PASTOR’S COLUMN January 22, 2012

Dana Tierney is an atheist, but not the sort who feels proud of her unbelief. She once wrote in the New York Times Magazine, “Over the years I’ve come to feel I’m missing out. My friends and relatives who rely on God have an expansiveness of spirit. When they walk along a stream, they don’t just see water falling over rocks; the sight fills them with ecstasy. They see a realm of hope beyond this world. I just see a babbling brook. I don’t get the message.”

   Dana assumed that her atheism had stranded her 4-year-old son Luke in the same spiritually arid place, but she found out differently. Her husband went to Iraq for several months, and one evening she found her son watching the nightly news with his eyes closed and his fingers steepled. She asked him what he was doing, and he said, “I was saying a little prayer for Daddy.” She asked little Luke when he first began to believe in God. He said, “I don’t know. I’ve always known he exists.”

   Dana’s husband did return from Iraq, “but if something had happened to his father, Luke would have known Dad was in heaven, waiting for us. He doesn’t suffer from a void like the anguished father in Mark 9:23, 24: ‘Jesus said to him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord I believe; help thou my unbelief.’

   “For Luke, all things are possible. At the end of his life, he will be reunited in heaven with his heroes and loved ones, Mom and Dad and George Washington, his grandparents and Buzz Lightyear. Luke’s prayer can stretch to infinity and beyond, but I am limited to one: help thou mine unbelief.”

   Dana said some things that reflected poorly on the church. She implied that the church was no help. But what if she has it wrong? What if the nature of Jesus’ church is to welcome, encourage, and help those who are trying to believe? After all, even Dana would have to admit that’s what Jesus did in Mark 9:23,24. -DJ

Pastor's Column Jan. 15, 2012

   My last semester in seminary, I took a prayer course from the most brilliant man I've ever known, Dr. Stuart Currie, Professor of New Testament. He had just presented his understanding of The Lord's Prayer when he then died on the handball court of a heart attack.       

     

  It was a terrible loss. Everyone depended on him and admired him. And what to do about TLP? 

Had he lived, I would have been in his office asking questions, for his exposition of TLP was different from any other I had read. It was profound, made sense whereas so many others didn’t, and I wanted to know more.

       For years I waited for one of his colleagues to write an article or a book using Dr. Currie's approach. Nothing ever came about. So I started puttering around with it myself. I used bits and pieces in sermons and Sunday school classes. But what I wanted to do was put it in a book and get "out there" so Currie's opinion could be heard.

       It is almost impossible to get a book published nowadays for the religious market unless the writer is a known quantity. It’s the same with religious books as it is with others, witness the closing of Borders. But then I realized that an e-book might be possible. It was. I was limited to 60,000 characters (including spaces) but I did the best I could, and Chalice Press agreed to publish Praying The Lord's Prayer recently.

    Below is the link.

    http://www.chalicepress.com/Praying-The-Lords-Prayer-in-Private-EPDF-P1010.aspx

     Thus my felt obligation to Dr. Currie is largely discharged. I’m not much of an e-book reader, but this one can be read on one’s computer. To get a copy I followed their instructions and downloaded Adobe Digital Reader, which made it an icon on my screen saver.

      I’d appreciate any mention you could give it to friends and family, especially young adults who are more computer adept than many of my generation. The book was difficult to write, but it has some insights about TLP that can’t be found elsewhere. DJ

PASTOR’S COLUMN January 8, 2012

One of our members recently told me about a drug problem he had when he was a boy. He said it was terrible:

      “I was drug to church and Sunday school on Sunday                         mornings.

I was drug to church for funerals and weddings.

I was drug to school whether I had my homework done or not.

I was drug to family reunions no matter what I’d rather do.

I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults and teachers.

I was drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents.”

The man said he was then turned off and tuned out.

“My parents turned off the TV when it was time for me to do my chores.

My parents tuned me out when I whined.”

The man confessed that he also had experience with the correction system.

“My parents constantly corrected me.

My parents supported teachers who disciplined me.”

This man has joined a support group, “Survivors of Functional Families.” - DJ

Pastor's Column Jan. 1, 2012

      David Brooks, whose column appears in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, had his readers, those over 70-years of age, send him “Life Reports,” essays about their own lives. Here’s what he discovered. Those who were happiest did the following:

    One, did not always keep score. When something bad was done to them, they forgot it, forgave it, or were grateful for it. When it comes to thinking about one’s life, keeping score may not be the best policy.

   Two, learned that you can’t control others. Enough said.

  Three, took risks. Many people late in life regret the risks they didn’t take more so than the risks they did take.

    Four, measured their growth rate not by their talents but by how they kept growing in each decade of life.

    

    Five, viewed their life in phases rather than as a whole. They found they had more control over a chunk of time than over their entire lifespan. - DJ