on the walk

I spent some time with a really impressive man today.  He has recently made some mistakes, but he is clearly working to connect with God and live honorably for his family.  In that respect he is a lot like me.  He desires to do what is right but finds that he keeps choosing to do what is wrong.

His temptations are illegal.  Mine are immoral.  He is in prison.  I am not.

The only difference it seems between a “criminal” and me is that when I fall and stumble in my walk I do so in areas that are hidden (pride, cynicism, and deception) or legal (gossip and impatience).  God is dishonored by both of us, and God loves both of us.

I am glad for the love of God and for this godly man that I visited, and for myself I pray that today would be another new day in which we will serve and honor the God who loves us.

Today on your walk, give up any thought of judging others, and spend some time with God. How good it is that God is faithful and just to forgive and is ever ready to empower us to do the good works that God has prepared for us to do.

on the walk

-Ethan

Last week, I got to spend two days on a retreat with a bunch of my co-workers. It was a good time of rest, conversation, silence and prayer. Much of what happened there isn’t fit for a blog, but I was struck by a few insights that I will share.

Early in our time together, our retreat director Ruth Haley Barton, asked us something like, “When was the last time you recognized that you are a soul before God?” I wrote in my notes, “Am I a soul or a role?” Continue Reading »

We began a fun new series at Mountain today. It is entitled “Kappa Delta Pi:God’s Frat Party.” It is a fun opportunity to re-examine the core values of our community. Each letter is the first letter of a different Greek word.

This week we examined koinonia. Koinonia is the great word used to describe the deep fellowship that God intends for the church. The whole service was a great reminder of the importance of relationships, both with God and with others. You can check out the sermon here.

Ben began his argument by drawing our attention to Jesus articulation of the greatest commandments: Love God, Love Neighbor. This pair of commands (which inspired the title for the fine blog Jesus Creed) outline the ethic of Christians, and articulate the shape of Christian relationships.

I hope to have more to right about this later, but for now, I cannot resist the opportunity to mention Eph 2. In the chapter, Paul is trying to outline what God was made possible through Jesus. It is such a clear and powerful articulation of God’s work both to restore us in relationship to God, and restoring human relationships.

When we reduce Jesus work to just “forgiving sins” and forget that this is part of a larger process of restoring and recreating relationships, we short-change the work that God is trying to do. So I am glad for the sermon today. It is not some side topic, or some nice extra. Christian community is one of the core purposes for which Christ came and so when we invest in God honoring relationship we are honoring the very mission and ministry of Christ. When I build into Christian unity, I am working on the very task for which Christ died.

I like Jesus style. He gives a command - Love God and love your neighbor - and then he dies so that we are able to keep it. So when we build into koinonia, we obey Christ’s command and honor his death.

on the walk

-Ethan

Perhaps it is too late for a Christmas post, but just in case it isn’t, here is a meditation on peace from John Stackhouse, that I have returned to reread many times.

What grips me the most is the reminder, that for me to proclaim a peace, but cultivate a lifestyle of overwork and chaos is a great and dangerous hypocrisy.  I have the opportunity to take a short retreat this week.  This will mean a lot less peace for my wife, but I am trying not to feel guilty about that and instead just be thankful for the gift.  I will be neither writing nor reading my blog.  I wonder how long I might be able to avoid e-mail or even think about one thing without interruption.  I am excited to see what God might do if I open myself to an opportunity for Christ’s peace.

on the walk

-Ethan

My father is a regular contributor to a wonderful journal called Leaven. It is published by a group out of Pepperdine University but is has contributing editors and writers from all parts of the Stone-Campbell Movement. It has a wonderful format. Each issue includes 7-10 essays, sermons and readings all dealing with a central theme. About half the time, the theme is a theological topic and about have the time it is a book of the Bible.

The latest issue is on Jeremiah. I have skimmed about half the articles. I have a head-cold so skimming is about all I could manage. One of the articles however captured my attention. It was a sermon based upon Jeremiah 7. (I forget the author, but I will get it.) Continue Reading »

I take great delight in the spiraling nature of time.

Time is not cyclical. It does not repeat in an eternal loop. Each new day is unique and never has been or will be again. This creates a delightful pressure to make each day count for I will never get another chance at this day, and it creates a forgiving freedom to start each day fresh giving myself the opportunity to live today better than I did before. With my children, I take delight that they will never be as young as they are today, every new experience with them will unlike any in the past.

Time is not a line. There are rhythms and relationships between times, seasons, and scheduling, holidays and holy-days, create a repetition to time. This creates traditions and expectations. Last spring I forgot to plant asparagus which must be planted very early. This year I am ready to correct that mistake. In my ministry there are some programs that only work when school that I have not done yet, and here I am given another year and another summer. I did not get to rake up a big pile of leaves this year with my boys, but if the Lord tarries, I expect that I will this year.

Time is a spiral. Turning through the same circuit but never in the same place.

Let’s make godly use of this circuit.

Happy New Year

on the walk

-Ethan