Author: Fred Shope

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TGIF

Another week has come and gone. Basketball season is in full swing, and the days and evenings are packed full of activity. There are two weeks left before Christmas break, and then I’ll have two weeks to relax with family and friends.

As is my usual practice, here are the links:

Imperfect love.
Shane Claiborne in Esquire (HT: Brian McClaren)
What Scot McKnight thinks of The Manhattan Declaration.

Did Jesus ever go to England? (HT: Scot McKnight)
Does anyone remember this?
The Gospel in all its forms.

Heretics changing the world.
God’s best bit of multi-media.
The reconquest of creation.

Camels and needles.
Putting Satan back in Christmas.
The Abominable “O Holy Night.”

Eggnog!
Unifying faith and praxis.
Have a merry fair trade Christmas. (HT: Tim Hill)

Good thoughts on the season.
Evangelicalism and special seasons.
This is a good song.

Faith or fear?
Kansas Bob on eschatology.

This Sunday is the second Sunday of Advent. Remember the anticipation of the Jews that the Messiah was to come, and our own waiting for him to return.

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World Vision Wednesday

This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent, so this is a bit behind. You can download an Advent guide from World Vision here.

Yesterday was World AIDS Day. There are many ways to help some of the least of these whose lives have been impacted by this disease. Find out here.

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A Little Girl

Twenty five years ago today, on a cold Saturday in Cincinnati, a little girl came into our lives. She had given us a bit of the warning that she was coming the night before, at a basketball game. That would prove to be foretaste of what was to come.

We learned quickly that this child would be different than her brother. She was always an active girl who would sing herself to sleep at night. Fiercely independent, this little girl and I locked horns a few times, although she was always “Daddy’s girl.” As she grew, I knew that this bent would serve her well through her years.

As she grew into her teenage years, I had the joy of coaching her on the basketball teams at school. That experience bonded us closer, as we spent a great deal of time together. I watched, and ached, as she went through the usual high school stuff of trying to figure out relationships and dealing with friends who weren’t always the best. (What is interesting is that those friendships have continued through the years) I watched this daughter figure out who she wanted to be and how she wanted to relate to others. I saw her develop into a beautiful young lady. When she went to college, I cringed sometimes at the decisions she made, but I always felt proud of her, and I knew that the questions were eventually going to lead her to a faith that was real and was her own.

Now this girl is on the other side of the country, and sometimes it’s hard to see what life throws at her and not be able to be there. I know that her heavenly Father loves her even more than I do, and that he is shaping her into the person he wants her to be. In all, I am confident that God is going to continue the work that he has begun in her.

Happy Birthday, Jennie. I love you, as I always have. You are a blessing from God and I am so thankful for the privilege of being your father. I pray God’s grace and blessings be yours in abundance.

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TGIF

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It’s a bit chilly here in the sunny South. Tonight we’re going to go watch a football game between two of the local high schools. The winner plays for the state championship next week. Should be a good one.

Here’s the good stuff for this week:

Consider this as an alternative to the consumerism of the Christmas season.
Good thoughts from the Watchman.
Jake Belder reviews (sort of) Heaven is Not My Home.
Tearing down walls.
Lightening the load.
Thanksgiving, stray dogs, and good invitations.

iMonk has a series on his experiences with an absent Gospel. Part 1 is here.
Required behavior modification and the Gospel.
Three questions.
Listening.
Kingdom leadership in the postmodern world.
Going tribal?

5 trends affecting the church. (HT: Scot McKnight)
This brings back memories – bad ones.
Where Jesus would live if not for heaven.
This is for the SEC football fans out there.
This is simply amazing.
The great dilemma.

Have an enjoyable weekend.

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World Vision Wednesday

Next Tuesday, December 1, is World AIDS Day.

From World Vision:

Learn more

>> Read more about World AIDS Day and what you can do to help prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
>> Watch a video featuring World Vision’s Princess Zulu, who discusses the possibility of ending mother-to-child transmission of HIV in honor of World AIDS Day.
>> Read another article about procedures followed at the World Vision-supported Zamtam clinic to prevent transmission of HIV from mothers to their children.

Ways you can help this World AIDS Day, Dec. 1

>> Make a call to your senators and ask Congress to keep its promises in the global fight against AIDS, especially focusing on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
>> Donate now to help provide care and support for HIV-infected mothers this World AIDS Day. Your gift will help provide essentials like HIV testing, prenatal and postnatal care to prevent mother-to-child transmission, counseling and education, nutritional awareness, and more.
>> Sponsor a child in a community impacted by the AIDS crisis. Your love and support for a child in need will help provide basic necessities like food, clothing, shelter, education, and healthcare, as well as AIDS-related care and prevention programs.
>> Give monthly to help provide support for children impacted by HIV and AIDS. Your monthly gift will help provide basics like food, clean water, healthcare, education, and more to the children left most vulnerable by this humanitarian crisis.
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Thanksgiving

This is the time of year that we remember the Pilgrims who held a feast to give thanks to God and invited the local Indian tribe, who brought the sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. We continue the tradition our forefathers began of eating far too much, and falling asleep on the couch while watching football games on TV. The celebration continues as we get up way too early in the morning to fight for parking spaces and all the bargains presented by our friendly local merchants.

It is easy for the above scenario to actually be true in our lives. We can get caught up in all the hype that has come to surround us this time of year. In the midst of the feasting with family, television watching, and shopping, we can forget what is really important. We can forget to be grateful for all that God has given us.

