Rob Prince's Blog, page 60

In Honor of Palindrome Week

In honor of Palindrome Week (7.10.17 – 7.17.17) I give you the following:

We panic in a pew weeping with tons o’ snot if the solos are out of tune or the preacher’s still preaching at noon. “Rum… Rum,” I murmur, as the sermon goes on and on. “Don’t Nod,” I tell myself.  Embarrassingly, I realized, I am the preacher.  “Is it I? It is I!”

Here was my sermon:  Dennis, Nell, Edna, Leon, Nedra, Anita, Rolf, Nora, Alice, Carol, Leo, Jane, Reed, Dena, Dale, Basil, Rae, Penny, Lana, Dave, Denny, Lena, Ida, Bernadette, Ben, Ray, Lila, Nina, Jo, Ira, Mara, Sara, Mario, Jan, Ina, Lily, Arne, Bette, Dan, Reba, Diane, Lynn, Ed, Eva, Dana, Lynne, Pearl, Isabel, Ada, Ned, Dee, Rena, Joel, Lora, Cecil, Aaron, Flora, Tina, Arden, Noel, and Ellen sinned.

Oh No Don Ho!  The folks didn’t like that sermon.

“You preach too long,” they yelled.

I did, did I? I yelled back. Mad as Adam, they stormed out and I ended the homily as a civic duty to the remaining hungry souls. That day, the Baptists beat us to the restaurant even without a racecar. I’ll level with you, I guess I did preach too long.

Usually, following the service, Nurses run, a boy in a kayak floats, and Neil, an Alien flies to the closest eatery.  As I made my way to join them, a kid from my gym (that I always refer to as Yo Bozo boy) yelled “Go Dog!” Finally, I arrived and the waitress said, “Sir, I’m Iris. There’s no lemons, no melon. Would you like soup?

“Wonton? Not now,” I replied. “Madam, I’m a tuna nut. My mom made the best casseroles, but desserts, I stressed, were her specialty.” Iris was not impressed and brought me a sandwich.

And so, ends my palindrome tale, no wonder my boys say, “Pa’s a sap.”

 (If you were counting at home, there were 30 Palindromes in the previous story.)

5 Hopes for the 2017 General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene

The 29th General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene will convene in three weeks in Indianapolis.  Here are my FIVE BIG HOPES for the gathering:

I hope that General Assembly is like a family reunion.

Four years ago, when the question on the floor was to move General Assembly to every five years, one of the persuasive arguments to continue every four years was that our gathering is like a family reunion. As our church family expands in this ever-changing world, we need more gatherings (not less) to keep the bond between us strong. Like the motto for the gathering, I hope we are One.

I hope the resolutions concerning Article X (Christian Holiness and Entire Sanctification) and Human Sexuality pass.

While I’m not ready to state that either resolution is perfect, both are HUGE improvements to the current manual statements.  The current Article Ten could best be described as a mishmash. If ten different people (including pastors) were to describe our “distinctive doctrine,” there would be ten different expressions of Article Ten.  The new precise statement is more readable, teachable, preachable, Biblical and Wesleyan.  I really like it.  The statement on Human Sexuality takes one of the most the complex and divisive issues of our times and gives our people a Biblically based, grace-filled position from which to speak. The resolutions are well written and show both scholarship and grace.

I hope the resolution concerning the use of intoxicants does not pass.  

I like the affirming, grace-filled language in the resolution. Moreover, I do not think people who have a glass of wine are going to hell.  Still I am not ready to do away with denominational injunction against the consumption of alcohol.  This resolution is a bit personal with me.  My dad prior to becoming a Christian was an alcoholic. Had the church allowed the consumption of alcohol following his conversion, I’m not sure moderation was possible for him. So, I’m glad the church said we are coming along side of you in this struggle and as a people we say, “no alcohol.” Alcohol related problems are well documented. Most domestic violence and sexual abuse has an element of alcohol involved. Drunk drivers kill innocent people every day.  I’m thankful for a church that says “we choose to side with those who struggle and have been harmed by the abuse of alcohol by abstaining from its use.”

