The Power of Prayer

It was 10:51 when I turned into the PAC at First United Methodist Church in Shreveport, La this morning. I decided to change it up this morning and visit a different church. First Methodist Church is no new church for me. My first semester I would attend almost every Sunday. You could find me in the middle section, close to the back of the Performing Arts Center on Sunday mornings. I love the contemporary service at First. Its very dynamic and in a lot of ways very different than most United Methodist contemporary worship services.

Now, driving up this morning I was expecting the usual - good music, good preaching, and a welcoming spirit that invites you in. This morning, to my overjoyed spirit, Faithlink gave me much more than that.

From the first "Good Morning" I knew today would be amazing. Missy Wise lead the music, while the Rev. Derek Joyce preached the word. He was preaching today a part of the current series, "The Rooms of the Heart." This week Derek was preaching on the Family Room, pt. 2. It was a sermon based on the Scriptures found in Ephesians the Fifth Chapter. He talked about our family dynamic and how the dynamic works together for the glory of the Kingdom of God.

As Derek wrapped his message up the Spirit of the Lord could be felt moving in that place, and God convicted Derek to do something I have never seen done in a Methodist Church, or even for that matter, any Church service I've attended.

As he concluded his message he invited the families of the room (during the last song - more on that in a minute) to join together and pray for one another. Wives for husbands, husbands for wives, and children to parents. He also invited those without a family to join together as the family of God in a time of prayer.

This is what it looked like.....amazing.....

In our hearts, Lord, in this nation

Awakening

Holy Spirit, we desire

Awakening

For You and You alone

Awake my soul, awake my soul and sing

For the world You love

Your will be done, let Your will be done in me

In Your presence, in Your power

Awakening

For this moment, for this hour

Awakening

What a powerful way to end this great service, and what a wonderful way to kick-start our week!

The Body of Christ

1 Corinthians 12:12-14

" Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many."

 

Last night at Asbury UMC in Bossier we (the youth group) talked about the body of Christ. We are in a three week study of the book of Corinthians (1 and 2). We discussed that every person has a role in God's Kingdom and that every person has special gifts. We acknowledged that each gift is important and no one gift is special. 

Tonight in Colloquium (CLC's weekly meeting) we discussed what it meant to be a servant leader. We know that every person brings something different to the table, and that we all live in unity to spread God's Word and love throughout our world. We did some cool activities that validated, for me, what unity in the body of Christ meant. 

Tonight we made a personal mission statement. We chose from a list of verbs (three) that described who we are as people. We also chose our core value from a list that we felt best fit us. We combined those into a formula that calculated our mission statement. 

My mission statement was, "My mission is to connect, lead, and worship relationships in myself and others." 

This exercise made me realize that my mission statement is different from the person's sitting next to me, but without theirs the Kingdom of God wouldn't exist and so on.....

"The Least of These"

Some of you who know me know that I love the Social Gospel. What is the Social Gospel? Well, to sum it up in one or two sentences I would say this...The Social Gospel emcompasses the Gospel message of Love practiced by Christ himself towards the "least of these."

We find in the Gospel of Matthew "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"

Jesus commands us to pay attention, and serve the people in the world who are less fortunate than ourselves. This year in the CLC we have studied an author who focuses on the Social Gospel in my opinion, Brian Mclaren. We also have focused on the discipline of Servant Leadership. As servant leader you find what your gifts and passions are, combine then with academics, identify a need in the local community, and work with your brothers and sisters in Christ to solve the problem.

I was watching the television a minute ago and saw a commercial for a new show on ABC, The Secret Millionaire. There was a lady, obviously the millionaire, and two elder African Americans who started an organization that feeds the hungry in their community. One of the elderly women had this to say...

1. There is but one father and that's the heavenly father 

2. There is only one race and that's the human race 

3. Never eat the last piece of bread on the table because there will always be someone hungry who might come along. 

This show has my excitement level on cloud 9! The millionaire goes in the community and finds these inspirational organizations and lends a helping hand. Their contributions are in monetary forms and the individuals are truly blessed.

These shows do nothing but remind me on my passion for the Social Gospel, and encourage me to get more involved in my local community.

UMC Issues

 

"Church diversity intrigues us, whether one is affiliated or unaffiliated with a particular religion, sect or denomination.

Today, many churches are exploring the idea of adding diversity to their congregations, and charge themselves to invite different cultures into their church families.

Many congregations in the United Methodist Church (UMC), a denomination that 6.2 percent of America's population identify themselves with, are at the forefront of this movement. Their conferences, pastors, and members feel called to invite individuals different from themselves into their sanctuaries for worship and spiritual growth within the community.

But what does "different" mean to the people of the UMC?" 

This is a section from a friend at SMU who wrote an article about the United Methodist Church and its struggles with being "different." So I ask his question again, "what does different mean to the people of the UMC?"

I take a different spin on the question in hope of answering it. What can we do to be different? Since its beginning the Book of Discipline has stated that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church.”

Now before I begin with this blog entry, I will say that I will not take a stance on the homosexuality issue. I have no answers. I am not the judge, I believe we should leave that up to God. I do believe, though, that we as the UMC should re-evaluate some of our rules and regulations. 

In the past year the United Methodist Church lost 55,000 members. That is the equivalent to every single church in Louisiana plus some. Recently at Centenary College Adam Hamilton, pastor of the Church of the Resurrection, the largest United Methodist Church in America located in Leawood, Kansas, told us that roughly 91% of people who do not attend church do so because the church hates homosexuals. 71% do not attend because the church is, according to them, hypocritical. 

In my friends article he also says this, "My favorite thing about the UMC is its tag-line, "Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors."

What does this statement mean? Do we honestly apply it our everyday life, and the everyday life of the church? Its a tough question to answer. 

Recently, 33 Retired Bishops made a public statement in support of ending the gay clergy ban. The statement is the result of a prayerful consideration of the Bible, the church’s Wesleyan heritage and the bishops’ experience and “conviction of God’s intention for a world transformed,” the document says.

"For more than five years after her retirement, Rader (Bishop Sharon Z. Rader) was the bishop in residence at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill. In that capacity, she said, she met with many seminary students who had the gifts and calling for ministry but were gay or lesbian."

Now I will acknowledge that clearly in the Bible it says that homosexuality is an abomination. But the Bible also preaches against NUMEROUS things that we STILL do. Homosexuality is one thing, but there are several other laws and rules that we break every single day. 

Like I have said before, I do not have the answers to this long-standing question. I do know that, as a church, we need to evaluate some of the things we do. Obviously they aren't working for us anymore. 

I would really love to hear feedback on this issue, I myself am a candidate for ministry in the United Methodist Church. I love this church, but I hate to sit back and watch it die. There are some things we can do. This issue, whether we like it or not, is going to get addressed, and it need to get re-evaluated time and time again. There are some changes that need to be made. 

May we finally live up to our motto of Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors...

Shalom