As I look back on this past year, there are many reasons to be thankful. The first, and most important, thing is the grace of God. I am thankful that God has adopted me into his family and that he loves me no matter what. I am thankful for the work of Jesus which makes me a child of God. I am thankful for the Spirit’s guidance and work in me to make me more and more like Jesus.

I am thankful for a wonderful wife who loves me and is patient with my quirks and idiosyncrasies. Jan’s love and support has been a truly amazing thing. I am thankful for a son and a daughter who have grown into responsible adults who love God. I am thankful for my in-laws, and for the testimony of God’s grace in my mother-in-law as she passed out of this life and into the presence of her Savior. I am thankful for my sister and her family and for the times we are able to get together.

I am thankful for friends who make me think, and challenge me to turn knowledge into action. I am thankful for the part of the body of Christ known as St. Thomas, a group of people learning together what it means to follow Jesus in the day-to-day of our lives. I am thankful for the things that God has taught me and the ways he has changed me.

I am thankful for the girls I have the privilege to coach, and for the opportunity to minister through sports. I am thankful that I am still employed, and am in a position where there is a chance to have a positive impact on young lives. I am thankful for life, health and all the things that we take for granted.

What are you thankful for?

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Signs and Wonders

At our gathering yesterday morning, one of our number told of buying supplies for a local homeless shelter and the way God moved others in the store, including an outside delivery man, to help her find what she needed to buy. Some of them then helped her load the supplies in her car. Our teacher made the statement that maybe the signs and wonders that accompany the Gospel today are the acts of mercy and kindness that we do for those around us, especially those in need.

I think he is on to something. In the early day of the Church, the signs and wonders that authenticated the message that Jesus is Lord included healings and other miracles, and speaking in other languages. In a world where medicine was primitive, and many health problems that we never experience were fairly common, healing a person was a pretty big deal. The gift of speaking in tongues was many times , in a world without many translators, the only way the Gospel could be communicated. Some of these same things accompany the Gospel in developing nations where conditions are not that far removed from those of the 1st Century.

In 21st Century America, medicine has advanced so that most of the problems found in the early days of the Church have been eliminated. God does miraculously heal, but it is not so widespread as to be seen as a sign authenticating the Gospel. Language is not usually a problem, as there are a variety of ways to communicate and be understood.

I believe that the signs that should accompany the message that Jesus is Lord are the things that stand out as being outside the norm. I’m not talking about carrying a big KJV Bible, or shutting ourselves up in a “Christian” bubble and separating ourselves from those around us. I’m talking about showing that the One that we follow calls us to own him as our Lord, not any person, government, political party, or other organization. Because Jesus is our Master, we do what he says. One of his commands is to love our neighbors, and take care of the least of these. Giving to the poor and doing what we can to meet their needs shows that we take seriously the commands of the One we proclaim as Lord. In a culture that teaches us to look out for ourselves, often at the expense of others, caring for others marks us out as being different.

Jesus said that the world would know that we are his disciples by our love. If we don’t love each other and love those around us how can we expect the world to take us seriously? If we don’t treat the “least of these” as we would treat Jesus, what business do we have claiming that Jesus is our Master? As our faith is marginalized more and more by the culture, the only thing we will have left to authenticate our message is the willingness to lay down our lives for Jesus and others. God help us to live the Gospel that we claim has changed our lives.

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TGIF

Another week has come and gone. Basketball has started, and my days are much busier. Thanksgiving is coming up, and then the orgy of consumerism we call the Christmas shopping season. More on that later.

As always, there have been some good thoughts floating around the internet. This is just a sampling:

The risk of love in Africa.Why dogs don’t like Halloween. (HT: Brother Maynard)
Best Christian t-shirt like, ever?

Jake Belder on the Lord’s Supper.

Further thoughts from Dan Edelen.

Thoughts on the end of the world.

Kairos..chronos..

Crazy quotes (HT: Jonathan Brink).

The Bubble.

Fringe benefit to being a pastor?

John Armstrong weighs in on the Conservative Bible.

Event or truth?

The Rapture?

Some of these are just scary.

Enjoy your weekend
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Symphony

In The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis writes, “If all experienced God in the same way and returned Him an identical worship, the song of the Church triumphant would have no symphony, it would be like an orchestra in which all the instruments played the same note.”

That would be a boring orchestra, to be sure. In the world in which I grew up, we were taught that the only ones who were right were the ones who saw things the way we did. The true church was fundamentalist, Baptist. and independent, or at the most, part of a particular group of like minded churches. We didn’t quite feel that we were the only ones going to heaven, but we were sure that some groups wouldn’t be there, or would be far from the Throne.

Over the years, the diversity of the Church became more and more evident. I no longer believe that the different denominations are simply the result of deceived men departing from the “truth.” I now believe that the growth of different groups is due, for the most part, to the different ways that people relate to God. Some are quieter and more intellectual in their faith, some are much more expressive and vocal. Some are more free in their worship, while others prefer the structure of liturgy. Different translations and paraphrases speak to different folks. Some people are more contemplative, and others are action oriented.

There are certainly some things which we must all agree on. I’m becoming more and more convinced that those things can be distilled down to “Jesus is Lord,” and “Love God with all your being, and love your neighbor as yourself.” If those of us who follow Jesus would focus on that, many of the problems created by our perceptions of others would fade. As those problems go away, we would see the diversity in the Church for what it is; a beautiful tapestry that shows the grace of our Father, a symphony of heavenly music.

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World Vision Wednesday

In the Washington, D.C. area, World Vision has a number of ministries, from reading programs in schools to a 28,000 square foot storehouse for food for the hungry. To read more and find out how you can help, go here.