Author: The Pastor

Coffee shop ponderings — The “Rocco’s” of this world

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Welcome to this weeks edition of coffee shop ponderings.  Today I start off with an unusual spectator across the street…a raccoon.  Along main street Jackson there are a series of trees growing along the sidewalk as if a remnant of the forest survived humankind’s invasion.  Directly across from Coffee Choices is one such tree, but this one contains a scared little raccoon.  My guess is that he came out when all was quite…exploring an otherwise scary world, but before he had a chance to retreat to his own safe haven, our scary world closed in around him, forcing him to find refuge in a tree.  My bet is that he will be there all day…or until the “coast is clear”.

 

But I can’t help to wonder what Rocco (that’s what I am calling the raccoon…kind of dorky, I know) is thinking as he looks down on our world.  It’s a world where he is not accepted or welcome, even though we are the ones invading his habitat.  Rocco is not free to walk among us.  He is not free to partake in our freedoms.  We have pushed him and “his kind” to the fringes.  And as I think of Rocco, I cannot help but to think of the way things are in the Church.  There are people in our churches who hide who they are for fear of rejection.  There are people who conceal their shortcomings for fear of being condemned.  There are people who keep their distance as others point and gawk.  And as long as there is this mistrust and haughtiness in the world, the Rocco’s of this world will remain in the trees of life.

 

But things will not always be this way…

 

…we are told in Isaiah 11, “The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.”  That is a vision of the kingdom.  That is a world where Rocco has no need of trees.  That is a world where people will not be afraid to be who they are…children of God.  And it is in the promise of this kingdom I will wait expectantly and rejoice in. 

And so…as we wait and rejoice…let’s join together and welcome the Rocco’s of this world.  Let’s make this a “safe” place for all those on the fridges of the Church and of this world.  Because with Jesus…there are no need for “trees” to hide in.

 

-edh-

Comment name

/ The Pastor

For the past two years, when I have left comments on various blogs, many of you are used to seeing “Eric” or “Pastor Eric” as the name connected to the comment.  Since my move over to WordPress, the name that is now left with many of the comments I leave is “heartofapastor” (“Pastor Eric” does appear on those blogs on Blogger).  This is not a new person showing up but it is little ole me.  You probably figured that out but I wanted to make sure that there was no confusion about this “new” person showing up and leaving comments on your blogs. 

Now that things are cleared up, I can move on to some sermon writing this morning…and later…another “coffee house ponderings” post.  Stay tuned…

-edh-

Another ramp pictoral update

/ The Pastor / 5 Comments

…and the construction continues…

More liteform

Liteform going up

These pictures were taken on Monday and today the Lite Form is as tall as the contractor in this picture.  They are really making good progress.  The Lite Form should all be in place by the end of the day (Tuesday) and I am guessing that they will be pouring cement this week yet.  It is really fascinating watching this process. 

More pictures to come…

-edh-

Monday morning check in — Romans and the Ramp project

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

Worship
Yesterday was our first worship service in the fellowship hall.  I wasn’t sure what kind of turn out we would get but the basement was full.  But in all honesty it WAS congregational meeting day (with a potluck).  I guess next week will really tell the story.

We do have some bugs to work out though.  Our sound wasn’t the best so we need to do some tinkering this week to fix some bugs.  But worship was fun and “different”.  The setting seemed cozy and intimate.  It made me think of the Church in the first century when people met in homes.  It think it is going to be very strange to move up stairs after being in such a cozy place for a while.  Most people are going to be thankful to be in the sanctuary, but after one Sunday in the fellowship hall, I am liking the closeness while we worship.  It makes me feel more connected with the people.  I wish there was a way I could close off the back half of the sanctuary without getting myself into too much trouble.  There is definitely something to the worship intimacy thing.

Ramp project
Things are moving alone quite nicely.  Today they are putting up the forms and hopefully will be pouring cement tomorrow.  The joke is that since the contractor is moving along like he is, that we will be back in the sanctuary this Sunday.  Of course that is not the case.  We are still looking at August as our move back in date.  Check back soon for some up-to-date pictures of our “little” project.

