Something to meditate on in the light of the Christchurch earthquake (Pastor's notes)

-
Just posted my pastor's notes for 27th February 2011.

May not be as clear as I want it to be but for what it's worth ... click HERE

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Forgiving the Church (Henri Nouwen)

-
Had to post this up! Another gem from Henri Nouwen that is so relevant for today! I have highlighted in red what especially resonates with me as it has bothered me for years that there is a fast growing number of Christians who think they can have Christ without the church. Then back to work. I have finalized my magic routine fro this Sunday - now just need to practice and coordinate with "the Weeman" so our acts flow smoothly from one to the other. Forgiving the Church When we have been wounded by the Church, our temptation is to reject it. But when we reject the Church it becomes very hard for us to keep in touch with the living Christ. When we say, "I love Jesus, but I hate the Church," we end up losing not only the Church but Jesus too. The challenge is to forgive the Church. This challenge is especially great because the Church seldom asks us for forgiveness, at least not officially. But the Church as an often fallible human organization needs our forgiven...
Read more

The Ideal / Perfect pastor

-
Image
The Ideal / Perfect Pastor .... from various sources :-) I had better not add my own lest it be misunderstood. LOL The Perfect Pastor The perfect pastor preaches exactly 10 minutes. He condemns sin roundly but never hurts anyone’s feelings. He works from 8am until midnight and is also the church janitor. The perfect pastor makes $40 a week, wears good clothes, drives a good car, buys good books, and donates $30 a week to the church. He is 29 years old and has 40 years experience. Above all, he is handsome. The perfect pastor has a burning desire to work with teenagers, and he spends most of his time with the senior citizens. He smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his church. He makes 15 home visits a day and is always in his office to be handy when needed. The perfect pastor always has time for church council and all of its committees. He never misses the meeting of any church organizat...
Read more

The common language of brokenness

-
For the 16 June 2013 bulletin The common language of brokenness I read a fascinating story some months back which I filed away that I would like to share. It was about a North Carolina Judge Jesse Caldwell who told a story of Vietnamese woman who was waiting her turn to be examined in a crowded hospital emergency room. She gradually became aware of a frustrating “non-conversation” being attempted a few seats down. A nurse was trying to ask a new patient for some details on her illness. The patient spoke Spanish. The nurse did not. The Vietnamese woman listened for a minute then realized that while she didn’t speak Spanish she did understand the broken-English bits and phrases the Spanish speaking patient offered as answers. Because of her own experience of learning to communicate in “broken English,” the Vietnamese woman could hear the heart and gist of what this other woman was trying to say. The Vietnamese woman offered to “translate” the broken English of the Spanish...
Read more