Prepare Ye

The use of social media in the church has seemed to be embraced like lukewarm water.  While some people and churches have embraced Facebook, blogs and websites, others avoid it, citing it as yet another change to be afraid of. But if Twitter and Facebook can be devices that can overthrow governments, imagine how powerful it could be to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be completely wrong.

Today is the third anniversary of my father's death. With all that is going on, with assignment, and graduation and the call process looming, I miss him so much. No matter what was going on, he would listen to me, and then tell me what I needed to hear. Not what I wanted to hear, but what I needed to hear. When I needed reassurance, he gave it. When I needed a kick in the ass, he'd do it. The last real conversation I had with him was the day before the car accident that eventually took his life. I had received the class reports for the fall semester and read them to him. He told me how very proud of me that he was. When I was told of the accident that he and my mother were in, I was told not to come home, it wasn't that serious. But when he took a turn for the worse, I drove back to Saginaw overnight. I stopped by the hospital when I got in at 4 am, and got into see him. He was in a great deal of pain, and was struggling. But he knew I was there. He squeezed my hand in

Tough, you think you've got the stuff You're telling me and anyone You're hard enough You don't have to put up a fight You don't have to always be right Let me take some of the punches For you tonight Listen to me now I need to let you know You don't have to go in alone And it's you when I look in the mirror And it's you when I don't pick up the phone Sometimes you can't make it on your own We fight all the time You and I... that's alright We're the same soul I don't need... I don't need to hear you say That if we weren't so alike You'd like me a whole lot more Listen to me now I need to let you know You don't have to go it alone And it's you when I look in the mirror And it's you when I don't pick up the phone Sometimes you can't make it on your own (This is it) I know that we don't talk I'm sick of it all Can, you, hear, me, when, I, sing You're the reas

Today was the first day of the Senior Seminar at The LTS. We got to hear about the call process and hear call stories from some recent grads. I was not nervous or apprehensive about the process before lunch today. Everything was out of my hands until the Assignment meeting in 30 days. I have no control over what region I'm assigned to. Once assigned to a region, I have to wait for a Synod Bishop to call me to that synod. Again, I have no control over that. After the meeting, I'm very nervous. Tomorrow's meeting ... even more fun. Kid Rock - Born Free

This week the lectionary gives us a second helping of Jesus' calling of the 12. Last week, John tells of John the Testifier/Baptizer pointing out Jesus to some of his followers, who then dump him like trash by the side of the road. This week, we hear the Matthew/Mark story of Jesus calling fishermen to be fishers of men. The calling of the apostles, depending upon which Gospel you read, comes down to Jesus telling his disciples to: "Come and See." "Follow me." "Try the other side." I think that's good advice.

For all of my friends in the ministry or trying to get into the ministry, I offer a cautionary tale: You take your first call in a town about two or three hours away from your home town. Things are going well in your first few months. You are getting settled in; you like the congregation and the congregation likes you. You develop friendships with your colleagues at other churches in the community. On the third month anniversary of your arrival at your new call, a woman, who is not a member of your congregation, is arrested. It is on an illegitimate charge. Five days later, on the day the woman is convicted of the charge, you are elected to be the leader of a new community group that will lead a community boycott in response to the arrest. That night you give an unscripted speech to a community assembly larger than any group you have ever spoken to before. On the eve of your fifth month in your call, your home is bombed. After a year, the protest is successful, and the city'

I just spent a week in Atlanta and Birmingham learning more about Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, especially how the Christian vocation of so many of its leaders played into how the movement was formed. Right now, I'm too tired from the trip, and can't adequately process what I've learned, realized and how it is changing my views on ministry. There are some Scriptural passages I will never hear the same way again. There are some attitudes I cannot tolerate. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. U2 - Pride (in the Name of Love)

Testing out an idea ... We are called to 1) Proclaim God's Word, 2) Do God's work and 3) Serve God's will. Is that the right order? Is that right?

I supplied today (1/9/11) for my friend Norma while she spends time following in Paul's footsteps ( Epiphanies and Revelation ). I've gone from preaching from a manuscript to using an outline. I tried preaching from a manuscript for my Preaching and Technology class (see the A Sower Went Out to Sow notes) and felt uncomfortable. So, I'm posting my form of my outline for my pinch hitting sermon on Matthew's telling of the Baptism of Jesus. I warned Vicar Norma I may the wrong person to fill in for this Sunday    Every ELCA Senior had to write a sermon and provide exegetical work for their Approval using this week’s text    In addition, I did an Independent Study analyzing the four Gospel stories of Jesus’ baptism    I’ve spent lot of time past 7 months looking at Jesus’ baptism Matthew’s telling has some unique details    This is the only Gospel that raises the question – WHY?       Why would someone who is without sin be baptized for repentance and the forgive

My prayers are with the victims of the shooting (assassination?) in Arizona, as well as all of their friends, families and others who are effected by this tragedy. With the volume and venom turned up in political discourse. Will those who have decided to call others "un-American" dial down their comments. Representative Giffords was one of SarahPac's Targets. Maybe referring to a political rival as a target, and using cross hairs to identify them is not a good idea.

I established another blog for a January term class on Preaching and Technology that I have taken here at The LTS. I am importing the posts from that blog ( A Sower Went Out To Sow ) over here. I don't think I'll use the Sower blog, but I'm going to keep it around just in case. I hope these posts may be useful or entertaining.

