wisdom and needed direction, once reserved for the gods, or yes even God, now belongs to the binary world of bits, bytes and blips.  Instead of a daily quiet time, we seek a daily diversion time, returning again and again and again to rest and bath in the constant flowing stream of data.

Meditation becomes hibernation, with itchy fingers to swipe and click, to get online and stay online along the straight and narrow paths that lead to a million different other straight and narrow paths.

These machines are our friends, our lovers, our waking companion, our soul-mates, our confidants, our refuge, our addiction and our God.

We would rather feel the heat of their quiet hum, than become attentive to the real flesh and blood human just a few feet away — for how can a mere human compare?  They don’t have the juice, the list of contacts, the breath and depth of knowledge and awareness as this, my precious deity, provides.

But there is just one thing, one terrible but very real thing with this replacement God at service to my every search demand and most selfish and idiosyncratic desires and interests.

In this reverence, I experience no awe, no mystery, no deep and inexpressible joy.  In this world, my eyes tire long before my heart might fill to breaking from love or struggle. Here, there is, as Rudolf Otto described, no real numinous, no mysterium tremendum, and no mysterium fascinans.

15 inches can’t compare to 360 degrees, 3-D high-definition isn’t a Mediterranean sunset and all these nuggets of knowledge get a little cluttered on the shelves of my mind.

Maybe I should take a walk, hold a hand, or smell a flower.  Maybe I should power off and plug-in, or better, unplug and power-up.  Least I forget, if I can find a substitute God, then I really never knew God at all.

This weekend finishes a final week of summer vacation as I join Donna in Burlington for her largest and most important conference of the year.  This event (my fifth)  involves treasurers, auditors and comptrollers from all over the country.  It is a smorgasbord of sharing knowledge and joining in annual fun activities including a 5K fun walk/run and a golf scrabble to help enjoy the local scenery.

This year’s most recognizable personalities involve former Vermont governor Howard Dean and the former comptroller of the United States David Walker whose Comeback America Initiative has been received favorably in many sectors as a corrective road map to these troubled economic times.

My unofficial role is the “conference manager’s lackey” helping as needed, but mostly enjoying the events and the area as I am able.

And Burlington is an absolutely lovely area to enjoy.  It is a relatively small college town with a wonderful New England flavor, much like Lexington’s treasured home in the Bluegrass, except with a beautiful lake that looks out to the Adirondack mountains in New York state.

It will be a great way to help close the summer and I am grateful (again) for this opportunity to experience this great land in all of its diversity and interest.

I’ve been asked to be a regular contributor for the new online local news resource called Kentucky Forward.  My first article is called “Wealth and the American Way” and can be read here.

These scripture passages were originally organized by the Catholic church after Vatican II and placed on a three-year cycle following the three Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke (The Gospel of John is included during Advent, Lent and Easter of each year and in the year focused on Mark, a shorter gospel than the other two).

These gospel texts were  matched with other readings from the Old Testament, New Testament and the Psalms as a way for Catholics around the world to focus on the same scripture readings in their worship services from Sunday to Sunday.

It wasn’t long before Protestant clergy and scholars in North America developed a similar pattern today known as the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL).  The best online resource (in my judgment) for these readings is sponsored by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library.  Today, you can find most Catholic, Episcopalian, Disciple, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian and UCC congregations focused on the same main passages of scripture during their Sunday worship service.

Because Baptists are a part of the “free church” tradition, most Baptist churches choose not to be bound by the lecti0nary. But, other Baptist congregations and leaders, especially those who wish to identify with the larger Christian fellowship, delight to follow the Revised Common Lectionary for worship services and sermon preparations.  For them, such attachment is not a restriction, but a powerful statement of Christian formation and identity.

This summer, each church I’ve worshiped in (Baptist and non-Baptist) have been participants in the lectionary.  This has allowed a sense of continuity and unity from Sunday to Sunday. Though I’ve been in different cities and denominations, I have journeyed in a common pilgrimage.   Often, as in the case this summer, these readings are connected week to week.  I’ve been able to listen to others handle the same material as in Jesus’ agrarian parables of the seeds or weed in Matthew or Paul’s appeal to prayer and conquering grace in Romans 8 and 9.

This commonality in diversity calls me to a greater respect and desire to be even more attentive to the lectionary in my own practice of ministry.

First, I want to affirm my sense of unity and belonging with the larger Christian world.  As a Baptist, who is more comfortable to identify with a “thinking, open-minded, nurturing and progressive” Christianity and is increasingly uncomfortable with a more “restrictive, moralistic, judgmental and affluent” Christianity, a better fit is found with a purposed unity toward those in more traditionally mainline churches.  in our state, this move is illustrated by the Kentucky Baptist Fellowship becoming a participating partner with the Kentucky Council of Churches.  Following the lectionary in our worship service alongside these partners is another form of developing and deepening such relationships.

Second, unity needs to be strengthened between just such Baptists and following the lectionary provides another point of identity among our similar Baptist affiliations.  Granted, the Baptists in Kentucky and in nearby states who are most like us live in the minority.  Yet, this minority status we share only underscores our need to offer greater focus and seriousness to build the bonds of our common agreement.  Following the lectionary is not only an important way to do so, but presents a well established and popular unity to honor the gospels and the greater Biblical narrative.

Third, using the lectionary protects Baptists from their proclivity of a selective canon.  We Baptists, have a long history of using the Bible more for our convenience, than for its  troubling challenge.  Often Baptists “stand upon” the Bible for proclamation, but seldom “stand under” the Bible for instruction.  Using an assigned text demands a discipline of listening to passages the worship leader or congregation might otherwise avoid or just neglect because of an unfamiliarity with it.

