And God Said No. . . .

In my sermon on Learning to Pray last week, I read a short poem that I'm adding to the blog today since a few people have asked for copies.

It's actually an untitled poem that appeared unattributed on a pull-out poster in With magazine a number of years ago.  It's been sitting in my files unused for quite a while, until it seemed to fit so well in last Sunday's sermon.  I don't totally agree with every detail (esp the part about growing, since I don't think anything--whether carrot or human being--actually grows on its own apart from God's sustaining power and life-giving energy), but it's thought-provoking and a lot of it rings true, so here it is:

I prayed to God to take away my pride.
And God said, “No.
It isn’t for me to take away—it’s for you to give up.”
I prayed to God to grant me patience.
And God said, “No.
Patience is a by-product of tribulations—it isn’t granted, it’s earned.”
I prayed to God to give me happiness.
And God said, “No.
I give you blessings—happiness is up to you.”
I prayed to God to make my spirit grow.
And God said, “No.
You must grow on your own, but I will prune you and make you fruitful.”
I prayed to God for all things, that I might enjoy life. And God said, “No. I will give you life so you may enjoy all things.”
I prayed to God to help me love others as much as God loves me.
And God said, “Ahhhh! Finally, you have the idea!” 

May 21, 2010 at 10:02 AM

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Bulletin Bloopers

Every so often someone sends me some funny bulletin bloopers that have actually appeared in church bulletins over the years. e.g., The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled due to a conflict.

Or, Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get. Or, Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.

This week when I returned to the church office, I realized that there had been a bulletin blooper of our own.  The bulletin looked fine, but if you actually read it, you may have noticed that all of the prayer requests were the same as the previous week!  And there were a number of announcements about our Volleyball group, Childsafe, etc. that simply didn't make it in.

I hasten to add that none of this was the fault of our very competent church secretary who was unfortunately off sick on Thursday and Friday--and since I was already on my way to Victoria on the Friday as well, I wasn't able to look over the bulletin as usual before it was printed, so our temporary office help went ahead on her own as best she could and somehow skipped over all of my new announcements.

Fortunately though, Roberta is back in the office now and so am I, so stay tuned, and you'll see those announcements this coming Sunday!

May 11, 2010 at 4:09 PM

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A Day of Inspiration

I found last Saturday's Inspirational Day exactly that--an inspiration! As I mentioned to someone as I signed in that afternoon, as much as I love worship planning and speaking and leading, it also feels like a luxury for me to take part in something that I wasn't leading or planning for a change. Thank you to all those responsible for the excellent day!

Some of the things that inspired me:

- the obvious effort on the part of the planning committee to include women of all ages and ethnic backgrounds

- the memorial time for women who had passed on since the last Women's Inspirational Day that was such a fitting way of honouring their memory and legacy - although I knew very few of the women personally, it was still a very moving and meaningful time

- the personal stories shared by three of our women who reflected on their own experience in light of the experience of women in the Bible - although I knew each of their stories, I heard them in a fresh way as they related them to Scripture, and was struck again by God's leading in their lives that left many of us in tears

- wonderful worship leading, preaching, music, food, fellowship - what a wonderfully gifted group of women there are in Mennonite Church BC!

The next MCBC Women's Ministry event is the fall retreat October 15-17 at Camp Squeah - Feather Janz will be the guest speaker, and incidentally, she was a student of mine when I taught at Columbia Bible College years ago!  The next MCBC Women's Inspirational Day is Saturday, April 30, 2011.  If last Saturday was any indication, we can all start planning now to be inspired :-)

May 4, 2010 at 4:31 PM

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We have a dream

Last Sunday morning as part of our "Church Life"/Ask Your Council Member series in the banquet room, we heard some of the dreams of our Education Committee:

- that children would become so engaged in Sunday School that they would beg their parents to bring them

- that people might get so excited about teaching Sunday school that they would eagerly volunteer to contribute and use their gifts

- that youth who don't normally attend Sunday school might get  connected - possibly with a youth band or by being involved with SonForce where the younger kids would benefit from their example and look up to them

- that the banquet room might be filled with adults wanting to learn

These are wonderful dreams--and yet they're much more as we also seek to put foundations under them:

- for the On The Way adult class: we've already started providing sound in the banquet room so all will be able to hear easily; this Sunday we will follow up on the suggestion to re-arrange the chairs to make the room more inviting so people can enter behind everyone already seated instead of at the front; between now and September, Allen has volunteered to convene a subgroup to plan a new On The Way schedule with a view to promoting and distributing it in advance; new ideas are being considered, like providing coffee and a place for fellowship or perhaps an informal praise and prayer time during Sunday school

- for the younger classes: we've already started SonForce and plan to continue that as a fun time of active learning; plans are underway to paint the upstairs hallway with colourful, inviting murals; curriculum is being reviewed as we explore a new pod format that will allow teachers to focus on areas of ministry that they especially love, allow other teachers to take a much needed break, and engage the kids with memorable songs, activities, and Bible stories

- for the library: we have dreams to make the library catalogue available online; to continue to provide resources from Mennonite Publishing that may be difficult to find locally elsewhere.

We are also still in need of a Chairperson for our Education ministry, so please join us in our dreaming and praying!  If you sense that God might be calling you to this ministry, I'd love to hear from you at pastor@emmanuelmennonite.com

May 1, 2010 at 5:31 PM

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