What I Miss About 9/12

None of us would ever wish anything bad to happen, even though great good may be seen in the aftermath of the evil. I get the privilege of writing to you on the anniversary of 9/11, arguably one of the darkest days in the history of our country. All of us were changed on that day. Some of us lost loved ones. Almost all of us knew someone who knew someone who lost someone dear to them. In the aftermath, we have endured 10 years of war.

In between 9/11 and the years of war was 9/12, one of the highlights in all of our nation’s history. It was a day when people poured forth from their homes to respond to the needs of their fellow citizens. Thousands upon thousands stood for hours to donate blood. Tons of food and clothing were taken in drives across the country. Hundreds marched immediately to their local recruiter’s office, some even lying about their age, to enlist in the defense of our country and see those who had planned such an evil upon our country brought to justice.

The best of all was the outpouring of people seeking meaning and purpose. Who could have done such a thing, and why? If there is a God up in heaven, and if He is God of the entire universe, what was He doing on that awful morning? Those are questions we will never fully understand. We have probably come to our own personal answers and that is the best we can do.

The important thing was that we gathered to the one place where we might possibly find meaning, purpose, and answers – the Church. In ten years since, we have gotten comfortable again. We have stopped looking for answers. We have stopped praying for country and countrymen, or at least the intensity of our prayers has greatly diminished. We have gone back to being Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Tea Partiers, or whatever else we may claim to be instead of being brothers and sisters. Our fellow countrymen in need have again become an inconvenience. Church is something that takes up our Sunday mornings. I would never want to go through another 9/11, but I sure do miss the positive aspects of 9/12.

Yet, God is still there. He still waits for your questions even if He doesn’t always give the answer you want in the detail for which you were looking. He wants to heal your hurts and pains. He has never left you, and never will. He has been faithful in His waiting for you. The question is, “What have you and I done with our relationship with Him over the same time?”

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O Lord, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. (Psalm 36:5-7 NIV)

Pastor Craig

Living With God

Do you believe that people can experience the presence of God as our Bible heroes did in the stories we love so much? I do. However, at the same time, I must say that I find those experiences rare. I think they were rare back in Bible times as well. We need to remember that the Bible tends to be a book ABOUT and FOR such encounters as opposed to everyday life, go to the store, pick up kids up from school encounters.

I think we are meant to live in an ongoing conversation with God, speaking and being spoken to. Rightly understood I believe that this can be seen in God’s visits to Adam and Eve in the Garden, Enoch’s walks with God, and the face-to-face conversations between Yahweh and Moses.  We see these times as highly exceptional moments in the religious history of humanity. Aside from their obviously unique historical role, however, they are not meant to be exceptional at all. Rather they are examples of the normal human life God intended for us: God’s indwelling his people through personal presence and fellowship. Given who we are by basic nature, we live only through God’s regular speaking in our souls and this “by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

While we no longer literally live with God in the garden, we have available to us many other methods of conversing with him. We communicate with God through worship, Bible study, communion, and prayer, to name only a few. You may have other ways you hear the voice of God. Take some time and list those many ways God has spoken to you and recognize how close he really is.

There are also hindrances to hearing God speak to us. We may have preconceived notions God has to fight his way past before we can hear the still small voice whispering his will and work to us. Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1-13) found all sorts of ways to block God after their initial sin. Rather than admit their guilt and ask for forgiveness they immediately proceeded to the blame game, finally even blaming God for their failure.

The conversation God had with Adam and Eve hardly represents humankind’s proudest moment. They had just deliberately disobeyed the only rule God had given them. How would you have reacted if you were there? It is easy to think from a distance that we would have rejected that temptation. They had everything – companionship, food, meaningful work, face-to-face conversations with God. Before you are too hard on them, picture God coming to look for you after your sins, knowing all your flaws and failures. How far do you think you would run? The key is that God still came looking, wanting to be in relationship with them, wanting that personal and intimate relationship with them even more than they wanted it with him! Amazing!

Pastor Craig

The Gathering

I am sitting in the Grand Ballroom of the Doubletree Hotel waiting for the few minutes to pass before a new seminar is to begin. Roughly 2,000 Presbyterians are here from all over the country. They came for something called The Gathering. They came for different reasons.

