Clean fun with bicarb
So I’m a bit busy with my oh-so-exciting life these days–funerals, sermons, meetings, etc.–and don’t have time to post anything brilliant (next week though, look out).
Here’s a few more fantastic facts from my bicarb book (for history, see here)
Some people think this book is nerdy, or strange, or silly. But I think it’s probably the best book ever written. What else can you say of the brilliant creativity of the subtitle: “A Very Versatile Natural Substance.” Oh that just says it all.
So now time for some fun facts:
The chemical formula for what cool people call “bicarb” is NaHCO3. It also goes by the guises:
sodium bicarbonate
saleratus
baking soda
bread soda
sodium hydrogen carbonate
the white powdery stuff (that’s mine)
For those of you whose weekend includes more exciting activities than sermon writing, here’s some ways to take up your time. And remember, bicarb fun facts are the life of any party.
- run bicarb and water through your coffee maker will “give it a good clean and refresh it” (since your coffee maker needed refreshment)
- clean your silver with three tablespoons of bicarb to one of warm water
- rinse your silk underwear (what?!) in a mild solution of bicarb “every ten washes or so” (must one count)
- instead of using salt to melt snow and ice, try bicarb which will not harm plants
- use bicarb to test for acidity of soil. How you say? If the soil bubbles when bicarb is added, it is too acidic. Duh.
Sermon: Truth Be Told, Matthew 18:16-30
(Preached at a small afternoon communion service.)
One of the joys of living in Scotland is listening to BBC radio. No more are the days of staying up until midnight to hear the BBC radio news broadcast–as became my ritual while at university. Nor must I now get on my computer and pull up the internet to hear the BBC commentary. While in Scotland, I just have to switch on the old manse radio and there it is: BBC loud and clear.
To my American ears, one of the most striking aspects of BBC radio is its interviewers, or more specifically, the way BBC reporters conduct their interviews. At home, radio reporters most often pitch easy questions and accept any answer they receive. Interviews feature less of a reporter’s critical questions, and more an interviewee’s personal soap box.
Not so with the BBC. Talk about ruthless reporters. Talk about killer instinct. These reporters attack their prey like a rugby team at an all-you-can-eat buffet. They do not allow those interviewed to dodge the question or speak a half truth–and if someone tries, the reporter goes in for the kill with quick wit, contradictory evidence, and accusatory tone.
Oh how I’d like to hear a BBC reporter interview Jesus.
… Continue Reading
Reading, writing, ruminating
I’m a little bogged down this week with a cold, four sermons (one Wednesday, two Sunday, funeral Friday), a few meetings and the like, but I did manage to get a golf game in this morning which was just the respite I needed–even if I played horribly.
Strangely, though, my most busy week also has me finished two books I’ve been reading.
I wasn’t overly impressed with Cloud Atlas. I could tell Mitchell almost wrote an amazing book, and that he has great writing skills and is a good story teller and all that, but I never bought it. I felt too much that Mitchell was showing off–like a good preacher who thinks, “watch me wow you with my preaching” rather than simply preaches the gospel.
For a change of genres, John Pritchard’s The Life and Work of a Priest was most enjoyable. Writing as the Bishop of Oxford (Anglican), Pritchard reflects on the duties of a priest in contemporary England. The hopeful account of the task of priests does acknowledge the contextual
challenges of British church. For example:
- 20% of the UK population regularly or irregularly attend church
- 40% have had don’t attend but have had some church contact at some point in their lives
- 40% have had virtually no contact with the church
I’ll probably post more on Prichard’s description of a priest later, but overall I find his vision somehow realistic, doomed, and hopeful the same time. He’s aware of the church’s decline yet it doesn’t move him to attempt to reinvent the wheel. He’s aware of the emerging conversation, sees value in it, but views it very much from a traditional perspective in which change occurs slowly, thoughtfully, carefully. He sees churches closing, but he doesn’t freak out because he also sees faithful work continuing.
I’ll close with a spiffy quote:
“…to that extent a clergy leader is a liminal figure, living in the borderland between the Church and the world, the present and the future, inherited church and emerging church” (p. 103).
Sermon Workshop
Let’s see if third time is a charm when it comes to my blog and sermon prep.
Here are all the texts for Sunday. (You’ll need to scroll down a bit to see the Sunday lectionary or you can just read on.)
At this early stage I’m considering focusing on the Romans text. I like the parallel “put on the armor of light” and “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” What in the world does “putting on Christ” mean? How to people who have put on Christ look? And how to deal with the whole problem of Paul thinking Jesus would return in his lifetime?
Romans 13:11-14
Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
I hope to bring the Isaiah passage in as well. The swords to plowshares imagery is about as cool as it gets. I’m struck by how often “nation” is used rathe than individual. The nations approach, the nations are judged, the nations become peaceful. What’s up with that?
Isaiah 2:1-5
The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD!
So the idea of me posting these passages is two-fold. First, it helps me to begin formulating sermon thoughts. Second, I’m a big believer that exegesis done in community is more rich than exegesis done all by my lonesome–that’s why preachers read books on the texts, after all.
So if you have a thought, just click the comment button below. You don’t have to be in seminary to comment. You don’t have to go to church or even believe in God. And don’t freak out if the comment doesn’t appear immediately as my blog is new the spam guard is still learning. I’ll de-spam things several times a day so, in due time, it will be there.
Oh, and Sunday is the first week of Advent.