I hope we elect two visionary and godly individuals to be General Superintendent.

Godly but not visionary leaders tend to lead from memory instead of imagination.  They lead based on fear (“we are going the way of the Methodists”) or nostalgia (“Let’s make the Church of the Nazarene Great Again”) instead of inspiration, grace and hope.  Conversely, visionary but not godly leaders are drunk on personal ambition. Elevating self instead of elevating Jesus seems to be their top priority. Our church has plenty of godly but not visionary leaders and we have our share of visionary but self-promoting individuals too.  We need General Superintendents to be both godly and visionary.  We need to elect two individuals who see what we can become and selflessly lead us there.

I hope we leave Indianapolis ready to promote the message of Holiness and making Christ-like disciples with a renewed zeal and commitment. 

General Assembly will be a success if we leave inspired and ready to accept the challenge of working to see God’s Kingdom come and His will done in our neck of the woods.

 

 

What’s Needed for Another Pentecost

The 120 believers in the upper room experienced firsthand the Pentecostal wonders that we will remember this Sunday.  The color red splashed throughout the sanctuary and candles burning remind us of the tongues of fire. Scripture read in different languages reminds us that the good news was heard in many dialects.  We will remember the day, but the 120 experienced it. Heard it. Saw it. Lived it.

Pre-Pentecost the group wouldn’t have impressed a class of freshman Intro to the Bible students.  No one was particularly noteworthy.  All had recently failed Jesus.

They weren’t particularly courageous.  The 120 men and women were hiding behind locked doors when the Holy Spirit showed up.

They weren’t evangelistic. Not one person is recorded to have become a Christian in the time between the Resurrection and Pentecost. Not one.

They didn’t display great leadership skills. The only leadership decision they had was to replace Judas, and it could be argued that they choose in a poor manner (casting lots) and they made a poor choice (Matthias is never mentioned again after his lucky number was called).

The one thing they had (that we are lacking?) was obedience. Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem and that is exactly what they did.  They waited and prayed.  I wonder if we obeyed Jesus more if we would see similar results? There are plenty of conferences, sermons and lessons on being bold, evangelistic and displaying Christian leadership in order to change the world (all the things lacking by the pre-Pentecost, upper room group), but maybe to see a Pentecost we simply need to be more obedient. Maybe what’s needed for the Pentecostal power to impact our world is a few men and women who will simply and emphatically say “Yes” to Jesus.

I am praying for another Pentecost like movement of God and I’m praying that it would begin with our collective and resounding “YES, Lord, yes! I will go where you want me to go and I will do what you want me to do.”

A Dozen Steps to a Mostly Dead Faith

Only Pray when you need something.
Only Worship on Sunday morning.
Only Read your Bible when you are at a Bible Study (that your spouse or parent insisted you attend)
Only Attend church if you are not working or on vacation or have a case of the sniffles or have tickets to a big game or it’s your favorite second cousin’s birthday party or your kid has a soccer game or a dance recital or you’re tired from a late Saturday night or you overslept because of Daylight savings time or there are snowy roads or wet roads or possibly snowy and wet roads or there is a guest preacher or your pastor is preaching on a topic you don’t like or you have nothing to wear or you are needing a “me” day.
Only Sing when you have no choice.
Only Give when you get something in return.
Only Fast if you are on a diet.
Only Serve when made to feel guilty.
Only Speak well of people if you think your words might get back to them
Only Pursue justice if it costs you nothing.
Only Promote Unity if everyone else promises to think, vote, and agree with you.
Only Share your faith… no skip that… never share your faith.

Alzheimer’s and Faith

Last night as I watched a basketball game played in the Boston Garden, it reminded me of the time I sat in that arena and watched the Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2008 NBA Championship.  Even though I am not a Celtics fan (Go Pistons!) and I could have lived my entire life without the hugs from the mostly drunk, elated Celtics fans on the way out of the arena that night, it is one of my most favorite memories.  I was able to go because my friends, Larry and Lynne, were generous with their tickets and my father-in-law offered to pay my airfare to Boston.

