So I started this article. It was a great one about how we live life and then comparing it with how we approach our relation to church. It was a great article. Most of it wasn’t even my stuff as I got it from an e-mail.

As you can tell this is not the same article. Something bad, I might say even evil, happened. First, the computer would only post a part of the article. We tried over and over again to get it right. It just kept posting only about a half of it.

So then we tried saving the whole things then erasing what we had posted and starting over. So we pasted  the information but it still wouldn’t work but this time a different amount of material was lost.

So we sent it via e-mail and let Jessica try it on her computer. So far the e-mail is still out there in cyberspace somewhere.  So much for that. So we decided to just print the whole thing and let Jessica type it straight into her computer. Ummm, well it seems it’s erased.

Now I have two conclusions to make. First of all, like many of you I find the computer and all this Internet stuff to be confusing, complicated and frustrating at times. Secondly maybe it  was a good article and maybe satan just didn’t want you to see it. You know it can happen.

 Peace and Grace. Reed

While we have undergone the 5 Practices here at our church, we have a great chance to hear Bishp Schnase himself present the 5 Practices in our area. On Nov. 14 He will be at First U.M.C. in Mansfield. We have the borchures in the office if you are interested in attending and you can go on line at www.ctcumc.org and follow the directions to leard more.

Hope you can all plan on going.

This week we will begin to take up the prophets. I am not going to get into the division of the books yet because I want to give you an underpinning for the nature of and the work of the prophets.

To begin with, they were servants of God. To them, idolatry was the ultimate sin against God and the reason for the demise of the Hebrew civilization. They were messengers raised up by God to deliver sometimes harsh and not always terribly uplifting messages. Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha were prophets in the Old Testament but were mentioned in books not titled in their name. The books of the Prophets normally begins with Isaiah and concludes with Malachi.

 They are divided into two main groups: The major prophets and the minor prophets. The major prophets were Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. The rest with the exception of the book of Jonah were called Minor Prophets. I tend to exclude Jonah because it is the journey of faith of not only the people but of Jonah’s struggle and epiphany as well.

Now don’t get too excited about the designation of Major and Minor Prophets. It has nothing to do with their importance or work. It has to do with the amount of material only. The Major prophets simply talked and wrote more.

 A prophet had two very distinct roles. The first was to take the word of God and bring it to the people. Their pronouncements often began with something to the effect of “Thus siatheth the Lord…” and what followed was usually direct and to the point. They didn’t pull many punches with the exception of Ezekiel who really did some strange things to catch the attention of the folks. Later on that when we come around the second time through and get into his book with more depth.

Let me give you an modern example of what it was like to be around a prophet. Let’s say you invited one to dinner. At the table you spill the salt. The prophet would then exclaim, “Thus saith the Lord, you are a vile people and I intend to scatter you one the earth like the salt on the table because you have lost your usefulness you useless generation.” “Oh and by the way, pass the gravy.”

Not a real good way to make friends and influence people. In fact several of the prophets tried to talk God out of calling them to the job without much luck. In this case, you can see this easily in Jeremiah 1:6 “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” To which God replies, “do not say, I am a youth, for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and what ever I command your, you shall speak.” Notice there are not too many options here.

So they lived in total servant-hood and a somewhat lonely life as friends a family began to not invite them over to dinner as often unless they hid the salt shaker.

The second job of the prophet was to take the needs of the people to God. Occasionally they would say “God, I think You’re being just a little too harsh here. How about giving them a break?” Imagine telling God He might be a bit too arbitrary and God saying back, “O.K. you have a point there.”

Oh and  by the way, one job of the prophets was not to predict the future like a tarot card reader. Their work was in for the people in their day and time. They did not predict things for this day and age with this one exception: they spoke universal truths that were true for every nation and every age and generation. Some have stretched a bit too far on looking for them to stir the tea leaves and give us predictions for today. For that, we need to look for prophets the God raises up for this age and generation. They do exist.

I want to encourage you to read up a bit on the prophets. Take one you like and read some of his works. I like Ezekiel myself but then again he was a bit weird himself. Next week, we will go a bit more into the work of a couple of the prophets.

Some elementary school children were asked a simple question. Why did Cod make mothers? Here are some of their answers.

She’s the only one who knows where the Scotch tape is.

Mostly to clean the house.

To help us out of there when we were getting born.

The they were asked how did God make mothers?

He used dirt just like the rest of us.

Magic plus superpowers and a lot of stirring.

God made her just like He made me only with bigger parts.

When asked what ingredients are mothers made of they said:

Clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world with just a dab of mean.

The had to get their start from men’s bones. These were used for stirring mostly.

