iHOPE

'Most Richly Blessed'

It isn't new and we still don't know where it came from, but the following continues to be a helpful reminder and was part of yesterday's sermon:

      I asked God for strength, that I might achieve,

 I was made weak, that I might humbly obey.

 I asked for health, that I might do greater things,

 I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

 I asked for riches, that I might be happy,

 I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

 I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men,

 I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

 I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life,

 I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

 I got nothing I asked for-but everything I had hoped for.

 Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

  I am among all men, most richly blessed.

General Assembly at 'Full Tilt', Too

  Our General Assembly is meeting this week in San Jose, California.  It is a bi-annual event that gathers delegates from every presbytery around the nation. I think there will be more than 3,500 people in attendance (though not all are delegates).  They will consider a wide spectrum of issues: social, political, theological and ecclesiastical. It is hard to understand all the work that is being invested and people who attend consistently talk about being impressed with the wide scope of issues, opinions and decisions that are considered, offered and made.
  Being impressed however, doesn't mean everyone is going to like what issues are considered, opinions are offered and decisions that are made.  So far, most of the work has been done in the background by separate committees assigned to work on a particular aspect. Those committees are finishing up their work and are now making recommendation to the whole Assembly. It is the next couple of days that will produce the decisions that we will hear about in the media as well as back in our presbytery meetings.
  If you'd like to know what has happened so far, you can click on this link: General Assembly News.
  Check it out. If you're experience is typical, you will find some actions you agree with, some you disagree with, and some you never heard about before this (i.e., did you know that there was something called the Belhar Confession? Belhar Confession).
  It's easy to dismiss the work of General Assembly as having nothing to do with (or even make it harder on) the 'real world' of the local congregation (Lord knows, I have expressed that thought many times!). Over the years I have come to appreciate more this (now) bi-annual cascade of pronouncements and actions. This is what the church does when it is trying to be faithful to who God is and what we perceive God is doing in our world. We may get it right, we may get it wrong. Either way, we'll get to pray about it, talk about it and come back in another two years to do it again. It is never simple, but then again, there is nothing simple about trying to keep up with God.

Vacation Bible School at 'Full Tilt'

  Vacation Bible School is underway in a BIG way this week. We have maxed out at 220 kids plus more than 50 volunteers. Its a great week, with long-lasting effects.
  Some of the best memories I have of Church as a kid, revolve around Vacation Bible School (yes, they had it even then).  Did I learn anything? I'm sure I did, though I can't remember any of the particular lessons.  What I do remember learning is:

• Church can be a fun place to be.
• I like being at church.
• The Bible has some great stories
• A lot of 'cool' people (mostly Junior High and Senior High kids) were there helping, so this must be a cool place to be.

  Granted, none of these lessons are earthshaking and probably not all that profound. Yet these were important seeds in my life that later produced a faith that was life-changing. 

  I think about those early experiences in my life when i see our present VBS. I wonder what seeds are being planted and what fruit will come from all this? God only knows, but I know I'm glad for all the work, dedication and energy being offered this week to make Vacation Bible School possible.

Congregational Meeting Starts on 'New Hope Way'

Our annual congregational meeting is scheduled for Sunday, June 22 @ 7:00 pm. In some ways, it will be pretty typical. We will:

• Elect new Elders and Deacons
• Review where we have come from
• Look ahead to what is to come.

  However, some things in this year's Congregational Meeting will be different:

• No food will be served. We have checked the Book of Order and apparently it is permissible to meet without serving food. Who knew?! Actually, there really is no place to serve or sit for dessert- let alone dinner. Fellowship Hall is pretty small these days.  So for this year at least, we'll just meet in the Sanctuary. But not at first...
• We will start the meeting in the street!  The new street is here and its called, 'New Hope Way'.  How cool is that?  We'll start our meeting outside in the street with prayers of celebration and dedication. We'll pray for those who will come in this new entrance for decades to come, hoping to 'Find a Home' and 'Build a Life' with God. We'll also pray for who will exit our driveway on to this street and into the world to 'Make a Difference'. After our time of prayer, we'll walk into the sanctuary for the rest of our meeting. We aim to be done by 8:15.

  There is no childcare provided, and children are welcome.

General Assembly 'Top 10'

  'So what are the big issues coming before General Assembly this year?'

  I have been asked that question a few times in the last week. People who know about General Assembly (and it isn't a large group), know that they tackle a wide array of issues, but that  a couple become the 'key'  issues that define that gathering.   I don't have a crystal ball for predicting which issues will have the greatest impact, but the Stated Clerk's Top 10 List is probably a good place to start. Every year it seems there is a surprise issue that catches everyone off guard and I have a suspicion it will have to do with a lingering issue over the denomination's relationship with the nation of Israel and the best way to support them as well as speak about the need for the rights of Palestinians.  This is one of those issues that is already generating some heat and is usually misrepresented in the press.  I hope i am wrong. More about that in the coming week.