Sadly, Arling doesn’t remember his generosity these days.  He frequently doesn’t know me or Karla or even Mary, his wife of nearly 60 years.  Alzheimer’s disease has robbed him of so much of his life. He is unable to share his cherished memories with anyone most of the time.

This past Sunday, like every Sunday, my in-laws were at our house for dinner following church.  Typically, Karla or I ask the blessing for the meal, but this week she asked her dad to pray. Arling’s Alzheimer’s doesn’t allow him to have too many meaningful conversations. His words aren’t always coherent. Real communication is more guessing what he might be saying and thinking than knowing what he is actually saying and thinking.  But at Sunday’s dinner, just like he has so many times in his past, when asked to pray, he had a conversation with our Heavenly Father.  Just like old times he prayed for protection, direction and peace. He prayed for God to help us and be with us. It was a beautiful prayer except he forgot to say “Amen.”  He just kept praying and praying, repeating his words while continuing to pray.  Eventually, more hungry than blessed, we finally helped him out and said, “Amen, let’s eat.”

Later I was reflecting on Arling’s prayer and concluded:  Maybe, just maybe, Arling didn’t “forget” to say “Amen.”  Maybe he just didn’t say it.  Maybe in his Alzheimer’s state, Arling is living in constant communion with the Father.  Maybe he’s in a fellowship with Jesus where no hellos or Amens are required. Just because he can’t communicate with us like he once did, that doesn’t mean that he has stopped communicating with the Father. Moreover, I’m convinced the Father is still conversing with him.

My father-in-law has lived his life serving Jesus. He can’t express his faith to us most days. But it’s still there. His communication with the Jesus is different now than in days gone by, but maybe it’s better without the clutter of this world’s chatter.  If you heard Sunday’s prayer, there would be no doubt of a sweet fellowship that is shared between Jesus and Arling.  Jesus words are true for Arling and all those who suffer, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20).

 

 

Offering the Benediction at Olivet Nazarene University’s Commencement

Nearly four years ago, in August 2013, we were on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University dropping off Ben and all his earthy possessions (minus a few old baseballs, video games and other assorted “treasures” still in our basement). We unloaded his belongings into a Chapman Hall first floor dorm room on a hot Friday evening. Sometime during that weekend, University President, Dr. John Bowling, told a room full of parents of freshmen that the next four years would pass in a blink of an eye and that we would gather in May, 2017 for graduation. At the moment, I thought it was college president speak for “time flies unless you don’t pay your tuition then time comes to a screeching halt and your scholar will be flipping burgers at Cheeseburgers-R-Us for the rest of his or her life.” But it wasn’t hyperbole.  The last four years have flown by and on Saturday morning I will join the throng of misty eyed parents, grandparents, and loved ones in the Betty and Kenneth Hawkins Centennial Chapel on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois as my youngest cherub walks across the stage and receives his college diploma.

A few weeks ago, Dr. Bowling’s assistant, Marjorie Vinson, contacted me to inquire if I would offer the benediction at the commencement ceremony.  I am so incredibly honored to do so. What began four years ago, on that hot August evening will end with my utterance of the final “Amen” on a cool Saturday morning in May.

Not wanting to melt into a blubbering puddle of pride and gratitude, I decided I had better write out the prayer.

Here it is:

Our loving Heavenly Father:

We have been so excited to celebrate with our sons and daughters on this day.  We thank you for them and for their achievements of which we are so very proud.

We thank you for Olivet’s faithful administrators, professors, and various personnel and we ask you to bless and keep them and may your light continue to shine upon them.

Lord, beginnings remind us that an ending will one day come.  And every ending promises a beginning.  Today is such a day.

May these graduates go forth with a passion that inspires us,

May your Word both comfort and challenge them,

May injustice trouble them,

May hope encourage them,

May servanthood define them.

May gratitude constantly be on their lips.

May they get things right from time to time.

And may they laugh when they don’t.

As they leave this remarkable place filled with friends and mentors, having been given knowledge and wisdom and dreams—  may they continue to ask the right questions, and may they give much more than they have ever received.

