Finding The Things That Are Right

   There is a social media explosion happening in the world. Many people know it by the names of the most popular websites like Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and maybe Flickster or Tumblr. People increasingly visit these sites to connect, to be inspired, to vent, to learn, and to seek advice. For as radical and even unconventional as this may seem to many, social media is becoming the new best friend/news outlet/therapy session/matchmaker/communications tool for hundreds of millions of people around the world. People are increasingly learning and commenting about the world online.

   One of the social media platforms rapidly gaining in popularity is a site called Pinterest.com; it has grown 800% since March of this year. I first learned about it from Blaire Morris, and joined it a couple of weeks ago to 'stay hip.' Pinterest is like an online scrapbook that you share with your friends. Pinterest allows you to keep all your ideas and inspirations in one visually appealing place called a board. People create them about all sorts of topics, but many are about fashion, decorating, art, or photography. Since I know very little about any of those, one of the first boards I created was called "Things Right in the World." I have images of Mother Teresa and Methodist missionaries at work, among others.

   Good things are a topic that gets far too little attention. Bad things get more attention than good. Our eyes, our ears, and and our minds are trained to see, hear, or notice the mistakes, errors, and failures. It is especially true when we talk about the world. We are quick to talk and agree about all of the things that are going wrong, but when pressed to talk about what is right, it is much harder to find consensus. 

   Our Missions Committee wants us to see good things and offer our support. Helping our neighbors in great need this Christmas season makes my list of things that are right. The Epworth Christmas Offering goes to support three of our key partners in ministry with specific goals in mind: Open Door Community House ($2000), the Wynnton Neighborhood Network ($1000), and Brown Bag of Columbus ($1000), and the total received will be shared among them. I received a $500 check this past week for this very effort that, when combined from the Love Light Sunday offerings, puts over $1000 towards our ambitious goal. If you feel led to give beyond your regular contribution to Epworth making a gift in honor or memory of loves ones, or you can receive a certificate to give as a present at Christmas. 

   May we be those who see the right and name it. May we be those who see good happening...and join in. Grace and Peace to you.

Winning

   More and more, winning is seen in a negative light.  Rightfully so, as some people see winning as so important that playing within the rules or thinking about others are ignored.  Of course, Charlie Sheen made the phrase infamous in a rant earlier this year, as he lashed out at coworkers and his bosses over their unwillingness to enable to his craziness any longer.  ‘Win at all costs’ is the creed by which some folks live, and it has expanded the bounds of what success looks like beyond decency and morals. 

   It is a shame that winning has been brought low by those who have only their gain in mind.  Instead, I’d like to think of winning as the goal for every team, group, or organization.  Not to make others losers but surely to give every person a goal in which to strive. Coach Mike Krzyzewski, this week, set the all-time records for wins in men’s college basketball (read the story here). He earned seven of his record 903 wins from the twelve games he coached against the Georgia Tech teams on which I worked! Nonetheless, he makes winning something to be admired.

   What does winning look like for our church?  What is the goal that every person in the church is pulling toward?  If our journey were seen as a race, do we agree on where the finish-line is located?  Are we all headed in the same direction? I have said before,

A win happens every time a person is lead into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and then sent out to bring about change for the Kingdom. 

   Of course, this requires a team effort. It calls for the right equipment, the right strategy, the right people, and a united Spirit. We have so much of that right here. Just like any other team event, winning for the church takes time and it takes determination.
   I have been so blessed to stand alongside the great women and men of this church as we seek God’s Kingdom wins. I’m looking forward to the distances we’ll run together towards the goal stretched out before us. Grace and Peace, Scott

The Season of Advent

   The Four Sundays of Advent make up the first season of the Christian year. Advent derives from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming.” The season proclaims the comings of Christ.  
   The church uses these four weeks as a time to prepare for Christmas.  I believe firmly in this idea - we need to get ready for what God has in store for us on Christmas.  Not another present under the tree, not the car in the driveway with the oversized bow on top as the television commercials would have us believe - but the coming of a Savior to win us away from slavery to sin and death and back to the freedom to live.  We are preparing to celebrate once again, the birth of One who comes continually in Word and Spirit to us.
   But Advent is not only about Jesus’ birth in that manger, as if we should keep our eyes fixed on the rearview mirror of history.   It is in God’s plan that Jesus comes again, a second time.  Advent is equally about the time Jesus did come then and the time He will come again.  We celebrate the two comings of Christ.  We will spend some time in these four weeks recognizing the One whose return in final victory we anticipate. 
   Each year Advent calls the community of faith to prepare for these comings.  So worship is a little different for these weeks - because we are different.  While the world busies itself with preparations for presents or parties, the church pushes past some of that to see beyond. We want to gaze into the truth God has for us. 
   We begin worship this week by lighting candles and reading scripture.  Candles remind us that Jesus comes as light of the world - and that we too often find ourselves walking in shadows and darkness.  I believe the church is obligated to proclaim, “We need a Savior.”  Let us enter into the season of expectantly preparing for His arrival.

Form Follows Function

   It was the American architect Louis Sullivan who coined the phrase in his article The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered in 1896. Later one of his students, Frank Lloyd Wright, would revise it to say, "form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union." I remember the quote first entering into my academic life as a sophomore enrolled in an industrial design class in college. I recall names like Herman Miller, Charles Eames, and the Bauhaus movement. My appreciation for great furniture, spectacular gadgets, and soaring architecture grew. The Eames Lounge Chair captures the concept of form following function perfectly. From shape to materials and even to the process by which it is manufactured, the function of the object determines so very much about the form that it takes. 

   I have been struck how much this concept drives the way I think about the church, or my ecclesiology. I very often find myself turning to fundamental ideas about why we do a thing when I am asked about how we might do that very thing. Consider these examples:

• Preaching - is intended to build up, teach, and inspire us as members of the body of Christ on earth. While those functions can each demand their own devices from time to time, are there particular ways and methods for how we can best achieve effective preaching in the church that help us to achieve all three? What role do trust, relationships, knowledge, and authenticity play? What about style, attire, length, and even location?
• Stewardship - was the topic Jesus taught upon in his conversations with the disciples, the crowds that followed him, and even the critics that challenged him. It is one of the most delicate subjects to deal with still today, yet it remains at the center of how we relate to God and each other. What details about how we talk about stewardship and go about leading each other to excel in this area are important? Honesty, fairness, truth-telling, and confidentiality come to my mind. How about yours?
• Welcoming Guests and Members - is something about which we pride ourselves. It functions as a way to learn names and connect in deep ways with other people's lives. Some forms are in place: greeters at the door, nametags in the hallway, passing the peace in worship, connection cards, and follow-up from the pastor for new visitors. What other forms should we consider in order to achieve the function of helping people know our great desire for them to feel welcomed by God into Epworth?

   As I read some of the most important sections of the New Testament, whether in Matthew 28 on disciple-making, 2 Timothy on teaching, or Matthew 6 on prayer, so much of the Bible describes functions for the church and the forms they should take. 

   Are their areas and forms in your life that no longer serve their purpose or function? Have you audited your forms lately to see that they still balance with the purpose and functions you are called to achieve? This is a good question? Peace to you on the journey.