In addition to this seminar there have been multiple small group discussion opportunities. My discussion group is #135. It is made up of pastors and lay people gathered from California, Arizona, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Colorado, Oregon, Georgia, and Texas.

One pastor is committed to sticking it out and ministering in place. One has a congregation that has voted unanimously to pursue a course of separation from the denomination, two pastors serve congregations that are divided if not conflicted on what to do, where to go, and how to respond. One person is newly ordained, only two weeks ago. Another is still in seminary and is exploring how to pursue God’s call upon his life. One is an Irish national pursuing God’s call to minister to a congregation within the United States. Another is striving to minister so boldly within his presbytery that it will transform the presbytery into something that addresses the slow death of the PCUSA. These are my brothers and sisters. They are yours as well.

This is the new reality in which we find ourselves and our churches at this time in the history of our denomination. This is the face of diversity. Diversity has been a term that has been used over the past several decades only to divide the church.

In the midst of this tremendous diversity what is there left to unite us? Historically, there is only one theme around which the Scriptures call us to unite. It is in fact the dividing line between authentic Christian doctrine and something else. It is salvation through Jesus Christ alone. It is the reason the pastor from Arizona has chosen to stick it out and “minister in place,” not because of the calling of Christ alone, but because of the unity the Spirit of God has been able to forge between evangelicals, conservatives, progressives, and liberals when all of them agree on what comes first – Jesus Christ. This is what we are called to as well, to minister where we are, not waiting for “the right climate or circumstances to fall into place, but realizing that people need Jesus NOW – not just when it becomes convenient for us to tell them about him.

The months ahead will bring changes within our structure. We will see or hear of changes around us. One thing will remain constant. Jesus Christ is Lord!

Pastor Craig

Remaking Church

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears.

-- Glenn Clark

It is time to “remake” church. We have operated too long on too much of the same old traditions. We do that because they give us nice, warm memories about how wonderful it was long ago if not far away. We remember our times, or the times of our children in youth group. We think of retreats, lock-ins, camp songs, and special events. We remember how wonderful they were and we want to recreate that specialness again for a new generation. The problem is the new generation has moved on. They want to create their own memories, not simply relive ours. I do not intend to slam old traditions here. I have some very well entrenched traditions of my own. However, when it comes to where our congregation should be, I find myself quoting the words of Dr. Phil, “How’s that workin’ for ya?”

Youth and young adults these days are more direct than they were even in my generation. I was never allowed to call an adult by their first name, even if I tried to attach a Mr. or Miss to it. I remember VERY clearly being told to tell my father that Garland was on the phone and wished to speak to him. Well, I relayed that exact message to my father and was met with the following response, “That would be Mr. Disharoon for you. Please don’t forget that in the future.” Obviously, a comment and a tone that had a LASTING impression upon me.  

I’m not complaining about the new found familiarity that young people seem to have with adults. On the one hand, I think it helps us bridge the generation gap between adults, young adults, and youth. No, my point is simply that times have definitely changed. Yet, the church, consistently, is among the last place to change with the times.  

In response to my own comments, I am asking you to join me in a new effort in ministry at First Presbyterian Church. Carpathia will adopt the attitude of the RMS Carpathia which prompted the passengers and crew of that ship to put aside all other ordinary tasks when the call for assistance came from the Titanic, steam through the night, and work until all who could be rescued were rescued indeed. We will meet the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 P.M. in the church parlor. We will begin on Thursday, September 1^st. Come and join with us. Come with ideas, but come ready to champion your ideas through your own sweat equity as well. Together may we save all Christ will allow us.

Pastor Craig

COURAGE

“Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow.”

Mary Anne Radmacher

Courage is not just a good idea. It is not the action that is honored in the form of medals, tickertape parades, monuments, or plaques. It has been defined not as the absence of fear but as the clarity of mind and commitment to action in spite of that fear. Probably, for the sake of this brief writing, courage could best be defined as perseverance, possibly even faith.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of thins not seen. (Hebrews 11:1). Faith involves courage. It is the step forward into the future, not because we know the future, but because we know the one who holds the future in His hands. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. I do not know what will happen next week. I know what is on my schedule, but I have no assurance the things I have written on my calendar will actually come to pass.