May they always look for the good, never glory in the wrong and trust you continually.

May these graduates on the threshold of so much promise and opportunity never confuse success with fame and wealth, but may they discover that true achievement lies in pleasing you and finding their God honoring places in our world.

May they go in peace. Act justly. Love mercy.  Speak truthfully. And walk humbly before you. 

May the love that overcomes all obstacles, that heals all wounds, that chases all fears, that brings courage to all who are burdened and heavy laden be found in them and us now and always.

May all of this occur in Jesus’ name,

  Amen

Parents, Dr. Bowling was right.  Time flies. It’s just a blink between sending them off on their first day of kindergarten and praying the benediction at their college commencement.  Enjoy each moment with your son or daughter and always keep them before our loving heavenly Father!

 

 

 

 

8 Reasons to Come Back to Church on the Sunday after Easter.

If you are more than a casual observer on the American church scene then you know the Sunday after Easter (aka “Black Sunday”) tends to have fewer people and even fewer tumbleweeds than your average old western ghost town.

Here are a few reasons to attend church on the Sunday after Easter.

1)  No parking problems. Park close to the door even without a handicap sticker.

2)  Sit in your own pew.  This is not a statement regarding the results of the lack of personal hygiene, but with fewer attendees you have your choice of seats in sanctuary and plenty of elbow room.

3)  No lines in the café for your coffee. No barista either.

4)  Passing of the Peace is called “Say Hi to the old guy up front.”

5)  Congregational Singing in the bulletin is listed as “Ensemble Practice.”

 6)  Half off tithing.  NOT TRUE!!!!

 7)  The Pastor can personalize the points to each person in attendance.  i.e. “…and Joe I think I heard you gossiping last week.  Stop it!”

8)  You just might have a Divine supernatural encounter.  Thomas showed up a week after Easter and he met the Resurrected Jesus (read all about it in John 20:24-30), you might too!  In fact, that’s our prayer—that you and Jesus will show up this week!

 

How to Invite Someone to Easter Services

 

Dress up like a giant Easter Egg, hide in your neighbors’ bushes and when they come out jump from your hiding place and yell: “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.  Which really bummed him out because he wasn’t able to attend Easter services at all.” (It’s kind of poetic and just might “crack” them up — bad pun intended).

Quote from memory John 18 and 19 (the section of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion) but not John 20 (the Resurrection account), then say to your friends: “If you want to hear the rest of the story you have to come to church on Sunday!”

Hide an Easter basket under the third pew on the center aisle (do not place a basket filled with candy under the first pew, I can’t promise it would still be there), then give your friend a treasure hunt type of map approximately 30 minutes before one of the services is to start and yell, “Go!”

Purchase a small airplane, take flying lessons and get a “Sky-writing-made-easy” kit then write in the sky above your neighbor’s house: “Come to church on Easter.”  (You might have had to start a little earlier than now to make this idea work).

(Speaking of airplanes) Take a lesson from United Airlines and drag your neighbors kicking and screaming to church.

Or simply say, “Hey friend, would you please join me at my church on Sunday for Easter services?”  You might be surprised at how many affirmative replies you receive.

Everyone you know needs to be in church on Easter!   So plan on getting as many friends and family to join you as possible.  There will not be a prize for the person who “fills the most pews with their friends and family,” but what a joy it is to worship the Resurrected Lord with the people you love!

 

There is no Holiness but Social Media holiness (Thank you John Wesley for the slightly modified quote).

Are holiness and social media compatible?  If holiness can be described as Christ-likeness, then how would Jesus have used (or not used) social media?  Jesus gathered millions of followers long before Twitter started limiting people to 140 characters. I just can’t imagine Jesus posting pictures of empty and then full wine jars at the wedding in Cana on his Instagram account.  Would Jesus have made a Facebook status like this one?  Fed a lot of people today.  Pete and the boys estimated the crowd at 5,000 men. #kidgaveuphislunch #belliesfullofbreadandfish Does anyone really think Jesus would have been obsessed with the number of “likes” he received from any social media outlet?

