"My Son is Sleeping With Your Daughter" and other happenings...

I suppose tonight I am simply writing to write. I have not updated or spilled my guts in a while on any given subject so I am feeling a bit guilty. Life has become a bit more busy as of late. I have gone from the camaraderie of 3 other pastor's to share my thoughts and ministry ideas with to talking to myself while I sit in my office contemplating the state of my church. I find myself talking to God more these days as well. If nothing else I have been practicing living in the companionship of the Holy Spirit more as of late. Being the new guy, I was asked--they said given the opportunity to make it sound more palatable--to be the speaker at the Community Thanksgiving Service sponsored by the local ministerial alliance. I found myself saying yes before I had even had time to think one solid thought on the subject. I am eager to make acquaintences and get involved in the community afterall since now I am looked upon as a spiritual leader in Butler. As I was studying the lectionary passages for Thanksgiving I began to find myself moving in a direction that I did not know if I was ready to preach yet in this new setting. I do not know the community or its people and most of the time in a setting like this you preach a quaint message of gratefulness to God and leave it at that. I however began to find myself moving more into the realm of Theodicy and Open Theism as I prepared. I did not plan to but, as I prayed and studied and wrote that is how it came out. After all was said and done and I looked at the sermon that I just completed a wave of concern flowed over me. "Perhaps this is too much for a community (ecumenical) MA service and I should tone it down a bit" was the first thought that came to mind. I prayed again and decided not to change anything. I went home and allowed Brenda to read it. She looked up after finishing and said it was good and then added, "but". Whenever there is a "but" you immediately have that shock come over you and the sinking feeling that you now had no time to work on something new and you are stuck. Her comment was the same as my initial thought, "it might be too much for a service of this type." I contemplated pulling something out from the archive; you know, that trusty list of prior sermons you have written that you are certain will have something for just this occassion. Brenda and I both agreed that I should simply stick with what I had already written since I had spent time in study and contemplation prior. So I went to the service at the local RLDS church (also known as the Community of Christ) and waited my turn to step up and proclaim the Word of God to those who assembled. There were about 15-20 of my own congregation there which did bring me some satisfaction and when all the singing ended--a local Assemblies of God pastor organized the service so there was a good bit of singing and music--I stepped up, introduced myself and opened the scriptures. I preached for about 20-25 minutes and then sat down. I felt the presence of God throughout the process and that wonderful calm that comes from knowing you have done and said the right thing for the moment. After the service there were the complementary "good sermon" and "wonderful job" but there were also some very heartfelt words of appreciation that carried with them a sense of sincerity and gratitude. I received several calls that night from members of my congregation expressing their pride in their pastor for his contribution to the night. I appreciated the warm words from my people. They are my sheep and I am grateful that they are willing to follow me. My time in Butler has been good thus far. It has had its moments of frustration and doubt but all-in-all I continue to believe that we are right where we should be. One quick humorous comment and then I will end. My son, Joshua, has made a new friend. Her name is Mikayla and she is 4. He seems to have developed a bit of a crush on her and regularly talks about her being right there with him, almost like an imaginary friend. The other night we were tucking him in; going through the regular activities that we have developed with him. He then proudly proclaims to us that Mikayla is in his bed sleeping with him. I looked at Brenda and immediately said, "we cannot tell her dad that our son is sleeping with his daughter". I suppose the humorous part for me is that her father is one of my board members. Oh the scandal! Grace and Peace.