Thanksgiving Scottish Style
Unlike 95% of Americans, we didn’t eat turkey on Thursday. In Scotland, you see, Thursday was like any other day–though the great weather did allow for a beautiful game of golf. Instead, Megan and I hosted a Thanksgiving party Friday night.
(for more pictures, click on the turkey…yes it’s a turkey )
My only Thanksgiving away from the states was in Hong Kong while I was on The Global Semester. There, the 26 students and two professors dined on turkey, but also several Chinese takes on the holiday–I seem to remember plenty of shrimp and noodles. No Chinese variety this time, though we did run into several difficulties along the way: no cornbread mix for a corn casserole, canned pumpkin was difficult to find, converting grams to cups is tricky. The final menu included turkey–which, though it was my first attempt at cooking one ended up perfectly edible–green bean casserole, vegetarian stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, and corn followed by pumpkin bars, pumpkin cookies, apple crumble, and delicious pecan pie brought by Margaret.
We even instituted some American traditions like eating bread with the meal rather than before, not heating the plates before serving, and serving coffee and tea with dessert rather than after.
It’s been interesting to explain Thanksgiving to Scots. Despite some of its historical murkiness, in mainstream practice these days it’s a holiday all about food, family, fellowship, and football. Well, we hosted family who enjoyed fellowship with new friends, ate plenty of food, and even chatted about football (England’s glorious loss last Wednesday). I think we can chalk the night up as a success.
PC(USA), Emergent, and a Savior
So I’m copying Shawn and will post my response to Adam WC as well.
For the context, Adam Walker Cleaveland’s post is here. In it he opines the fact that some mainliners are looking for emergent to save the mainline church. He argues that presbymergent is emergent, and should not be confused as a PC(USA) revitalization movement.
I appreciate how Shawn just muddied the waters in his post. His final question to Adam WC is a good one. “If you are not concerned about the dying PC(USA) then why be a part of it?” In fairness to Adam WC, I don’t think that’s what he was saying at all.
Perhaps there’s a theological way to ground this discussion. A few weeks ago I spoke at St. Columba on eschatology. After the talk, a retired minister came up to me and said, “I’ve been a minister for 50 years. I can’t recall one sermon I ever preached on eschatology. Nor do I remember hearing one.”
Eschatology is about hope–hope in Christ’s return, hope in Holy Spirit’s continuing work within and without the church, hope in God’s faithful love. Many mainliners don’t speak about hope much, but it’s exactly what we need in the PC(USA). (And, by the way preachers, it’s all over those Advent texts. Tom Long just wrote something on it, if I recall correctly.)
To confirm my church nerd status, I’m going to use an illustration from General Assembly a few years back. Then a small group of young people, but mainly a guy named Tyler Ward, led a campaign handing out buttons that said boldly, “I’m enthusiastic about the PC(USA)!” The campaign was a success and many hundreds of buttons were passed out. I think the Presbyterian News Service even did a story on it (props to someone who finds it.) Part of what Tyler aimed to visibly instill hope within and for the denomination. And for many commissioners, seeing young people handing out “I’m enthusiastic about the PC(USA)!” did the that.
So to strike a balance between Adam WC and Shawn, I think folks are discerning a strong hope attached to emergent. That’s great, and we can all pray that God is doing a new thing with emergent. We can also pray that a more palpable hope becomes established within the PC(USA). One should not cover the other. Part of the very nature of emergent, in fact, is that its difficult to confine and may very well help instill hope in the mainline denominations. Adam WC just doesn’t want denominational-recharing to be their focus, and I’m cool with that.
I might as well end with the Bible. Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Thoughts? I’m particularly interested in what folks outside the PC(USA) think about all this.
A rose by any other name
(Creative Commons License – Bec Thomas Photography)
I recently finished an article for the church magazine and, as I got to the final line, encountered the usual problem: what is the best closing phrase?
Yours truly…best wishes…warm regards…yours in Christ…finally done…
I ended up going with an Advent and Christmas theme, as it fit the article, but then I hit another snag.
Rev…..Reverend….Revd…..or just Adam
I chose “Revd. Adam Copeland” as that is how I’m most often described by the people in charge of these things. Part of me, however, feels a bit strange using the “title,” or if we’re being accurate, the “style” or “honorific,” since I’m not ordained. It seems, though, the Scottish church doesn’t make a clear distinction for the “Reverend” address while at home, it’s a bit more cut and dry.
I’m also aware of a school of thought that prefers not to use “Reverend” at all. In case you were wondering, here’s a few quick rules of etiquette.
“Reverend,” strictly speaking, is an adjective that means, “deserving reverence” and has a more specific meaning, “relating to or characteristic of the clergy.” That’s why, in more formal usage, “reverend” should not simply function as a noun.
So if you were wondering–and I know you weren’t–in formal settings it wouldn’t be proper to refer to a minister as simply “Reverend.” And, in direct address and formal settings a minister should simply be, “Mr. or Mrs. Doe.” Others argue that the use of “Reverend” necessitates using more than a surname. So “Reverend Smith” is incorrect but, “Reverend John Smith” or “The Reverend Jane Doe” is correct.
Also, if we’re being crazy strict, it’s not proper to use “Reverend” in formal writing, or at least not “Reverend Jane Doe.” A minister, in formal writing, should simply put her name followed by her degrees.
Jane Doe, B.A., M.Div., Ph.D.
(I think that’s right. Please correct me if I’m way off here.)
Ok, enough about properness and formality. … Continue Reading
Connect Online