Fourth, the practice of a lectionary connects us with the greater historical tradition and wisdom of a systematic presentation of scripture.  It is the practice of the Jews to read the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) through each year.  According to the Talmud, the task of reading assigned passages aloud on particular days goes back to the time of Moses.  Wesley and other Christians, as in the Eastern Orthodox tradition have employed a one year lectionary cycle that dates back much earlier than the work of the RCL.   Spiritual wisdom recognizes the need for these organized and cooperative patterns, as ultimately more liberating than restrictive and more helpful in spiritual growth and maturity.

Finally, the lectionary helps build the Biblical foundation and practice of the greater liturgical year.  The lectionary compliments the practice of Christians who value Advent and Lent as much as Christmas and Easter, who celebrate Pentecost and are not blind to the “feast days” of the rest of the christian calendar.

In this way, the discipline and love of the lectionary guides believers through the two most important gifts they have been offered by God.  The first is the gift of time.  We are called to recognize each day as a gift of grace and to use our time wisely.   The lectionary, so focused on the gospel record, reminds us how God has used the context of time and place to offer us the holy and saving wisdom as revealed in a real person of history, Jesus of Nazareth whom we weekly, if not daily confess as fully the still-living and ever present Christ who comes to us through prayer and scripture now in this our time and our place. 

This abiding sense of God’s presence, given by the promise of the Holy Spirit, names the other companion gift to join the gift of time.  We are not alone. Not only are we  joined with other Christians and Baptists around the world through coordinated liturgical and lectionary practice, but we are also joined with the Christ who makes us one.  This one, our Lord and Savior is the foundation of our unity. He once walked upon the earth in real time and in a specific place, and now lives with us and in us.  The lectionary is a testimony, a living testament and reminder of these truths of our common faith in him.

Combined, common liturgical and lectionary practice is a telling and even subversive reminder of our greater alligience to God.  We all follow calendars.  We hardly can live without them.  Every time we schedule an event for a specific date, say having lunch next Tuesday on August 9, we are offering our unwitting alliance to the conventional calendar of sequenced time.  The America calendar plots events unique to our country: July 4, President’s Day, Memorial Day, etc.  Our personal calendars compel us to circle special days, like birthdays, anniversaries and all the rest.

All of these by necessity have nothing to do with “God’s time.” What the Bible calls “the fullness of time.”  If these moments are to transcend our ordinary experiences, they require spiritual discipline, guidance and preparation.  Following liturgical and lectionary practice is a forceful reminder of this, our more abiding loyalty and our greater hopeful redemption.

In part, albeit a small part, following these dedicated schedules of reverence is an act of defiance to the greater and more popular systems, powers and trends of our culture.  It is a invitation toward unity with other believers around the world. It is a journey of remembrance connecting me with those who in faith have walked before me.  It is a focus on the dynamic power of life and the gifts of time and holy presence offered by a loving God who is not bound by time or place, but meets me in the fabric of its creation.  It is a steady program of preparation so that I might discern God’s will and seek to more faithfully follow God’s instruction.  It is a deepening of my spiritual discipline and maturity.

But most importantly, it is my celebration of the Christ in whom I rest, and move and have my being.  I love the lectionary because mostly and ultimately, I love him.

One of the greatest gifts of this summer experience has been the opportunity to worship in other congregations as a participant.  As I begin the process of the last third of this sabbatical, I naturally find myself preparing to re-enter my weekly responsibilities. I am also currently listening to the excellent round of sermons our church has heard over the course of the summer.

Together, aided with the ideas and inspirations I’ve collected over the past several weeks and having the opportunity to listen more as an “outsider” to our services, I am creating, praying, dreaming, seeking and hoping for our future this fall.

It is a wonderful and so infrequent blessing to be the one who is a recipient of a sermon.  As I make my way across the schedule of Central’s summer preachers, I’m taking notes and trying to answer, first for myself and secondly for our church, each challenge they have given us.

Once I’m able – I’ll also post and encourage all interested (especially the membership at Central) to catch up on these sermons.  Keep watching this blog spot, the church’s facebook page and the CBC website for these updates.   If you are at the church, I also know DVDs are available upon your request.

I’m gearing up for a renewed and recharged spirit to guide my re-entry into the life of the congregation.  I sincerely encourage those in the church to offer a similar pledge.  I know you did not take the summer off.  You have been faithful in worship and giving (I hope!). Many of you, at this point, have also participated in the Vision Planning process.

Through the grace and providence of God, we are all moving toward a point of convergence.  It has the potential to become for us a kairos moment, a time for rightness and fulfillment, a time for promise and delivery, a time to embrace and work with greater dedication to all the good that is in us and among us.

I have enjoyed this sabbatical and the incredible gift of time it has afforded me as a newlywed and new resident of Lexington.  I have joyfully embraced our new home as a place for friendship and fellowship with others.  I have been able to visit with family in ways impossible from past years.  I have focused considerable time on preparing, showing and keeping my house in Midway ready to sell.  I am indeed blessed to be given the grace and permission to focus on all these transitions.

I will complete the assignments, readings, interviews and observations I have given myself for the close of this sabbatical.  But to be honest, I am getting ready for it all to fade in order for the light now dawning in my heart and head to be expressed.

A new day is coming, for me and for all of us.  May we all be ready.

P.S. — Please continue to pray for the sell of my house in Midway.  For six years, I have traveled back and forth to Woodford County.  Kyle has completed college and Neal enters his second year of higher education at a new loft apartment near the UK campus.  My life in Midway was great, but with the exception of this house, it has come to a close.  My life in Lexington deserves to be freed from the Midway burden.  Your prayers and encouragement for this final step are needed and appreciated.