Finally, why did God give you your mother and not some other mother.

We’re related.

God knew she likes me a lot more than other people’s moms like me.

There were from Peg Beukema in Nyack, New York as found in 1001 Illustrations.

While I know it it not Mother’s day, just how would you answer? Forget the the known answers and give the real ones you have in your heart. I would ask the same about dads but I really am afraid of the answers! Just be thankful for both in your life.

Peace and Grace. Reed.

The next four books for you to begin to study are Job, the Psalms. Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes Of these, Psalms are a combination of wisdom and other elements that we will break out later but for now, let’s just go ahead and throw them in with the rest. This is a lot of reading and I don’t expect you to get through it all but at least start to become familiar with the writings.

Job is actually a play that could easily be acted out. It is the story of a man attacked by Satan with God’s blessing and loses every thing. His three friends keep insisting Job has done something to deserve his plight. Actually, he hasn’t. Finally towards the end, Job gets to see God face to face and asks God why all this happened.

God has two long monologues but the basic conclusion is that He does it, well, because He is God and simply can. While this is an uncomfortable thought for the reader, it is the message of the story and how by realizing this reality allows us to accept God  authority and eventual restoration by God.

The Psalms are actually poems that were sung in worship. The authors are many but the vast majority are attributed to David. However, scholarship has established that many of these were written by others and perhaps given to David as a gift. There are several “bunches” that you can easily recognize. Among these are Psalms of thanksgiving, laments, etc. Of these the one that is most easily recognized is the 23rd. Psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd…” This one is most often associated with death and used at funerals but is you read it carefully, it is not a lament of death but a song of life. The book itself is divided into 5 books. While these books are joined together into the entire book of Psalms, there is not a clear reason as to why they are divided as they are. It may simply have to do with the Scrolls. The books of Psalms are: Book I: 1-41. Book II 42-72. Book III 73-89. Book IV 90-106 and Book V 107 -150.

Read at least two of them but make sure they are different just so you can get a flavor for the rest.

 Proverbs are an entirely different style of literature. These are daily sayings that are full of sound advice and authority. The teach us the value of life and the value of having a right relationship with God.  There are 31 of them. You can read one of the Proverbs everyday to begin your morning. Even after you read them through, you can start again because you will find something in each that you didn’t notice before. The great thing is that you can read the first one on the first day of the month and the second on the second, etc. Even if you forget, you can just look at the date and know which one to read that day.

 Finally for the week there is Ecclesiastes. It is solemn even somber text. It deals with the vanilty of our lives and the utter hopelessness of our existence apart from God. However through out the book there is this overriding understanding that while all is vain, with God everything becomes worthwhile.

Early on in the third chapter is one of most explanations of life and a wonderful poem. I encourage you to read it. You have heard it before. It begins with these marvelous words: “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die.” It points out the contrast within our living. It helps us to remember that when we have bad days there are good days to counter balance them. It also reminds us to not get too cocky about the good ones as there will follow the balancing bad ones at some point.

Enjoy familiarizing yourself with these wonderful books. Just remember there is a lot of reading if you choose to try an pour through it all. If you only read a part, do look at what I have suggested as a way to get started.

Bless.

Reed

Once a professor give out the assignments for the semester which included three papers due on the last day of the month. When the first paper came due, 25 of the students didn’t have theirs ready. They pleaded their case and the professor relented. The second paper came due. This time 50 of the students didn’t turn theirs in. Again, they pleaded for mercy and again the professor relented.

When the final paper came due, 100 of the students didn’t turn in their papers. Again they pleaded for mercy but this time they were all flunked not only for the paper but for the entire class. Pleading this was unfair, the professor pointed out that mercy was his to grant or deny and not theirs to assume.

Pretty good lesson in the long run. 

You see, God grants us mercy all the time and can choose to grant it more than once or deny as He chooses. While we may complain or feel God in not just or right given His pattern of granting us mercy more than once, still He gives us plenty of chances to repent and change before His judgement is final.

The real issue here is not whether or not He is merciful but whether or not we can learn from our mistakes and take responsibility for our lives. We want to blame others, plead for mercy or deny responsibility. We see it all too often in our world but even more sadly in our own lives.

It makes one wonder, are we really learning our lessons or not?

Gotta go. I have a paper to write.

Peace and grace. Reed.

This week we will deal with Ezra and Nehemiah. After Cyrus let the Jews return home the face the problem of identity. After all, how could God allow this to happen to His chosen people? How could a powerless people be the true nation of God? If their faith led to heaven, what about other faiths, particularly those who’s God made them more powerful on earth?