General Assembly Begins

  Every two years, representatives are chosen from all our Presbyteries to be a part of our 'General Assembly'. This is one of those years, and our General Assembly will begin tomorrow (June 21) in San Jose, CA..

  A rough analogy for General Assembly would be our Congress in that it is the highest decision making body we have in our denomination. Their decisions affect everything from our Constitution (Book of Order) to general directions for the denomination to public statements. As an example, our own Denver Presbytery has sent an Overture for the General Assembly to consider that concerns the plight of Zimbabwe.

  Unlike Congress, it meets for a short period of time, has no political parties and the representatives are not chosen to represent a particular constituency as they are selected to go and do their best thinking, praying and discerning what God is up to in this world. Each time they meet, the representatives are different so each Assembly takes on its own personality and direction.

The scope of what they consider is vast and usually misinterpreted by the national media.  If you would like to get a clearer idea of what is being discussed and the decisions that are made, you can check this site: General Assembly 2008. From there you can get lots of great information.

  If I can figure out how to do it, I'll also include an RSS Feed that will link directly to this blog. If you understand what that means, you know more than me!

Zimbabwe Update

  The delegation from Zimbabwe has arrived and this evening was a chance for all four to be together and share a bit of what is going on in their country.  One of the members (Wilbert) emphasized that two things important things we can do to be helpful are:

1. Pray
2. Tell others what is happening. The government believes it can act with impunity because they suppress all the information. They are always surprised when information gets out about what they have been doing.

  In light of that, here is a letter from Julia Henderson (note: 'CIO' stands for Central Intelligence Organization). In light of the news today that four supporters of the opposition party were kidnapped and killed today, the information shared is chilling.

Friends,

While Paul, Rose, Thabi and Wilbert are safe here in the U.S. ,disturbing reports continue to come from Zimbabwe. The family of Edmund, the headmaster at the school on the Steele's property, have had great difficulty.  At his family's rural home, all of their cattle have been stolen and they have been visited twice in the night.  Please pray for their safety. 

Yesterday, Stanley sent the following:

“I don’t know why we have missed it all along! Netsai Zizhou was at the office asking after you. Walking her out, I then realized she had company. An uncle she claimed, only that I recognized him. Unmarked vehicle, clean black suit."  Paul said this woman is a member of their congregation and the description of the man is typical for a CIO agent. The CIO had first planted informants in congregations, but they were being detected.  Now they pay people who are already in a congregation to be informants.  Apparently this woman's role was to identify Paul, and leave, then the CIO would step in and take him away.  His response to me was he had been warned that the CIO would come to arrest him sometime before the election, but thankfully this time they just wasted their fuel. 

Many in Zimbabwe have received personal letters "inviting" them to attend political rallies for ZANU-PF. Included among those are many Presbytery of Zimbabwe friends like Wilbert, Lydia, Stanley and others. Some have attended and others have not. Please pray there are no ramifications for their absence. And pray for Wilbert's wife Rachael who worries they may come asking about his absence and she will have to deal with them alone.

Please pray for each of our friends visiting with us now and the families they have left behind. Both the real and implied threats are vary viable and concerning.

Julia

House of Stone- More on the Way

  The response for our first Pastor's Book Club choice The House of Stone, has been tremendous. In fact, we are sold out! Not to worry, more are on their way and will arrive sometime mid-week.

  We will discuss this book on Sunday evening, September 29 @ 7:00 pm (location to be announced later). Besides being a powerful story and a terrific introduction to what it meant to grow up in Rhodesia and live in Zimbabwe, The Stone House will be a great book to discuss. We will have two of our Zimbabwe delegation here that night and they can discuss first hand their own experiences. It will be a rich night.

A Pretty Good Person

  The quote I used in the sermon this morning was from Lewis Smedes. It was his book, A Pretty Good Person, that inspired the coming series (even if it started a week early!).   Smedes was one of my professors in seminary and I still remember his classes fondly, even as I am grateful for his writing. Here is the full quote:

“Deep in every healthy person’s heart simmers a longing to be a good person. A ‘pretty good’ person, at least. Every now and then we sense a fine urge inside of us that leaves us unsatisfied with what we are. And, for a fleeting moment fled to soon, we feel the flutter of a longing always to be the person we were in that fleeting encounter with our truest self…”

Lewis Smedes

Pastor's Book Club: Velvet Elvis

  Every once in awhile a book will sneak up on you. The book we are reading together right now as a Staff is one of those books. The title, Velvet Elvis doesn't exactly draw me to it or make me want to read it.  If the author wasn't Rob Bell, whose videos and articles have been very good, we wouldn't have chanced it. We did- and we all have been delighted with it. Mind you, it is not easy picking a book we all will like (it hardly ever happens), but this has become one of those rare books.
  We liked it so much that I decided to make it one of the choices for this summer's Pastor's Book Club. Copies are available on the bookshelf in the Welcome Area. Pick up a copy and see what you think. The Book Club blog will be ready soon and we can start to discuss it there as well as in person on Sunday, July 20.