Pastor's Column Oct. 30, 2011

Pastor’s Column. Tomorrow is Halloween. The big question in the commercials is, “Who will you be?” In Ephesians 4, Paul tells us to put away our former way of life and put on the new self, created according to the likeness of God. How’s that for being someone!

Many people want to be a monster for Halloween, the scarier the better. There are commentators who think that the worst kind of monsters don’t take away life in an instant. They suck away our souls over time. What kind of monsters are these? A controlling parent. A nagging wife. An abusive husband. An insensitive boss. A gossip. A joyless pastor. A busybody. And the list goes on to include other relationships. Such people need to go to monster rehab instead of the Halloween Party. And we can all of us become such drains ourselves. It is very easy to put on our old ways of life. So, “Who will you be?” -DJ

Pastor's Column Oct. 16, 2011

For the past two years Grace’s expenses have been ca. $186,000,

and its revenues ca $151,000. This annual deficit of $35,000 has been taken out of a reserve fund that will dry up in 2012 if we continue using it at this rate. Should the reserve fund be exhausted, we will have to make cuts of an unpopular nature. The Budget is bare bones now. There is not much that can be cut without drastically changing the staff and programs in place.

The session hopes that cuts will be unnecessary. In fact, the session thinks that the friends and members of Grace can make up this deficit if we just will. In a recent letter to the congregation from the Stewardship Committee, it was asked that we increase what we’ve been giving by 10% in 2012. This would cover about half the deficit, but we also need those who have not been giving in a disciplined way to help. In this day and age “doing church” requires the contributions of all involved.

Indeed, what is financial stewardship? It is a relationship between the individual and Jesus Christ. Each of us responds to the love of Jesus Christ by what we give.

Financial stewardship is a percentage of income, which is biblical, the tithe. Researchers have found in recent years that if church members do not intentionally tie their giving to percentage of income, they wind up giving an amount that turns out to be 1.5% of income. If they intentionally tie giving to percentage of income, they give on average 4.7%, or three times as much.

Financial stewardship is one of the ways we grow in faith. If one cannot give a tithe at the present time, there is integrity in giving as large a percentage as possible and trying to increase this over time.

Our financial commitment to Jesus Christ will be reported on the 2012 Commitment Card, which will be distributed soon. What can you do to help Grace continue the work of Jesus Christ in 2012? -DJ

Pastor's Column Oct. 9, 2011

Gordon Smith, who is a SERE instructor( Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) at Camp Mackall, says, “I tell the students, ‘If you have a guy with all the survival training in the world who has a negative attitude, and a guy who doesn’t have a clue but has a positive attitude, I guarantee you that the one with the positive attitude is coming out of the woods alive. Simple as that.’”

If we have a positive attitude – and pray for a positive attitude, God gives if we will just take delivery - we have a head start when it comes to overcoming fear of the unknown, as well as a head start when it comes to overcoming stress about things we cannot control. With a positive attitude we better deal with anger over our situation and better handle guilt over what could have been but is no more. And the basis for such a positive attitude is Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

“If God is for us, who can be against us,” means that we draw on unparalleled spiritual resources when we’re trying to be faithful, for no less than God is for us, God’s grace is with us. Now this does not mean that what we’re up against is a piece of cake. It does mean that we rise to the challenge. - DJ

Pastor's Column Oct. 2, 2011

Nancy Gibbs reminds us that “There was a certain bracing beauty about the original seven deadly sins – pride, gluttony, sloth, lust, greed, envy, and anger – which among them could account for virtually all the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind. Anger gives rise to violence; gluttony to waste; pride to every manner of tragedy and hurt. They were judged sufficient for the past 15 centuries, ever since they were cataloged by Pope Gregory the Great…

“But not anymore. ‘We are losing the notion of sin,’ Pope Benedict XVI warns. The culture celebrates what it once sanctioned: parents encourage pride as essential to self-esteem; a group of self-rising French chefs has petitioned the Vatican that being a gourmand is no sin. Envy is the engine of tabloid culture. Lust is an advertising strategy; anger, the righteous province of the aggrieved…”

The Vatican has begun stressing a broader range of sins for the modern age. I think that Mohandas Gandhi, of all persons, had a great version of the seven deadly sins:

- Wealth without work - Politics without principle
- Pleasure without conscience - Commerce without morality
- Science without humanity - Worship without sacrifice
- Knowledge without character
-DJ