Sermon
I have added a new page at the top of my blog titled “Sermons”.  I will be adding sermons there periodically; ones that strike me and stand our for me.  This past week is one such example.  I preached on the Romans 6:1-11 text about dying and rising with Christ.  Our “old” life dying to sin and a “new” life rising with Christ.  This text always seems to strike me in a new a different way each time.  Yesterday I used the illustration of our ramp construction project to talk about letting go of the “old” to embrace the “new”; when the new (ramp) comes, the old (ramp) will soon be forgotten.  I don’t pretend to think the sermon was anything spectacular…it just struck a cord with me yesterday.  So take it as it is.

With that I say to you “God bless and have a great day!”

-edh-

Sunday morning prayer – 06/22/08

/ The Pastor

This was a fast-paced morning…reason…I forgot to turn my alarm on.  I had my alarm set, but for some strange (and be it stupid) reason I did not click over that switch that would have saved my heart from some minor panic this morning.  Maybe “panic” is too strong of a word, but when I just happened to roll over and open my eyes to see it was 1/2 hour later than I wanted to get up…my heart immediately jumped into non-hibernation status.  Talk about a rude awakening.  Anyway…I am here and ready to go.  I still made it to my office “on time” but I didn’t get my morning SportsCenter.  What a tragedy there 🙂

Today is our first day worshipping in the fellowship hall downstairs.  As some of you are aware we started our ramp project this past Monday (page down to see some pictures).  I will add some more pictures a little later to chronicle the progress.  Right now, the ramp is completely gone.  They will be pouring the walls this week.  The time table for completion is still sometime in August so we are getting settled in downstairs. 

Today is also congregational meeting day which also means…POTLUCK…WHOO HOO!  You just can’t go wrong with a good ole’ fashioned Lutheran potluck.  Of course…since we are having a potluck today…my parents are coming down.  My dad can’t miss a potluck here (of course they use the excuse that they haven’t heard me preach for a while).  But what ever works…I get to see my parents and go golfing with my dad.

Lastly…before I get ready to leave for Belmont…I want to thank Carmen who left me a comment this week about the ramp project.  She mentioned that I would now have a good sermon illustration about something being torn down only to be built up stronger.  Well…I am going to use something like that when I preach on Romans 6:1-11 today.  I am focusing on our so called “need” to hold on to the old when we are in fact made new through baptism.  It is almost like being so attached to the old ramp that we feel the need to go out to the garbage heap to walk on the rumble of the old ramp; ignoring the new one in front of us.  Through baptism we are buried with Christ and if that is the case (and it is) we will also rise with them.  We are made new so let go of the old.  Thank you, Carmen.

With that…let us join together in a word of prayer.
Let us pray…gracious Lord God, you sent your one and only Son, Jesus Christ to make us new again.  Through our baptism you give us an amazing gift…the gift of life.  But yet we still find it hard to let go of our “old” life.  We too often turn our backs on you to “walk” on something that has been destroyed.  Help us to see the awesomeness and newness of the great gift you have given us.  Help us turn from our old life to see the New Life we have in Christ.  We thank and praise you through your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Amen!

God bless and have an awesome day!

-edh-

Ramp project photos

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

I have been documenting our “little” construction project here at Salem through pictures.  Here are a few to give you an idea of what is being done:

The before picture

The before picture.

Ramp deck destroyed

The ramp deck is destroyed.

I love this picture

Just in case people don’t notice the construction outside.

I am amazed at how much work they have gotten done.  On Monday the railings were removed and today all the cement of the ramp deck will be gone.  We just need to pray for favorable weather now and I need to finish setting up the fellowship hall for worship.

-edh-

The “experiment”

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

In my post “Thursday coffee shop ponderings on Friday” I mentioned an experiment I was doing this past weekend.  According to my worship attendance stats (Yes, I keep worship attendance stats…I’m such a dork, I know) average worship attendance drops by about 13 when I am gone.  First let me assure you that I do not believe in the least that people skip worship when I am gone because they can’t stand to hear anyone but me.  I am not that full of myself.  My theory is that people skip because they think they “can get away with it” since I am not there to notice.  It sounds silly, but I think that is the mentality. 

Anyway…

This past weekend I was gone at the synod assembly and I did not tell the congregation I was going to be gone (except for the council and my deacons).  The experiment was to see if people would show up in my absence.

Well…

Worship attendance was way down.  I either need a new theory or the council and my deacons snitched.  I think I am going to vote for the latter.

-edh-

It’s official…I’m here!

