Of God Talk and Figgy Pudding

For those reading Making Sense of the Christian Faith and are somewhere around the 1st chapter,

Thanks for participating in the conversation!  Here are 2 reasons that I am glad we are engaging in this conversation:   1.) figgy Pudding and  2.) the next generation.

First, figgy pudding.  Let me explain.  My professor David Lose (author of the book) tells a story that he thought was analogous to the place that many people are these day when it comes to many parts of our faith.  He was out Christmas caroling and came to the last song they were to sing.  “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” they sang.   You know the verse right?  You might even be singing it in your head right now.  You know the second verse too, right?  “So bring us some figgy pudding…so bring us some figgy pudding.”  As Dr. Lose was singing it he suddenly realized…. He had no idea what figgy pudding was.  There he was claiming it, belting it out and not knowing what it meant.  Isn’t that the way we are with parts of the Bible and parts of the Christian Faith?  We claim it is ours, maybe we even sing about it!  But do we really as much about it as we should?  I mean what really is the book of Hezekiah all about?  (There isn’t really a book of Hezekiah in the Bible)  So maybe we should be more engaged in the Biblical story and more engaged in the faith.   By the way, here is a picture of some figgy pudding…

And you thought it looked like Jello pudding… didn’t you?  I did.

Second,  We really do need to learn how to pass down our faith.  The Bible commands us too.  But do we really need to be commanded to pass down something that we cherish to the people who we love so much?  The trick is learning how to do it.  And learning how do it means learning it, then learning how to listen to the people who we want to pass it down to, and then learning how to talk about it with them. No easy process but well worth the effort.

So thank you for reading and may this reading engage us and challenge us to learn, grow, and share... and perhaps try out some figgy pudding the next time you get the chance.  

Making Sense of the Christian Faith- An Invitation

Hello to all!  I know it has been a while since I last wrote in my blog!  The reason I write today is because we are starting a new emphasis at Ascension.  Together, many of us will be reading and discussing David Lose's book:  Making Sense of the Christian Faith.  It is a book about the basics of Christian theology.

The reason I recommend this book is not necessarily because I think that everybody need to "brush up on the basics"  (though some of us do and that's o.k.!) but because there are a whole lot of people in our world, in our neighborhood, perhaps even in the same room who have questions about what we believe and why we believe it.  We should probably have a response for them- a response that might even help them make sense of this world and of life in general.

This is why Making Sense of the Christian Faith is such a great book.  It is a written in a simple question and answer style and it has great content.

So I invite you to join us.  Get the book and be a part of a small group (there are books, small group leader guides and discussion starter dvd's available in the church office) or come join us on Sunday mornings at Ascension.  We will meet in Founders Hall at 9:30.  I am also trying to put together a group of people at 11am as well.

I will also be sending out a blog about this once a week.  Please feel free to unsubscribe to this blog if you don't plan to be a part of this conversation.  You will not offend me at all and I would hate to thing that I am sending you emails that you would rather not read.

If you have any other questions please let me know by emailing me at pastortim@alcto.org.

Here is a short video Aidan and I made in preparation for the class:  

Around the Table

Seems a fitting end to our Thanks Giving Study and to Give Thanks Give Hope.  My wife has always been a better writer than I... or is it me...  anyway... 

As I write this, I’m at our dining room table, the fire flickering, the children playing a board game, and my tea mug almost empty.  Tim has just left the table, but what a joy to sit this morning as we both lingered, talking, giving thanks on this Thanksgiving morn.

As the table is central to the Thanksgiving feast, the table has been a central place for us during Gifts of Hope.  We sat one evening with Bishop Andrea DeGroot, Dr. Ed Maliski, and a table full of others.  We all talked about malaria.  The energy and the ideas and the means to truly save hundreds – thousands – of lives was coming out of this conversation.  All of the sudden I had this sense that I was on the sidelines, gazing at this lively table of possibility, and my eyes swelled with tears.  I knew the Spirit was there.

A week later, we sat with Pastor Benyam Kassahun at the table where I now type.  A small group of six of us broke bread together and prayed and talked and dreamed about an Africa where children weren’t dying each minute from preventable and treatable diseases.

The table is a powerful place.  This Thanksgiving weekend, we pray that you feel the power of Spirit upon you.  We pray that you are blessed with good conversation and good food.  We pray that you say a word of prayer for those who have no feast today.  And we pray that the many table-conversations surrounding Gifts of Hope will bear much fruit.

Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest,

and let these gift to us be blessed.

Blessed by God, who is our Bread;

may all the world be clothed and fed.

Chamie

By the way there is still plenty of time to take part in the Gifts of Hope campaign.  You can pick up order forms at Ascension and turn them in (through December) at the church office or at church on Saturday nights or Sunday mornings.  God's abundant blessings to you. 

Pastor Tim

Is there a Malariaologist in the House?

A malariologist? Is there really such a thing? Yes indeed there is. His name is Ed Maliski and he is coming to speak here at Ascension on Sunday (11/21) in the Library at 9:30 and 11am. He has a wonderful, Christian perspective on how it really is possible to contain malaria.



Be sure to ask him what this is.

 Come hear him speak, bring your questions and your imagination. Come also, and check our gifts of hope fair. It is the last chance to be a part of and there are a lot of great products for great causes.

Creating a Legacy of Hope

Amanda Miner is a member of the Gifts of Hope team and a parent of a 1st grader...

Joan

Since I was asked to give a parent's perspective on buying gifts through Gifts of Hope, I really wanted to explore exactly why it is I choose to do this with Kate each year. Simply because it helps somebody and is a 'good' thing to do just doesn't cut to the heart of my motivation - although it may have started out that way. We've done several things over the last three or four years - including buying chickens and rabbits and maybe a goat or two at prior Gifts of Hope fairs. Kate's first response at opening a Christmas card at age 4, and learning that part of her gift was a pair of rabbits (for someone else, no less), was one of puzzlement - but what it did do was initiate a conversation that has been going on in various forms and activities for the following three years. Shortly after, we learned (together) about exactly how rabbits are used in Ghana, and how children are involved in the family livelihood-- so that parents might pass a legacy of hope down to them. We've written to Joan in Uganda, and now Jithendra in India. Kate's curiosity has been contagious - and in very specific ways. She wants to know names, ages, where they sleep, what they eat, what they like. Go figure - she wants to know them as a person. The realization that we have distanced ourselves as adults was quite profound to me. Yes, we have outreach and ministries and offerings, which are extremely valuable - but let's come out from behind those safe little boxes for a moment and remember that it is people's lives we are getting involved in.

Jithendra

Many hands have made the things you will see at the Gifts of Hope Fair, and many hands will use the goats, rabbits, chickens, pigs (and maybe even a water buffalo) that you may generously provide. Those hands each belong to to a unique individual, with a name, a family, a talent or skill, and a million other attributes. Imagine that in your mind, as a child does---or better yet, with your child - and give thanks for the opportunity to help someone else's family legacy. This can sometimes feel awkward for us adults (and by us, I mean me) - but I am suggesting that we need to more purposely present our children with things like these that make us uncomfortable, lest we squander their curiosity to learn about all God's children, in all places. Let's build their courage and excitement in doing that, and ours is sure to follow. It's a legacy worth passing on.

"If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing."  1 Corinthians 13:3