tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84193145786187540942011-07-08T12:07:24.648-05:00OAC 123http://www.blogger.com/profile/05543448308172587771noreply@blogger.comBlogger141100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419314578618754094.post-73173187452322106602010-04-01T14:34:00.001-05:002010-04-01T14:37:03.991-05:00

A quick search on the internet about “family fights at the holidays” reveals any number of pages like 15 articles on how to avoid them, and so on. It seems not to be a stretch of the imagination to think that we have all experienced family trauma at holiday events. Holidays, after all, can be stressful, larger groups of people than normal crammed together for a few days is bound to reveal some

OAC 123http://www.blogger.com/profile/05543448308172587771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419314578618754094.post-38711736974107937372010-04-01T14:30:00.000-05:002010-04-01T14:32:57.708-05:00

The season of Lent is a time for considering life and death as it has been transformed by God’s covenant with us. Our destination, Easter Sunday, sets the context for our whole journey. Each of our stops along the way are tempered and shaped by that destination as are our ponderings. How are our lives shaped by that destination right now? How do we understand our own sinfulness and live in

OAC 123http://www.blogger.com/profile/05543448308172587771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419314578618754094.post-35886106444440987852010-01-03T20:23:00.001-06:002010-01-03T20:26:00.719-06:00

The season of Advent begins in Hope. Advent begins the Christian year by reminding us that all of history is moving toward God’s fulfillment of creation. Throughout Advent we hear the prophets of the Old Testament pointing us toward a vision of the world where everyone will have enough, swords will be beaten into plowshares, people will not hurt or exploit other people, all of creation will

OAC 123http://www.blogger.com/profile/05543448308172587771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419314578618754094.post-40897697671349427032010-01-03T20:19:00.002-06:002010-01-03T20:22:54.762-06:00

(To read this, you must transport your mind back to late-November or early-December)During this time of the year I have a struggle, a battle really, going on inside myself. It is a battle that will probably never be completely resolved between the cynical side, the ‘wanting to participate in that about which I am cynical’ side, the nostalgic side, and the optimistic side of me. The cynical

OAC 123http://www.blogger.com/profile/05543448308172587771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419314578618754094.post-5385846949975348782010-01-03T20:11:00.004-06:002010-01-03T20:18:34.383-06:00

John 13:8 – Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." As my congregation was adding to the prayer walls in each service one Sunday, I couldn’t help but notice there are a lot of people for whom we are praying by name. This is wonderful! I hope that praying for someone in particular on a regular basis has begun to shape you

OAC 123http://www.blogger.com/profile/05543448308172587771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419314578618754094.post-28421317180392221892009-10-29T00:02:00.002-05:002009-10-29T00:15:58.836-05:00

A few weeks ago, I asked people in the congregation to begin the dual practice of praying for someone in particular (by name) and asking someone to pray for them. If you have been doing this, I would like for you to comment below on your experience. I offer these questions as primers, feel free to answer these or make comments generally about your experience:What was it like to ask someone

OAC 123http://www.blogger.com/profile/05543448308172587771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419314578618754094.post-16516378598588829452009-10-28T23:05:00.003-05:002009-10-29T00:03:02.567-05:00

For the past several weeks now, I have invited my congregation to practice meditating on psalms of praise, specifically Psalms 145-150. The particular practice has been to eat a piece of chocolate and then say over and over again (a biblical understanding of 'meditate') one of those five Psalms - see the previous post entitled "May God's Praise Be Ever Sweet on Your Lips". If you have been

OAC 123http://www.blogger.com/profile/05543448308172587771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419314578618754094.post-79119425187139918872009-10-20T11:31:00.003-05:002009-10-20T11:49:52.681-05:00

Genesis 2:18 – And the Lord God said, “It is not good that the human being should be alone. I will make for him a helper as his partner.” Sunday evening as the day was winding down Lori (my wife) and I were talking about the sermon I preached on Sunday (October 4, 2009 - the text of the sermon can be found @ http://www.fcc-stw.org/Owen/Owenhome.htm). In her wisdom she asked me, “Okay, so what

OAC 123http://www.blogger.com/profile/05543448308172587771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419314578618754094.post-87364955560792966022009-10-14T12:37:00.002-05:002009-10-14T13:17:21.337-05:00

I recently received an email from a college student who was self-described as "lost". This person grew up in two different Christian traditions but doesn't now understand either one of them. The inquiry was for a Pastor to explain what Christianity and faith are, with the overt stipulation that I do this without saying others are wrong. Here was my response:Thanks for your email and your

OAC 123http://www.blogger.com/profile/05543448308172587771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419314578618754094.post-74105841870683181222009-09-30T14:01:00.005-05:002009-09-30T14:16:23.155-05:00

It is said that confession is good for the soul. Well, I have a confession to make. Don’t get too excited, it really isn’t anything juicy. It may not even be very interesting to you. And, well, it may not even qualify as a real confession. Here it goes anyway. The sermon I preached on Sunday morning was not the sermon I sat down to write. Now I certainly don’t claim that it was somehow “

OAC 123http://www.blogger.com/profile/05543448308172587771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419314578618754094.post-1929511104591462642009-09-21T13:52:00.008-05:002009-09-30T14:17:35.082-05:00

The Friday morning before last, I kept my appointment with God, and as I recommended to my congregation, I also added the component of being outside to listen to creation in its praise of God. In the courtyard of the church one of our Eagle Scouts constructed a labyrinth. The pattern is marked by bricks, but the path itself is grass. I decided as a further connection to creation, I would walk

OAC 123http://www.blogger.com/profile/05543448308172587771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419314578618754094.post-28023021252907841302009-09-15T09:58:00.007-05:002009-09-15T12:19:49.147-05:00

Not too long ago I began to have a regular time of silence, to listen for God’s voice. This time of silence is a bit different than my usual prayers and Bible study. It is a time of awareness and of openness. More than that, it has been a discipline. I started out with 30 minutes of silence on my day off. I would go and set the timer on the stove and then sit in my chair just listening. Now

OAC 123http://www.blogger.com/profile/05543448308172587771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419314578618754094.post-43002236575924552292009-09-15T09:43:00.003-05:002009-09-15T12:17:06.602-05:00

Psalm 148 is a wonderful psalm about how all of creation praises God. It is not "thank you God for all of creation". Rather it is an observation of the chorus of creation praising God all together: Choirs of sun, moon, stars, plants, animals, wind, fire, rain, angels, and yes, us human beings. Our praise of God should be sweet. The words, the feelings, the time we spend doing it should all

OAC 123http://www.blogger.com/profile/05543448308172587771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419314578618754094.post-65787653533763936702009-09-14T14:15:00.006-05:002009-09-14T14:25:39.183-05:00

...its a very good place to start. About the title of my blog: I often have a candle burning in my office. One day Rick (my Associate Minister) stopped in to talk to me while I was pressing in the outer edges of the candle toward the flame. Curious, Rick asked what I was doing. It helps the candle burn evenly and straight all the way down to the bottom if you work every now and again to shape

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