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

I have officially moved my blog from Typepad to here (WordPress).  I guess my decision came a little faster than I thought, but I feel good about it and I am ready to continue my blogging ministry here.  As I said before I am still tinkering with the design so I would appreciate any feedback you can give me. 

Thanks for putting up with the changes and I hope you continue to stop by.

Take care and God bless.

-edh-

And we are off…

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Well…here I am…my first post written here at WordPress.  It feels weird to be writing here considering thefact that I have been with Typepad for over two years.  But I still have not “officially” moved here yet, but it is looking like I will.  I am still calling WordPress my “lake cabin”…for the time being. 

I think I have the blogroll completed and my favorite websites done.  I am still tinkering with the design yet.  So far I am liking what I am seeing with WordPress…and the best thing is that it is free (unlike Typepad).  I know Typepad is doing some work upgrading their site, and maybe I am just impatient during this time.  But it also might be that I can still do my ministry in the blogosphere without paying for a blogging service.  So I guess you can call my move here good stewardship (leave it to a pastor to find something theological in nearly everything).

Ramp project
The ramp project here at Salem is off and running.  The contractor arrived yesterday (Monday) and removed the railings.  Today they are tearing down the windbreak wall near the main door (I will post some pictures later).  I knew this project was coming for some time, but part of me was feeling a little nervous and uneasy as they started “destroying” the ramp.  Doesn’t make sense does it? 

So…with all this going on we are in the process of transforming the fellowship hall (downstairs) into a makeshift sanctuary.  And we kickoff our worship move this Sunday with our congregational meeting and potluck.  It is bad enough being upstairs in worship smelling the food that is downstairs.  Now we will be within 10 feet of the food.  Can you say “distraction”?

Well…I think that will do it for my first WordPress post.  I will be deciding by the end of the week if I will be making this move permanent.  But like I said it is looking like this will be my new home.  I apologize for the inconvenience.  It is like changing ones email address and asking people to change their contact information for you.  Anyway…thanks for stopping by over here and I hope to “see” you soon.

Take care.

-edh-

Thursday coffee shop ponderings on Friday

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

I thought maybe I would head to my favorite coffee shop yesterday (Thursday), but I never made it.  Since I was not writing a sermon this week, everything got thrown off.  I did make it today, though, but I am sitting at home right now enjoying my coffee.  And get this…I while ago I wrote a tongue-in-check post about my Coffee Choices total being $6.66.  Well…today is Friday the 13th and my Coffee Choices total was $6.66…and it is always a different combination of stuff.   Weird.

Anyway…today I head to Gustavus Adolphus College (GAC) for the SW MN Synod Assembly.  Things start at 3:30pm and I should be home sometime Sunday afternoon.  A good friend of mine over at the "other" Lutheran church down the block is leading worship for me on Sunday.  Through my attendance tracking program I have on my computer I have noticed that when I am gone average worship attendance goes down by about 13 people.  So last week I didn't tell the congregation I was going to be gone.  Of course my council and deacons know I am going to be gone, but it is not widely known.  I am curious what the worship attendance will be.  I'll let you know on Monday how my "experiment" goes.

But before I take my leave of you to do my run and pack for the weekend, I want to share with you something that I have been reading.  The other day I started reading The Living Word: A Theological Study of Preaching and the Church by Gustaf Wingren.  I read this book in my second year preaching class in seminary and decided to tackle it again.  So far I have not been disappointed.  Here's a quote from the first chapter that caught my attention and served as an excellent reminder of what we, as preachers, are called to do:

"The Lutheran assertion that we have just now mentioned, that preaching, in so far as it is Biblical preaching, is God's own speech to people, is very difficult to maintain in practice.  Instead it is very easy to slip into the idea that preaching is only speech about God.  Such a slip, once made, gradually alters the picture of God, so that he becomes the far-off deistic God who is remote from the preached word and is only spoken about as we speak about someone who is absent…God is creative and near simply by speaking his Word." (pg. 19 & 20)

It makes me wonder how many times I have "slipped".  But to get the full flavor of what Wingren is talking about you really need to dive into this book yourself.

With that, I take my leave of you.  I am not sure if I will have time and/or access to stop back during the weekend.  In case I don't…I hope and pray you have a blessed weekend (one without rain).  Take care and God bless.

-edh-