A number of my classmates, as well as others from around the PA area are on a trip to the areas of Greece and Turkey that are referred to Paul's letters and the book of Revelation. Follow them through Norma's blog at Epiphanies and Revelation.

Here is my sermon for the Preaching & Technology class. For the setting of this sermon, I placed myself in Nebraska by this July. Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23  In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus talks about sowing seeds, and reaping bountiful yields from some places and absolutely nothing from other places. This gives me a perfect opportunity to show off my lack of knowledge of agribusiness and farming. That’s what you get when you call a city boy from Michigan out to the farmlands of Nebraska. Jesus talks about the bounty of crops planted in good soil, with yields of thirty, sixty, even one hundred times the yield of what was planted. Having done some research into crop yields, these are not the types of yields that would allow farmers of today to stay in business. From what I have been able to figure out, it is the sower, the subject of this parable, who did not do such a good job. For example, the sower sows seeds on four types of ground. Some of the seeds he sowed and scattered wou

Is This Thing Still On? After almost a year of inactivity, a jump start, and a few prompts from loyal readers, I've decided to see if this thing still works. Posts may be infrequent -- like that's a change -- but I'll try to catch back up. Somewhere Out There - Our Lady Peace Hope you remember me   When you’re homesick and need a change I miss you’re purple hair This is a repeat "du jour" clip, but it's from one of the previous "blogging vacations" I've taken.

DISCLAIMER : The resemblance of this outline to the finished sermon is purely coincidental. Sermon Setting - I have decided to place this sermon at a congregation in Nebraska. Text - The main text is Matthew 13.1-23 (I have decided to include the verses omitted (10-17) by the Lectionary. The other lessons are Genesis 25.19-34, Psalm 119.105-112 & Romans 8.1-11. Sermon Outline Farm Yields    The yields mentioned by Jesus are good for the time, but not for modern agribusiness    Attributable to the poor sowing practices in the parable       Never sow on the path, nor on rocky ground, nor in thorns A way to read a parable    Someone/something will represent Jesus    Someone/something will represent us The seeds = the word of the kingdom of God   Jesus unpacks that in the explanation to the disciples   Seeds = Jesus & his Gospel So who are we?   The sower?      If so, then the soil represents areas where we take/spread/throw the Good News        Sometimes it w

I'm reviewing some of the commentaries previously listed. One author says that the parable is all about the seeds. Another author says that the parable is (obviously) about the soil. A third says that the parable is about the sower. And they all write for the same source. Thank you New Proclamation dot Com!!

This has been updated and tweaked a few times.  From Working Preacher dot Com    http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching_print.aspx?commentary_id=106 Sources from from Text Week Text Week    A sermon preached on this parable (but from Luke's telling ) by Martin Luther             http://homepage.mac.com/shanerosenthal/reformationink/mlsower.htm   Exegetical notes from Seattle's Grace Lutheran Church             http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_a_the_sower_and_the_seeds_GA.htm   Exegetical notes from CrossMarks           http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/matt13x1.htm   An article by John Dominic Crossan in the Journal of Biblical Literature through EBSCO ATLA   An article by Stanley Toussaint in the Bibliotheca Sacra through EBSCO ATLA   The Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary's Exegetical Study of the Lectionary has some great insights.    I am also looking at the commentaries available through New Proclamation dot com. Commentaries (actual books

From Working Preacher dot Com    http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching_print.aspx?commentary_id=106 Sources from from Text Week    A sermon preached on this parable (but from Luke's telling ) by Martin Luther             http://homepage.mac.com/shanerosenthal/reformationink/mlsower.htm   Exegetical notes from Seattle's Grace Lutheran Church              http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_a_the_sower_and_the_seeds_GA.htm   Exegetical notes from CrossMarks           http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/matt13x1.htm

Some questions I have from the assigned readings for the class: 1) How do you reference commentaries in a sermon? For this sermon, I have read 5 commentaries that I have, plus another 5 or 6 articles online on this text. I have gained some insights on the text from these. Since these ideas were not mine, how do I cite them? The article ETHICS AND THE USE OF SERMON RESOURCES : from the October 2007 issue of The Clergy Journal is focused on the "borrowing" of whole passages or entire sermons from online sermon resources. But how do we credit others for that spark that jump starts a sermon. 2) The set of articles arguing a pro-PowerPoint and anti-PowerPoint perspectives put up false, straw men type arguments. The anti article feels that anything beyond the preacher's voice is distracting. I would assume he is in favor of removing children as well. However, the PowerPoint proponent actually agrees with him in terms of using text. The pro argument is to find visuals that c

Here is the NRSV version of Matthew's telling of the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:1-9, 18-23) 13.1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 Let anyone with ears listen!”  18 “Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not underst

I have chosen the texts for July 10, 2011, the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time in Year A, this year also known as the 4th Sunday After Pentecost. I picked this text because I will hopefully have a place to preach this text, and that I may be called somewhere by then. The lessons for that Sunday include: Genesis 25:19-34,  Psalm 119.105-112, Romans 8:1-11 and  Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23.    The Genesis text includes birth of Jacob and Esau, and Jacob stealing Esau's birthright.    The Psalm includes " Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. " and " I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. "    The Romans text includes "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit." and "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells