"What Were They Thinking?"

October 13, 2006
 

And it came to pass, in October 2005, the year of our Lord, that Disciples from all over Northern California-Nevada gathered in that sacred place of Mission de Oro to wait on the Word of the Lord.

Led by Saint Rick Morse, from the East (Indianapolis), an apostle of new church planting, these brothers and sisters were seeking to be edified in spreading the Good News of God's love and grace through Jesus Christ. They studied The Word, and sang songs of praise and prayed for God's guidance in answering a BIG question of faith..."How many new fellowships of worship and service can we plant?"

Brother Ben, a traveling missionary who only been in the community less than a year had been praying fervently, "O God, embolden these saints to trust your power enough to say 15...1 new community of faith a year for 15 years!"

And then, a mighty Wind swept through the room, and a fire of boldness ignited in the hearts and minds of the assembled saints. From all around the room, they began to speak in languages everyone understood, but no one could believe- 40...45...60...came the answers. And then, as in a unity of souls, a mighty chorus broke forth- AT LEAST 40...THREE A YEAR!!

Saint Rick smiled in exuberance. Shouts of AMEN and HALLELUJAH were heard as songs of harmony filled the air, bread was broken and wine poured and there was great rejoicing!

Brother Ben stepped outside and looking up at the heavens, shouted, 'WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?"

And that's the way it happened...almost! But the part about my great hope the group would suggest 15 new churches and believing that was a very worthy goal and the group choosing 3 a year, at least 40 is all true!! I tell you, I was shocked and horrified! I know the talk around the region since then...WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? This is not possible! This is far beyond reality! This is not a vision, it's a fantasy!

So, what I write now may be pretty bad theology to some, but as I have grappled with the concept of this incredible goal for new churches...at least 40...I have imagined this conversation with God:

Ben: Oh, my God, what were they thinking?
GOD: Well, Ben, if they had chosen 15 new churches in 15 years, I would have thought that was great. But I also would have thought that they can pretty much do that on their own. They don't really need me.

Ben: Well, God, we would work hard, but we would always need your strength and Presence.
GOD: Oh, Ben, just like Jesus disciples, don't you get it? 15 churches is easily doable when you put your best effort into it. But 40 churches...NOW THAT IS BEYOND YOU...BUT IT'S NOT BEYOND YOU AND ME TOGETHER!! With a goal of 40 churches, you really do need me. You need to trust me. You need to believe in my empowerment. You need to have faith in one another and you need to work closely together. You need to work harder than you ever thought you could but at the same time, you have to be bold in the strength and hope I will give you.

And it came to pass, Brother Ben got it!
A goal bigger than our best PLUS hard work PLUS boldness PLUS partnership PLUS trust in God EQUALS miracles!

And so, we gather next week-end at that sacred place, Mission do Oro. We gather as Disciple brothers and sisters...to sing and pray and plan:
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
Send your Mighty Wind to blow away our doubts, our self-reliance, our 21st century ego.
Ignite again the fires of faith and hope.
Unite us in boldness and passion for sharing the Good News of your love and grace.
May we depart, not with the words...WHAT WERE WE THINKING...
May we depart with the words...WE GET IT!!

(By the way, have you sent in your registration for the New Church Summit II yet? There's a Pentecost experience waiting for you).

Ben Bohren 
Regional Minister and President

Claim the "Better View"

September 29, 2006
Scripture: Luke 19:1-10
 

I was struck by two items that came across the Internet to me today that, while from different correspondents, remarkably dove-tailed. One was the Upper Room Devotional for the day and the other was from a long-time friend who passed an article on to me as a newsy note.

Of course, we are all familiar with Zacchaeus, who, if nothing else, appealed to our memories of childhood when trees were a thing to climb for a better view. When Jesus called Zacchaeus down from the tree, he had a special mission, a better view, for him as well and that mission was to prepare his home for Jesus? visit. He was wary of Jesus? call!

The article that appeared in the English newspaper, the ?Telegraph? spoke of the world?s ?top? math genius Greigory Perelman, who had solved the Poincare Conjecture, a century-old puzzle that had defied solution until his efforts. Living on a subsistence pension in St. Petersburg, Russia, he declined to accept a $1 million prize offered by the Clay Mathematics Institute in Cambridge, MA. He believes he is untalented and unworthy!

The two articles got me to thinking about placing myself in either man?s shoes. Tree-climbing is not for me! I will never solve a mathematical puzzle! One man wanted to get a better view of Jesus. The other wanted to gain a better view of the universe, its shapes, spaces and surfaces.

What is my view of the world in which I live? If I want to get a better view of Jesus, or of the world around me and how the two relate, I must be open to new experiences and insights. The personal gospel of Jesus and the intuitions from my experiences create new opportunities, daily, for me to know Him better and to claim my ?better view,? to throw away my fears, dispel my wariness and to celebrate my worthiness and talent.

Rev. Cliff Cole

Assistant Regional Minister of Placement, Training and Care

Reconciliation Sunday: September 24 and October 1

September 20, 2006

Marian Anderson once said, "No matter how big a nation is, it is no stronger than its weakest people, and as long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you might otherwise."

Anderson lived that experience. One of the world's greatest contraltos, Marian Anderson was not allowed to sing at a concert for the Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington, DC before an integrated audience in 1939, because she was African-American. The dignity of a people was harmed that night, but so were the souls of the entire audience - Anderson's voice was such that no one could hear her sing without feeling touched by God. (Ultimately, Eleanor Roosevelt left the Daughters of the American Revolution over the furor, and that same year she sang a concert at Lincoln Memorial which remains one of the most notable musical events in our nation's history.)

A lot of Christians are uncomfortable with the fact that the apostle Paul called us all servants (or even slaves) to God. (Romans 6:16-23) For some of us, though, Paul offers us a profound comfort: when we are servants to God, servants to righteousness, we are not servants to anyone else. We are not less than anyone else, no matter what we experience on television, in department stores, in the hiring process or on the street. In the midst of a hard word in the scriptures, we find a word of liberation. In being servants to God, we are liberated from the bondage that systemic racism tries to place on us - we are liberated from the sin of racism!

Some folks admirably try to stand outside of the system of racism, treating people as equals to the best of their ability. But Marian Anderson named a tragic truth - when systems in the world try to hold people down, everyone is pulled down. And the people who desire to stand to the sides end up being weighed down by systems they do not want to participate in, despite their best desires.

There are ways to help everyone stand straight, and perhaps even soar. It happens through relationship, but it also happens when we start talking about the ways people are made to feel less than one another, and when we create ways for people to experience the equality that Jesus calls us to. The region's reconciliation committee has worked to create opportunities to help us all soar. It is my hope and conviction that we will continue to support this work with prayer, involvement and financial stewardship. May we seek God's vision so that we may all be equal in Christ.

Sandhya Jha
Minister of Transformation

Holy Manners for the Church, Please!
September 13, 2006

I've got something sticking in my "craw" that's been working its way to the top for quite some time now. When I got to the recent college of regional ministers gathering in Indianapolis and got with a few special friends in that group, it just came out:

Is there something in the water these days that makes Christians believe it's OK to say cruel things, act in cruel ways, or treat their minister or other church members like dogs?

There I said it and I'm glad! They looked at me stunned and then one after another they began to nod their heads in understanding. I soon learned this kind of behavior is taking place in churches all across the country - not just Disciples churches either. And we all know it is taking place in school board meetings and condo association meetings and Little League and Girl Scouts. But I do have to wonder, shouldn't the church be different?

Here's what I'm talking about:

-A board member disagrees with something a pastor said or did and sends an e-mail out to the whole church downgrading the pastor and inferring he/she needs to be fired.

-A church leader is so upset with something another leader did he/she goes to that persons work and berates him/her in front of colleagues.

-Two members disagree about an ethical issue and as the dispute grows, the key effort of both becomes character assassination; half truths and outright lies are spread everywhere.

-In the middle of a committee meeting two members begin to argue and the one starts shouting and yelling and walks out.

-When the worship service gets slightly altered, one key family in the church makes it clear that either things go back to normal or they are leaving...and taking their money with them.

-After a very hard but honest struggle to make a difficult decision, the board meeting ends. Early the next morning a board member already has an e-mail out to everyone expressing that the wrong decision was made.

And I could go on and on and on and on�believe me, I could. The new rule in the church seems to be: I will prove that I am right, no matter what I need to say or do. I will advance my personal power no matter who I hurt or what overall damage is done to the church. I will get my way no matter what it takes or who it takes down.

Dear Disciples friends:

LET'S STOP THIS AFFRONT TO GOD!

CAN ANYONE BELIEVE THAT THIS IS THE WAY OF JESUS CHRIST?

ISN'T IT TIME THAT THE FAMILY OF FAITH NO LONGER SITS QUIETLY WHEN SUCH VENOMOUS AND VICIOUS BEHAVIOR HAPPENS?

Do not misunderstand that I think that differences of opinion and faith should not happen.

Nor do I believe that conflict will not arise in the family of God? Read about the early church in the Acts of the Apostles. This is nothing new.

What breaks my heart is that so many people outside the church look at the way church folks treat each other; they see our behavior toward one another and they say, "Why would I want to be part of a group like that?" So our example of "speaking the truth IN LOVE" and of "loving your neighbor as yourself," obviously means little to us and sends people running away from the fellowship of faith.

What breaks my heart is that our teenagers and our children see such behavior and either think it is OK or they resolve right then and there that when old enough, they will get away from the church far, far away.

What breaks my heart is that persons within the Body of Christ who are already wounded by other places and situations in their lives come to the church for healing and wholeness and experience the same kind of nastiness and abuse they did elsewhere. They leave quietly wondering where the grace of God went?

I urge our pastors and our church leaders to get hold of a copy of "Holy Manners for the Church"; a standard for behavior and relationships that the regional staff seeks to live by and offers to congregations for their use. Call our office for a copy. We hope to get it on the website as soon as possible.

I also call all of us to re-read a piece of scripture. I offer it here in the "The Message" version: James 3:5-10 (selected verses). What a powerful statement! I've inserted a word or two to bring it into the 21st century.

A word out of your mouth (or computer) may seem of no account, but
it can accomplish nearly anything-or destroy it! It only takes a spark,
remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out
of your mouth can do that. (So can e-mails sent in haste and anger). By our
speech, we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a
reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it,
smoke right from the pit of hell. This is scary. With our tongues we bless
God our Maker; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women
God made in God's image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!
My friends, this can't go on!

That discussion with my regional minister colleagues gave me the courage to write this devotional. It comes from a concerned and sad heart but also a hopeful heart. I pray for the day when Disciples of Christ in Northern California-Nevada will be more committed to right relationships than someone being right. Jesus said it best, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, that you love one another." (John 13:35)

Ben Bohren 
Regional Minister and President