Methodist Corner

Testing BlogJet

Allen — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:42:40 +0000

I am in the process of evaluating different desktop blogging applications. What program do you use to update your blog?

I have installed – BlogJet. Get your copy here: http://blogjet.com

“Computers are incredibly fast, accurate and stupid; humans are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant; together they are powerful beyond imagination.” — Albert Einstein

Test Post

Allen — Tue, 08 May 2012 01:30:06 +0000

This is just a test post.

Disturbed By Statistics

Allen — Tue, 08 May 2012 00:56:01 +0000

I heard somewhere recently that only seven percent of millennials are self-described Christians. That means that we are in danger of losing an entire generation. If being a disciple of Jesus is as wonderful as we say it is, then why are so many rejecting our claims? Some will say that it is just a sign of the times and that this is only the beginning of the “great falling away.” Frankly, I just don’t buy that. I think that we have so distorted the image of Jesus with our pettiness, in-fighting, bickering, etc. that those on the outside looking in will have nothing to do with us. So the question is, what do we do now?

I’ve Been Hacked

Allen — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:38:25 +0000

Okay… this is really getting to be a bit annoying. I manage 4 different sites and 3 of them have been hacked in the last week. One good thing has come from all this… I’ve learned a lot about website … Continue reading →

Identity Crisis

Allen — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 05:08:02 +0000

So, you might have noticed that I’ve been really quite for the last couple of years; only two or three blog posts a year. Yeah, I know, that’s not very many. So what’s the point of keeping it active? Good question! There was a time when I loved to write. I could write about anything that was on my mind and feel like I has said something. Maybe not something profound, but… something. When I finished seminary it was like that part of my brain just shut off. I write when it’s necessary, but never just for the pure enjoyment of writing. Maybe it’s time for that to change. I’d like to start writing again, but I just don’t know where to start. And it seems like my blog is going through something of an identity crisis. I’m just not sure what it’s supposed to be. Is it a place for me to say what’s on my mind or is there something else that would better serve the readers? If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

For Your Critics

Allen — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 06:15:51 +0000

I don’t know you,

but I know

what you need to say.

How to say

what you must say.

I said it better.

Said it before.

Say it like me.

Say it with me.

Or don’t say it at all.

I’ll say It.

With you

or without you

never like you.

It’s mine to say.

If I don’t say It

no one will.

You say your It,

I’ll say mine.

For my lonely ears

or the ears of others.

Makes no difference

Book Review: Radical by David Platt

Allen — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 06:19:28 +0000

What would it look like if a person were to forsake their pursuit of the American Dream and instead live their lives as a radical disciple of Jesus? The question assumes that the two are mutually exclusive. In his book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream, David Platt suggests just that. The American Dream has become for many a pursuit of bigger and better stuff. Platt challenges us to re-examine our faith and ask the serious questions that, while uncomfortable, force us to take seriously the radical call of Jesus to forsake all in order to follow him. This is a must read book for anyone looking to move from a superficial feel-good faith to one that is life altering. If you are looking for some light reading to pass the time, look elsewhere, but if you want something that will press you to move outside your comfort zone and stir you to action, then look no further.

Note: I received this book from the publisher as part of a blogger review program. The opinions expressed are my own.

Pastor, I Need to Find God

Allen — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:27:17 +0000

“Pastor, I need to find God,” is a statement that is made often in one form or another. It is often stated after a person experiences a crisis and finds they are unable to cope with the situation they are in. The weight of the world seems to be pressing in on them threatening to smother their very life from their bodies. Sometimes it is stated after a person experiences disappointment or rejection, especially in a religious setting. When people we trust fail to live up to our expectations, it sometimes leaves us questioning God’s ability to work in our lives. Other times it is the result of a spiritual valley we are going through. It is a common occurrence for us to think God is far from us when things just don’t seem to be going right. And in those moments when we recognize that something in our life is out of place, whether we can identify it or not, our response as people of faith is often, “where is God?”

In Luke 19:10, Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” If that is true, why would anyone ever feel “lost”? Did Jesus fail his mission? Is this simply about a one-time salvific event in the life of the believer? Or does “being lost” say more about our willingness to be found, than it does about God’s ability to find us.
The truly lost, those who have not had a conversion experience, but who genuinely seek God, seem to have no trouble “finding God.” In the moment when they reach that crisis of faith and they experience an overwhelming need for God, God is there. The stories told as a result of these experiences are often amazing. So, it is the believer, who after months or even years of living the faith and now find themselves seemingly far from God, that often require our best effort as pastoral-care-givers.

