I posted earlier this week that this Sunday's sermon will deal with the topic of forming a useful faith; a faith that seeks to benefit the world and not just me, my family, and other well-fed American church-goers. In preparation I came back to this quote from Brian McLaren, which may or may not make the cut for this week's message.
"...I seek to develop virtues not just for my own benefit, but so I can inflict less damage and more blessing on the world. I seek to better understand Scripture not just for my own sake, but so I'll be equipped to serve God and my neighbors." (from : A Generous Orthodoxy)
What a great thought! What if there is more to being Christian than just hanging out with other Christians and waiting for the next personal blessing?
I think there might be something to that. How about you?
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Mini-Vacation
Rochelle and I returned yesterday from a short, mini-vacation. The highlight of our four days was getting to see two movies; Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and the new Adam Sandler vehicle, The Longest Yard. About half-way through every Adam Sandler movie, Rochelle and I remember that our senses-of-humor could not be more different. She's usually rolling her eyes and I'm usually rolling in the aisle! ("Big Daddy" may be a possible exception. She liked that one.) Well, since we NEVER get to go to the movies, we were glad to pay way too much for popcorn.
On the spiritual/philosophical front, I was continually haunted by one question during my time away. The question: Is my faith useful? I know I have faith, and I know much about faith, but is it useful? And by useful I mean, "Is it useful to anyone besides myself?" Sure, it's useful to me, but what about the ones around me, and not just to them, but to the world around us all? Is there a way my faith impacts the poor in the inner-city--not just with an occasional check, which you don't need faith to write, by the way--and is my faith useful to the oppressed around the world, the down-trodden, the hurting?
These questions, hopefully, will occupy my week and the months to come. In fact, that question is the genesis of this week's not-yet-written-sermon. Maybe by next Monday I'll be closer to an answer, or at least, maybe I'll be asking better questions.
On the spiritual/philosophical front, I was continually haunted by one question during my time away. The question: Is my faith useful? I know I have faith, and I know much about faith, but is it useful? And by useful I mean, "Is it useful to anyone besides myself?" Sure, it's useful to me, but what about the ones around me, and not just to them, but to the world around us all? Is there a way my faith impacts the poor in the inner-city--not just with an occasional check, which you don't need faith to write, by the way--and is my faith useful to the oppressed around the world, the down-trodden, the hurting?
These questions, hopefully, will occupy my week and the months to come. In fact, that question is the genesis of this week's not-yet-written-sermon. Maybe by next Monday I'll be closer to an answer, or at least, maybe I'll be asking better questions.
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