Confused Much!?!?!!

Tour of Pa. bike racers in Ephrata on June 25

Lancaster New Era

Published: May 06, 2008
10:10 EST

Ephrata

By BERNARD HARRIS, Staff

“The inaugural Tour of Pennsylvania bicycle race won‘t stop in Lancaster County as it heads west from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, but riders will cross the northeast part of the county and sprint through Ephrata, organizers say.

The Ephrata sprint comes on Wednesday, June 25. It will be during the second stage of the six-day race, a 91-mile route between Downingtown and Carlisle, organizers said last week.

Twenty teams of six riders each will leave Downingtown at 10 a.m. The route through Lancaster County, released Friday, shows riders will stay on U.S Route 322.

The riders will likely arrive in Ephrata between 11:10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., depending on their speed.

According to raceorganizers, the Norristown-based Pro Cycling Tour, state police will be controlling traffic for the race. Troopers will be stopping all motor vehicles in both directions of Route 322 for the race. They will reopen the road after the riders pass. The rolling closure should have traffic blocked for 15 to 20minutes at any point along the route, organizers said.”

I experienced this excitement today. I had no idea what was happening. All the cars in the right lane had to pull over. I thought there was a major accident or an insane madman escaped from jail. A never endling line of cop car cars and cars plastered with advertisements past by. I was totally surprised when I realized it was a cycle race. The leader was a good way ahead of the pack. When the pack past my car I was amazed. These bikers where so close to each other and peddling at top speed. The coolest part was to see the drivers of the cars pass the cyclists their drink bottles. I was in awe. My immediate thought was of a person. My friend Jim Martin is a cyclist. Jim you could have been there. I thought of you buddy.

Shredded

Top this blunder.

At the end of each day I make an attempt to shred the junk mail I get in the mail. Last night was no exception. I shredded the junk. When I got up this morning I wondered where I placed my economic stimulus check. Strange how this was the first thought. I looked through the pile of papers that I set aside and deemed important. As I glanced at each document my heart raced faster and faster and faster. The check was not there. My stomach turned into knots.

I lifted off the top of the shredder and the nightmare forming in my mind came true. There on top of the mountain of shredded papers was the remains of the economic stimulus check. Goodbye money for fall semester books. Goodbye. Goodbye. Somehow my check got into the mix of the junk.

I wish I could say that I am laughing or that God wanted this to happen and that somehow this will work out for good, but I am just not seeing it. There is probably a costly lesson in this experience. I am actually quite angry. Stupid Scott.

grrrrrrrrrrr

 

Prayer Wars

 

Friends,

We live in an evil world. No brainer. While not much thought went into my opening, prayer after prayer is pouring off the lips of people everywhere worldwide. As much I would like to say that all prayers are for Jesus’ intervention in the vanquishing of evil, people are praying nonetheless.

Our prayers need to be directed towards Jesus for in due time he will answer because he is the only one who is going to answer.

My prayers for Jesus’ intervention have not stopped. I am realizing how frequently prayers are flowing from my soul. All around me my ears listen and my eyes see the sights and sounds of good colliding with evil. My heart aches. I feel pain in my chest. Literal pain. No. Not a heart attack…not really.

My friends, teachers, and even my own family currently are enduring a series of satanic attacks.

Make no mistake, satan does divide families and causes breakdowns. I am experiencing it happen again before my eyes and all I am able to do is pray.

In fact that is all I need to do because prayer is power because the Source of the one who teaches me to pray is Jesus Christ. Friends there is so much hurt, pain, and deception being thrown at my mother and her husband that it looks like satan has done it again.

WRONG! While it appears that the battle has been won this day, satan has another assault coming that will wipe him out.

I ask those of you reading this to pray against the forces of evil in the name of Jesus Christ. I will join you in prayer. Pray that the love of Christ would super-saturate souls, smash stone hearts and lift people out of deception and pull off the covers of lies.

Be desperate for Jesus’ intercession. Keep fighting.

Jesus please hurry.                                       

Your will, not mine. Find us ready. Find us patient. Find us listening. Find us ready to move into action.

In my Corolla…

 (Not a recent pic)

While waiting in a long line of cars, I looked in my rearview mirror and noticed a woman applying makeup to her face and hairspray to her hair. My immediate thoughts were ” I wonder where she is going? Is she late? Is she in a hurry? I wonder if she has husband and does her husband appreciate her?”

That lost thought happened in light of a recent conversation I had with a good friend and all the news buzzing around the country. Men in powerful political positions are being exposed for their sexual promiscuity and immorality. What is happening?

I believe these men are denying their addictions. They are failing to choose morality and healthy relationships. Now their choices that were swimming happily in a pool of denial is all dried out leaving them exposed and in their speedos.

I know the lure of impure sexual vices having been delivered myself from the addictions of porn and fascination. So on some level I have compassion on these men because these men could be anyone of us. Maybe not addicted to sex or addicted to a destructive relationship, but to any addiction that leaves us crippled and diseased.