One of the most beneficial things I have done for my congregation is to work intently with them in the area of spiritual growth. My idea of spiritual growth has always been to grow in knowledge about God, to challenge my own presuppositions, and to discover God’s grace in new and exciting ways that leads to an active faith and ultimately a more intimate relationship with God. Spiritual growth allows us to explore those areas of theology with which we may be struggling, helps us to rediscover ways in which to express and live out our faith in a way that is relative to our society, and helps us to gain new perspectives on our lives as Christians. The opportunity to study, struggle, and grow with fellow seekers who share a commitment to the quest for an intimate relationship with God that makes a difference in our lives each moment is invaluable.

So, maybe one of the best things we as pastoral-care-givers can do is to help people to evaluate not only the places they are looking for God, but what they expect to find there. Is their image of God one that is faithful to the Biblical witness? Do the historical teachings of the church have something to offer a person seeking God? If a person doesn’t know who it is they are looking for, then it becomes increasingly unlikely that they will find who or what they seek. In his book, Taking on the Gods: The Task of the Pastoral Counselor, Merle R. Jordan says…

Confronting those psychic structures, forces, and images which masquerade as God; bringing love, faith, and hope into the lives of persons; and being an extension ministry of Jesus Christ walking in the hells of human existence are all ways of expressing the true evangelistic purposes of pastoral counseling.

First we listen to their stories and help to unearth the hidden theology that shapes their understanding of who’s they are. Then we carefully help them to find the one true God who will fill the God shaped hole in their lives. Not an easy task at all…but worth every effort.

Book Review: The Pastor As Minor Poet

Allen — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 19:38:26 +0000

Where does a pastor’s voice come from? Not just the voice you hear on Sunday mornings, but the voice necessary to speak healing into our broken world. In his book, The Pastor As Minor Poet: Texts and Subtexts in the Ministerial Life, M. Craig Barnes delves into the complexities of the pastoral vocation and offers an assessment that goes beyond the practical tools that you often find in popular books today. Instead he offers us the image of “pastor as minor poet” as a way to re-imagine the role of pastor. Are we seeking to find the next best marketing technique to “grow” our churches, or are we more interested in something that will make a lasting difference in people’s lives – namely “pointing to the true image of God ‘in whom we live and move and have our being’”? As poets we “knock on the door of the ordinary” and find amazing miracles. Barnes says that “the poet stands in the midst of a world that has grown jaded with reality and speaks in such a way as to open the doors into the Kingdom of Truth.” If you are looking for a step-by-step guide on how to be a pastor, look somewhere else. If, however, you are seeking a book that will help you to probe the deeper meaning of your pastoral call, then this book is for you.

Ordination Question 16

Allen — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 02:30:32 +0000

16. Explain the role and significance of the sacraments in the ministry to which you have been called.

Article VI of The Confession of Faith states, “We believe the Sacraments, ordained by Christ, are symbols and pledges of the Christian’s profession and of God’s love toward us. They are means of grace by which God works invisibly in us, quickening, strengthening, and confirming our faith in him.” The sacraments are more than just ways we express our faith and remember God’s grace, they are “means of grace”; they are ways in which we live our faith and experience God’s grace. God takes simple, very earthy elements of bread, wine, and water, and creates for us a way in which we can experience God’s grace in real and memorable ways. These physical reminders, symbols of God’s creative power, become for us vehicles of the divine presence.

I have a high view of the sacraments and they are integral to my work as a pastor. We humans need something that we can experience – see, touch, taste, smell, hear – to draw us into the presence of God. The smell of the bread, taste of the wine, and sound of the pouring water are experiences that connect us to our Creator. However, the sacraments go beyond that, to the level of mystery, where God mysteriously becomes entirely present with us, in us, and through us. As I recognize the sacraments as the mediated presence of God’s divine grace, they become for me a means to draw together the diverse community that gathers around the font and table. In no other experience are we truly “one” the way we are when we observe the sacraments.

When we meet another person at the font or at the table, gone are the barriers that would separate us. At this sacred moment we live the vision of the Christian community that takes seriously the affirmation by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians. “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). The sacraments open to us a world without barriers, a world without divisions, a world united by the living Christ; and draws us beyond any barrier that would separate us from God.

As a United Methodist, I affirm and support the understanding of the sacraments as explained in the documents “By Water and the Spirit” and “This Holy Mystery.” As one who is called to the ministry of ordained elder, I take very seriously the administration of the sacraments. I consider it a sacred trust and privilege that God would allow me to be an instrument of God’s divine service in and to the body of Christ through sacramental authority. But it is also humbling as I reflect on how God uses an imperfect vessel like me to share the bounty of God’s grace. It is the mystery of the sacraments – God comes to us imperfect creatures through simple physical means and offers the gift of perfect union with God in a mysterious and miraculous way.