Presby-Musings

We have this Christmas decoration at my house that counts down the days until Christmas.  My little kids love this thing.  They look at it every day in anticipation of the the coming of Christmas.  You can almost feel the excitement that emanates off of them as the Day approaches. I remember feeling that intense feeling of anticipation when I was a kid.  I think it happens more when you're a kid, honestly.  It's not that I am not excited about the coming of Christmas now--I am.  In fact the stretch between the end of October and New Year's Day is easily my favorite time of the year.   But you know how it is... when you get older you start associating this time of year with the sorts of things that leave you decidedly less than excited.  You think about how busy you are going to be... with family obligations, church obligations, work stuff, parties, dinners...  Then there is the shopping, the crazy busy stores... the credit card b...

So, for the past nearly two months I have been teaching a study on the book of Revelation entitled, "The Apocalypse of John ."  We have been live streaming the teaching sessions for anyone who wants to watch at home, and the videos have also been available to re-watch for anyone who would like to see them again, or catch up on the series altogether. I am also blogging on Tumblr (although I am pretty far behind the sessions at this point!) what will eventually become a companion guide for the videos themselves. You can follow along at tumblr here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/leonbloder Below are the sessions with links to the videos that you can view. Session One - "How Do We Read Revelation?" https://new.livestream.com/accounts/1917279/events/3445563 Session Two - "The Origin and Context of Revelation" https://new.livestream.com/accounts/1917279/events/3470132 Session Three: " God , The Lamb , Seven Seals and Seven Trumpets ...

This week we are beginning a brand new three-part sermon series entitled "Bless this Home: Lessons for Families from Jesus."  And as part of our study, we're going to be focusing on a few key verses from the introduction to Jesus powerful Sermon on the Mount --what some people call "The Beatitudes." This is the first full-blown sermon series that I've preached on the issues that are facing families in our culture in a very long time--perhaps the first time since I've been at First Church.  Which might seem odd at first, but I gave some thought as to the possible reasons. To begin with, it's a broad topic.  Where do we even begin?  How do we figure out what areas to focus on when it comes to family issues--because there are so many things that families in our culture seem to be struggling with right about now. Secondly, family dynamics in our culture are changing more rapidly than in any other time in recent history.  Our understanding of wh...

In which I post that I am journeying Way Out West, not to set up like a Cowboy (pointless Kid Rock reference), but to attend CraftLab a creative jam session with the Rev. Rob Bell --author, speaker, pastor, a man who is on-tour-with- Oprah ...  And in which people ask, "Hey, isn't that the guy who says there isn't a hell?"   To which I reply...  "Read these blog posts--blasts from the past that will explain all, reveal all, and probably not make that much difference at all--at least to the very few people who would rather hate than appreciate."   In which I comment on Rob Bells's provocative book: "Love Wins"  http://www.presbymusings.com/2011/03/love-wins-event.html In which I review Rob Bell's provocative book:  "Love Wins"  http://www.presbymusings.com/2011/03/love-wins-review.html In which I comment on an obnoxious Christian my wife met in a Bookstore http://www.presbymusings.com/2011/05/i-should-have-known...

I made a crazy challenge to my church a little while ago.   I challenged them to break the attendance record for Easter Sunday this year--to exceed 850 in attendance online and in person at all three of our services.  And if we did this... I vowed to get a tattoo of our church's logo on my leg, and get a haircut.   A local newspaper ran the story a few days ago...  Then a local television station did a story that aired in the Orlando area...  I realized before I issued it, that my challenge might be considered by some people as a "stunt."  I get that.  Overly church-y people, as a rule, are rather joyless about such things.  They think that people should just come to church because they ought  to come to church.   Their outreach strategies are working so very well, by the way.   I also realized that the "pitchfork and torches," wing of the overly church-y crowd might have something to say about my partic...

In the early 2000's Jim Henderson , a former pastor and newly minted church consultant,"bought" an atheist off of E-Bay for $504, and put him to work.  The atheist, a young man named Hemant Mehta , had been looking for a fun way to show Christians that he could attend church with an open mind, and was willing to allow Christians to give him their best shot at converting him.  Henderson won the bid, and sent Mehta out to start visiting churches with the assignment of reporting what he experienced. The result spawned a website, discussion groups, stories by the Wall Street Journal and much more. In 2006, Henderson met Matt Casper, a marketing copywriter and freelance writer and singer/songwriter, who lived in San Diego.  Casper also happened to be an atheist.  The two became friends and decided to write a book together as they visited churches all across America--documenting their dialogue and their experiences.  They agreed to be as open and honest with one...