Would Jesus have used social media to cast cyber stones at people?  I know of a guy who loves using social media and blogs to point out the sins of pastors and others that he has determined behaved in a less than holy manner.  Of course, based on his slanderous, gossipy and “fake news” (read: lies) postings it’s a wonder he can even see his keyboard to type with the giant plank in his eye (see Jesus’ story in Matthew 7:3-5).  Unfortunately, that guy is not sitting alone in his pew.  I’ve seen hurtful, racist, insensitive, offensive, vulgar posts… all put there by church folks and people who have claimed to be following Christ.  There are days I wonder if to be truly sanctified doesn’t means “set apart for God purposes” but “set apart from social media.”

Hebrews 12:14 applies to social media too.  It reads:  Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.  I know a few Christians who apparently have never read that verse as evident by the way they exercise their social media self and post comments as if the author of Hebrews wrote: “Make every effort to make your point and be right; without correct politics no one will see the Lord.”

John Wesley wrote this tweet worthy post years ago:  There is no holiness but social holiness. He meant that our holiness should be reflected in the way we respond to poverty, hunger and other social issues.  I think if old John were tweeting today, he might add just one word to his famous quote and write: “There is no holiness but social media holiness.” If holiness matters and apparently it does (see the above Hebrews 12 reference to no one seeing the Lord without holiness), then holiness standards apply to our Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, Snapchat and Instagram postings too. Love should rule our social media content.  Purity should guide what we search for on the internet.

With much thanks to John Wesley’s quote, there is no Holiness but social media holiness.

Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and _________ Thursday.

Fat Tuesday was two days ago.  It is the day before the season of Lent begins.  On Tuesday I ate a Pazcki from Donna’s Donuts (a polish jelly donut—twice the fat, twice the calories, and twice the yumminess of a regular Donna’s donut). Fat Tuesday is supposed to be the end of our self-centered outlook on life.  Maybe we should call it FAT CHANCE TUESDAY.

Ash Wednesday was yesterday and is the first day in the season of Lent.  Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of a Christ-focused 40-day journey to Easter. Many people attend services where the imposition of ashes is to remind the worshippers of the words from Genesis 3:19:  “For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”

But for the Thursday following Ash Wednesday there is no special name.  So I will offer these choice describers for today:

WASH YOUR FOREHEAD THURSDAY

If you attended an Ash Wednesday Service, and haven’t washed your forehead yet you might be calling tomorrow FACIAL BLEMISH FRIDAY.  Wipe off the ashes but don’t wipe away the fasting commitments and sacrifices you have promised for the next 40 days.

FIND-A-BOOK-TO-READ-THROUGH-LENT THURSDAY

I am using Walter Brueggeman’s:  A Way Other Than Our Own.  My friend Jeren Rowell wrote: These Forty Days: A Lenten Devotional.  I will be using Dr. Jess Middendorf’s I Am for a Lenten Wednesday Night Bible Study (please join us starting March 8).  Any of these books would work great for your Lenten reading.

MAKE-A-REAL-LIFE SACRIFICE THURSDAY

Do you remember God’s words to the people during the prophet Amos’ day who were into showy worship and offering phony sacrifices to God while at the same time they were oppressing the poor?  So God bluntly told them:

“I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, 
I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.  But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream (Amos 5: 21-24)

The warning from Amos applied to to the first Thursday in Lent is this:  Don’t just fast candy or coffee during Lent so you can tell your friends what a wonderful Christian you are because you gave up chocolate for seven weeks. Care for the poor. Give to the needy.  Help a widow or orphan.   I wonder if Jesus would look at our “sacrifice” and say: “Chocolate?  Seriously? I don’t want you to give up Nestle bars, I want you to give up YOU!”  Paul wrote what I am talking about this way: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

The bottom line is this: let today (and every day) be known as I’M-GIVING-MY-ALL-TO- JESUS THURSDAY!  It might not be as catchy of a title as “FAT Tuesday” or “ASH Wednesday” but I think Jesus might like it even better.