In the book of Ezra, you find that the people are led to a new understanding of themselves and their role in God’s plans. They were to return to what they were chosen to be, not a nation in the traditional sense but a nation of priests and followers of God in the world. Their nation was not to be based upon the law but rather the law of God. It was a call to return to their roots.

nehemiah takes up the cause in his book. He began as the cup-bearer of the Persia. After being appointed as Governor of Judah, Nehemiah over saw the rebuilding of Jerusalem. However, because of the apathy of the people and their understanding that the nation needn’s concern itself with a traditional capital, the people were reluctant to do so. However, Nehemiah convinces them to do so.

His purpose was the same as Ezra, to create a holy nation. As a result, you will often read some scholars and talking about Ezra-Nehemiah almost as if they were one and the same. The difference is that Nehemiah goes on to make the case that spiritual rebuilding and rebuilding the kingdom of God in Jerusalem were one and the same.

The  people needed to have an identity even if it was a new identity. By building a new wall it was actually seen as a commitment to wall of the nation so that the people would be re-committed to taking up the old law or more commonly the 10 commandments.

 Two things to consider when reading both these books as well as the books that lead up to them is that the nation of Israel was to be a special nation relying on God and following the law. When they became a nation like all others, they soon lost sight of the fact that they were not supposed to be like other nations but to be a Holy people. When they lost their nation they had a double crises.

You see, losing your nation is a monumental loss. Losing the feeling that your God was not the supreme God created a crises that was even more devastating.

Ezra and Nehemiah sought to first restore the feeling that they were God’s chosen and the their suffering was in fact because they were disobedient. The second task was to re-establish the nation not as other nations but a holy and therefore unique nation.

 Hope you gain insight of how whenever a nation or people lose sight of who they are, they will lose much more. After all there are worse things than losing one’s nation. Try losing one’s God. It’s enough to give anyone a true identity crises.

Wednesday nights are busy nights at FUMC and September 9 was no exception.  Choir practice and youth activities occurred after TNT.  September 9 was the first night of the new school year for Terrific Nights Together, our weekly fellowship meal, and a nice crowd enjoyed the spaghetti, salad, bread, and desserts (especially the ice cream).  The Women’s Bible Group also began a new study.  Following the meal, the Faith Builders’ team met to plan the next project for October 17.  Faith Builders will be working on their 2nd project of basic repairs on homes for people who may need some help.  Following are some pictures from the evening:

Growing up we would play at what we wanted to do. At first it might be a cowboy or cowgirl. Later, as the world changed, we probably thought about becoming  an astronaut. Somewhere mixed in was a doctor or nurse or some other vocation that appealed to us.

Somewhere along the way many of us ended up doing something we never thought that much about or really planned for in the beginning. I would dare say that if asked, many of us might admit we really want to be doing something other than what we are doing. I would like to give you a different thought.

You just may be doing what God intended for you all along.

God may have enough astronauts but not enough of something else. I am reluctant to name a vocation least anyone think I feel what you do is less than another job. You see all jobs are worthy and worthwhile.

Here is a very short but true story. A university president reached the mandatory retirement age. His last act was to hire himself as a janitor at the same university. You see, there was no retirement age for janitors. You might think that going from the president to janitor was a real let down. As he explained it, “All work is worthy and there is not that much difference between one job and another so long as you give it your best and glorify God as you do so.”

So, happy labor day and may God bless you in what He has helped you to do. Be sure to give Him praise in whatever you do.

Peace and Grace. Reed.

P.S. Be sure to remember the families of the 9-II attacks this week.

The Sunday Scholars Sunday School Class is currently studying the book of I Corinthians. All that is really needed to participate in the study is a Bible.  Members of the class have found that Bible commentaries are useful in getting a better understanding of the subject matter. In particular, the commentaries of William Barclay and Ray C. Stedman have been very helpful. The Internet has many resources on scripture and has often been a reference for a different point of view.

The class is composed of singles, and couples in the fifty year old and above age group, but enthusiastically welcomes all ages who want to seriously study the Bible. It is taught in a style that facillitates discussion and is not a lecture class.  

The Sunday Scholars are a very active group that participate in church leadership and activities. The class gives a nursing scholarship three times a year to a deserving vocational nursing student at Hill College, donations to Methodist Home in Waco for youth needing school supplies and Christmas gifts, money for the Junior High Sunday School Class mission projects, and sponsors a prison inmate for Karios once a year. The class has produced the Valentine Banquet for the last eight years, and has headed up garage sales, the Pumkin Patch, and other activities.

You are invited to participate each Sunday at 10:00 in the meeting room just across the hall from the south entrance to the Sanctuary.