James 4:14 says, You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little awhile and then vanishes away. We do not know how much time we get on this earth. Though our Creator loves us, we have no guarantee that our plans will succeed. Christian marriages sometimes end in divorce. Christian parents don’t always have kind, gracious, obedient, respectful, loving children. Some Christians are homeless. Other Christians are in prison. Still others do not recover from their illness in spite of all the prayers that are sent to heaven on their behalf. Just why are we Christians, then? What prompts us to faith, perseverance, and courage? I certainly hope it is something more than the fear of a negative afterlife.

Yet, as Christians, we do not hold back. We do not adopt a defeatist attitude. We are not without hope. For every time we fail we recognize Christ’s forgiveness and start fresh. We move forward with a confidence not based in our own abilities, but in the one who forgives us for our mistakes and rebelliousness. Though the day be dark, the one who created the day gives us a completely new one with each sunrise and encourages us to try again.

Pastor Craig

One Purpose

It seems there are so many things to tear the church apart these days. There are churches that have women pastors and officers. There are others that forbid them. There are Christians of all denominational flavors who are Pro-Choice, and there are others who are staunchly Pro-Life. You will find Christians on both sides of the issue regarding capital punishment. You can find Democrat Christians or Republican Christian. You can even find Tea Party, Independent, Libertarian, and Green Party Christians, just to name a few.

There are Christians who are separated by mode of baptism, theology of communion, stand on gay rights and the place of gays and lesbians in the worshipping community. We separate ourselves by worship styles and views on spiritual gifts. It is fairly easy to see why some people might avoid church. They already have all the turmoil and tension in their life they need!

The Apostle Paul doesn’t seem to recognize any of these divisions. If he does recognize them in other places, here he seems to say there is a higher calling. In fact he centers the Church and its mission on one, clear, concise vision.

“Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”

                Philippians 2:2

Paul wants the Church to share one grand and holy purpose – to share the love, compassion, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ with all the world. If we recognize the problem of humanity as first and foremost a poverty of spirituality and a broken relationship with our Creator, then the solution to the problem is obvious. In fact Jesus Christ says there is no other solution, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by me.”

I won’t say the other things don’t matter, but I will say they become much less important once we get our number one priority settled. Once that is set, the other things tend to fall into place. Once that is set, we begin to put all the other issues in their proper priority as well. Once that is set, we realize we can indeed work with someone who believes quite differently on some theological points because we can agree on that point which has the utmost importance.

Pastor Craig

Search & Rescue

Our mission trip to New Orleans was amazing. Almost six years after Hurricane Katrina virtually destroyed a major US city there is still much work to be dome. Approximately 200,000 of the residents of New Orleans are still living away from their former home. Some of them, like a college classmate of my own, have vowed never to do something so stupid as to “live below sea level again!” Others long to return to one of America’s most unique cities.

Project Homecoming put seven teams comprised of 50+ people into the Central City and East New Orleans areas. My site was a home on AP Tureaud St. We painted, insulated, finished carpentry and generally cleaned up the area around the home.

Other teams began homes from the ground up. Still others sided homes that had already ben framed out. We worked with day camps for children, helped teachers get their classes ready for school, and generally brought hope through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

One symbol was common everywhere we went. It was a symbols of both hope and despair. It was painted thousands upon thousands of homes, remaining there from 2005 until today in the homes that are still unoccupied. The “X” you see at the top of this page has information regarding the day the property was searched, the status of the utilities at the time of the search, the team conducting the search, and a count of the corpses found inside the house. In the midst of this sea of destruction it was amazing the number of zeros there were for homes containing corpses.

However, the symbol reminded me that Christ is always on a search and rescue mission of his own. He comes seeking you and me. He comes every day. He comes calling us to respond to the command of the gospel to go into all the world and make disciples. His symbol looks something like this.

The question mark is asking the question of what Christ will find when he comes to search your life. Will he find a heart willing to respond to his call to go where he sends? Or, will he find only excuses? When government has forgotten most of the victims of Katrina in the six years since the disaster, it is a blessing to them to know that Christ and his Church have not.

Pastor Craig