I've been serving in church ministry of one form or another for over sixteen years.  Over the course of that time I have had more people than I care to count approach me and offer the following statement: "I have a friend who says that there's more than one way to get to heaven. Is that true?"   Now the question might be framed a bit differently from person to person, but the idea is always the same.  Christians make the claim that a belief in Jesus is the only sure way to know that you will "go to heaven" when you die.  But in an increasingly diverse culture, those of us who call ourselves Christians often find ourselves in relationships with people of other faiths, or with people who may not have any particular faith at all.  And in this increasingly diverse culture that we find ourselves a part of, our claims about Jesus being the only way to God often get challenged.  These claims might get challenged directly by relatives, friends, co-w...

Samuel Williamson is tired of children's Sunday school done the same old way. His weary feelings about Sunday school have little to do with styles, format or even space--they stem from what Williamson describes as a general neglect of the Gospel in favor or Moralism . And he has a point. First of all, Williamson believes that having good morals is important, but it's not more important than the Good News that Jesus Christ came to save sinners, and offer them the chance for eternal life--life that begins here and now.  He asserts that from the earliest ages, Christians are taught that if they are simply good, obey, and do what is right that they will be happy, healthy and wise--and that God will be pleased with them.  He cites the simplified stories that are often taught in Sunday school as evidence:  stories about heroes such as David, Esther, Jonah, Daniel and the like. But, according to Williamson, by simplifying the stories we find in the Bible and turni...

I read a lot of books about the Bible . It's kind of a requirement for pastors in Presbyterian world.  And because of this, I often find myself gazing with a jaundiced eye upon books that are imbued with the task of distilling down Biblical texts into easy-to-understand "sound bites." Which is why I was so pleasantly surprised when I read Karen Lee-Thorp's Story of Stories: A Guided Tour from Genesis to Revelation.   Far from distilling down the grand stories and themes of the Bible, Story of Stories  takes those grand stories and themes and brings them into sharper focus.  I can't remember when I have read a book about the Bible that I have enjoyed more. Reading through the Bible can be a daunting task for most of us in the best of circumstances, but it can be even more daunting if there is nothing to guide us as we read.   Story of Stories  is the sort of guide that I would recommend wholeheartedly.  Whether you are simply wanting to lear...

On a recent visit to the Holy Land , we were given a tour of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher , one of the oldest and holiest Christian sites in all of Jerusalem , which basically makes it one of the oldest and holiest Christian sites in the world. Our guide took us to a small chapel that stands opposite the Shrine of the Holy Sepulcher--a chapel that had been nearly destroyed by fire once, and never rebuilt.  There is a light bulb hanging from the ceiling in the chapel, which gives the smoke-ruined room it’s only light.  The guide proceeded to tell us the following story once we were inside: It seems that the bulb burned out in the chapel many years ago after the fire.  None of the Christian denominations that vie for control of the Church itself wanted to concede authority over the chapel to another denomination, but none of them particularly wanted control over it themselves.  So no one changed the bulb.  On the one hand, the bulb needed changing, ...

I took this photo outside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem .  The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the most famous Christian site in all of the city.   It is said to be built over the sites where Jesus was crucified, and buried. In the years 326-328 Empress Helena , the mother of Constantine, the first Christian Roman Emperor, was given unlimited resources by her son to locate all of the Holy Relics and sites related to Jesus life, ministry, death, burial and resurrection. According to Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem , the site of the true cross of Jesus was discovered when the remains of the cross healed a woman who was near death.  It seems that Helena arranged for the woman to be brought to the site in order to "test" whether it was really the cross of Jesus.  After this miracle, Constantine ordered a church to be built on the spot where it was discovered. The original church was destroyed by the Persians in the 5th century, rebuilt in the Byza...

This week I am continuing our sermon series entitled, "Together," which is focusing on the core values of my church--what we call "The Five Things."  This installment is centered on the second of our Five Things: Pray. I read this statistic the other day from a nationwide survey on faith in the United States that something like 84 percent of Americans pray on a regular basis.  That's a staggering number considering how in our culture fewer and fewer people are attending church, or espousing a particular faith. Maybe you're not a Christian, or you're struggling with this whole Christian thing, and you're not really sure how you feel about church or Jesus.  But one thing is certain:  There are moments when every single one of us tosses up a prayer for one reason or another. Most people pray.  There is something about the act of praying that speaks into the depths of humans beings, regardless of our religious bent. Here's the problem with...