The question I would ask these men is “Do you want to be made well? Healing is a choice ya know.” Perhaps these men have never been confronted with their addiction. Then again maybe they have. I do not know. It is not place to say. Observing what is going in their lives now (what is seen on the news) that they are exposed in front of millions I am left to wonder why must it come to this? Why does it seem that we as people need to hit rock bottom before we realize how fall we have fallen.

I have some thoughts, but please share with us.

If you are the husband of this woman I saw today, tell her you love her. Talk and listen to her. Do not remain in the dark.

A dark night followed by pinholes of light

Saturday evening was a sleepless night full of anxiety, a pounding heart, and many prayers whispered to God. You maybe asking why.

For the last couple of days I had been mediating and reflecting on Christ’s last days on earth. As the days flowed into the next, I began to dig deeper into His anguish, the fear of the disciples, and the penalty that should have rightfully been ours. All this time of mediation and reflection bubbled to the top and spilled over last evening. However, something happened that I had not planned.

I began to doubt the resurrection and suddenly I was pulled into a panic. I began to pray and seek counsel. However, as I did this the panic continued to over take me. I needed to know and be reminded of the evidence that proves the resurrection. Faith was useless to me. I needed proof. So I pulled a book off my shelf and began to read a chapter that explains the historicity of the resurrection. Alas, this still did not bring relief. I continued to pray. I continued to cry out to God for relief and counsel.

Sleep was not in the cards last night.

Sunday. Resurrection Day. Going into worship I had hoped that the sermon message would address my concerns. I was hoping to hear a sound rational argument for the faith we have in Christ. Guess what! That message was not given. Do any pastors deliever a rational message anymore? (This is a source of contention) I am sure they do.

The pinholes of light began to poke through as Sunday moved along. I am no longer in a state of panic. Christ is alive regardless of how I feel. His life is wrapped up into our lives. He is apart of us as we are apart of Him. In these dark moments, may we reach out to God for the strength He gives.

Even now as I reflect on what I have just blogged, I am reminded that perhaps what God blessed me with was a small taste of what the disciples experienced when the women told them that Jesus is alive. Indeed, Jesus is alive. Amen.

Mennonite/Orthodox Dialogue

     Today I joined about twenty at a Greek Orthodox Church in Lancaster city for a very informative and wonderful discussion from both Mennonite and Orthodox streams. http://www.annunciationorthodox.org/ The topic was worship traditions. Here are the highlights from each speaker:

All Mennonite worship traditions have the following common threads: worship as a gathering, a Word-centered service, congregational singing, Sunday to Monday worship, and lex christi, lex orandi (law of Christ, law of prayer).

Orthodoxy worship centers on Creation, Personhood, and Community.

After both men presented, I understood Mennonite and Orthodox worship having one stong connection: Creation. Meaning that both Mennonite and Orthodoxy understand that worship flows throughout all of life. Orthodoxy however takes the attitude of Creation much further than Mennonites would. Just my opinion.

 My question for both men was in regards to the Emergent movement. I asked, “Do you find that the Emergent Church is attempting to unify the rich streams in the Christian worship tradition? Both men said yes and that there are good things coming out of the movement. However, the warning issued is as we lean back into the past and rekindle anicent worship, we need to always know why we do what we do and does that worship connect to the apostalic teachings. I thought this caution was important to consider.

Any thoughts about Mennonite or Orthodoxy you want to share?

The question of the day

Can we be good without God?

What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

If you are reading this you have either stumbled on to the blog through a search or you have read Joel’s request. I am doing an engaged learning project for a class. The essence of the project is to deliever the Gospel of Christ to a postmodern mindset without compromising the message.

Please give me your understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I will gladly share my findings when the project is completed. Thank you.

Retreat Updates

The time spent away from my normal routine was refreshing. I was surprised when we were told that the entire weekend was designed for worship and mediation. There was no workshops to attend. There were no break out groups. There were no key speakers. The large majority of the weekend (aside from all the food) was spent in worship and in prayer.

During these days I sensed God telling me that at most times I try to run my life the way I want. I sensed that I act in rebellion and then wonder why I am the way I am or why I treat people the way I do. Which in both cases the answer is “badly.” This proved real to me when I told the Lord that I do not rebel and instead made up excuses for why I do not rebel. Each excuse reflected rebellion. Needless to say, God is right. This was not easy to hear, but welcomed nevertheless. Day by day with the help of His Spirit I will come under obedience and submission.

The group of leaders that attended the retreat were really wonderful. I met new friends and heard some very interesting stories. You can check out Crossfire Youth Ministries at this link http://www.crossfireyouthcenter.org/

Youth Leader Retreat retreating into the forest

This weekend I am attending a retreat in the forest of Halifax, Pennsylvania. The campground is named Camp Hebron. The retreat looks to be active and informative, but more than that are the large chunks of free time. My plan to escape into the woods to mediate on God’s word and to waste time with the Lord God. I use the words “waste time” with some reluctance because as a seminarian with a boat load of reading and papers to write, to “waste time” is ill advisable. May the Lord bless me with solace and rejuvenation this weekend. I will post my weekend at a later date. Shalom.