Second Update of the Month

I guess I don't update this as often as I should, so let me give a recap of what has been going on and is going on.

Here's what's going on at Bessemer. Worship in the park on July 15th with Bessemer Church went extremely well. It really was a wonderful day. As for what else is happening at Bessemer, I've been really busy there this month, trying to get as much done as possible before I start school. I've read several books, trying to find ideas to help with our ministry at Bessemer, and the best one I've come across is by a pastor from Zelienople named Graham Standish, who wrote the book _Becoming a Blessed Church_. I think it will prove to be extremely helpful in renewing our church, and already I've seen many signs of renewed life and vitality which I know is a sign of the presence of God's Holy Spirit among us. It's exciting.

We met last Wednesday for a time of worship and prayer, followed by an hour meeting to discuss what we would like to do as a church. It went very well, and we came up with a mission statement, which I will post on here after it is approved on Wednesday at the official session meeting. They have many great ideas, and I know we're on the same page, which is great. Saturday we sold pie and ice cream at the Bessemer Community Days and had an opportunity to make our presence known in the community that way. It was wondeful.

I preached Sunday on the Fruit of the Spirit, with texts from Hosea 1:2-10, Luke 1:1-13, and Galatians 5:16-25. I preached for the first time with only an outline, some quotations written down, and the Bible in front of me. This was quite an accomplishment, since to this point I've only used manuscripts. This makes me happy! In our confirmation Sunday School class, we talked about the Holy Spirit, and had a good discussion. It was a good morning of spiritual nourishment.

So that's about it. Today I'm installing a new toilet in the house since the other one cracked (and I'm not sure how I did that, but whatever). Blessings to you wherever you are, and once I get sermon info for Sunday, I'll pass that along.

In brief...

First of all, last Sunday with Dr. Curtis was wonderful. It was very meaningful and Sunday School is going remarkably well also.

This Sunday, worship will not be at Bessemer Church - rather, it will be at the Bessemer Lake Park, which is a little farther up Main Street/Hillsville Road toward Hillsville. Worship is at 10AM with a picnic lunch to follow. If you want to come by chance, call me and I'll make sure to give you more directions.

Seriously, if you are a friend and you ever read this, you should come hear me preach at Bessemer. I will be there on Jul. 29, Aug. 5, 19, 26, Sept. 9, 23, 30, Oct. 14, 28, Nov. 4 & 25, Dec. 9, Dec. 23, 24 and 30. Worship is at 9:30 from now until Sept. 9, when it goes back to the 10:45AM worship time.

This weeks theme for the service is God's creation. The sermon is done, although my laptop is under the weather right now. Thank God for my dad's ever-faithful MacBook laptop, which has saved the day.

Other interesting story of the day...had to help save the custodian from a raccoon who made his nest in a garbage can outside the church. Actually, I wouldn't touch it - thought it could be rabid. So she got some of the guys from the Bessemer Boro Bldg. to come and take care of it. We are grateful to them for their help (Even though they laughed at us).

Well, it's late and I have to be at church at 8AM (well, 9AM but I go in early). So goodnight and God bless.

Week off from Preaching

Well, it's been a month since that last happened, but I felt it was time those Bessemerites had some communion action going on. haha. But seriously, because they are having the Eucharist this week, I do not have to preach. Dr. Byron G. Curtis of Geneva College is coming to preach and administer the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper this Sunday, and he's really quite good.

So that's really all that is on tap for me this week. I don't have to go into the office today either, since our secretary and I decided to take the day off. But I do have to work tonight at Supportive Services (3:30-11:30 - it's my other summer job). At least we have the client picnic this afternoon, so that will be fun.

Then I am off Wednesday from both jobs for my family's renown Fourth of July picnic. I work Thursday morning at the church, and Friday at the church and at Supportive, then I'm off from both until next Tuesday. Why share that with you? I don't know, but I guess so that you can see what my life is like right now - busy.

So now that I've bored you with useless stuff, I suppose I'll go now. Just thought I'd share what was going on for anyone who is actually interested.

Umm...So It's Been a While

Okay, okay, I know...It's been over a month and I haven't updated. I have learned one very important lesson in the last several weeks: that lesson is that I will be extremely busy for the rest of my adult life.

That being said, I will waste no more time telling you what's going on...

Bessemer: Things are going wonderfully there. Even though I don't officially start until Sunday, I am already busy at work. Besides preaching, we have at least four new adult members of the church coming in, and possibly more. We have two youngsters to baptize as well, which is really good. We will be doing all this with the Rev. Ray Brugler on Oct. 7, World Communion Sunday, and I am looking forward to it. I feel like I'm getting the hang of things, but sometimes it seems overwhelming to have to keep track of the spiritual lives of 40-50 people. I'm ready for the challenge though.

Preaching: I've been doing a summer series on Galatians. On June 10, I preached on Galatians 1, talking about the importance of the testimony of the Apostles who wrote Scripture and that is what makes it valid: that the Apostles are giving their eyewitness testimony to Christ. On June 17 and June 24, I discussed justification, which is when God declares us not guilty and therefore righteous because of the work of Christ on the cross and in His resurrection. As one dear member told me the other day, it is defined as: "just-if-i'd never sinned." Pretty cool. This week, I will be talking about passages from Galatians 4-5, where Paul talks about freedom in Christ - which since its the 4th of July, that fits nicely...

Italy: was spectacular. The food was the only slightly disappointing part, but over all, it was a wonderful experience. I wanted to come home because I was so tired in the end, but the memories are amazing. And Grandma, Pap and I had a fun time, although Gram and I wanted to lock Pap up somewhere on a few occasions...

The Homestead: or so we call it now, is coming along well. The inside is done with the exception of fixing a hole in the plaster in the kitchen, adding the brick paneling, and hooking up the washer, dishwasher and dryer. Otherwise, it's all set to go - I even painted the outside, and must say it is amazing what a coat of paint and a paint sprayer can do. And now I must go, because my new roommate and his girlfriend are coming to move him in upstairs. Yes, my buddy John Wells is moving in the upstairs of the "Bachelor Pad" (as it is also called). All I can say is that it's going to be a blast.

Well, I've got to run. God bless you all wherever you are today and whatever you are doing. And church at Bessemer for the summer: 9:30AM for worship, 10:45AM for Sunday School (which I am leading the class on the Basics of Christian Beliefs), so you can check that out too. Well, peace to you and see you later.

Craziness

Hello everyone,

Sorry I did not update this past week. It's been a busy one, but now I can officially say that I am a graduate of Grove City College, and not only that but I can now officially say I am the Student Pastor at Bessemer Presbyterian!

Nonetheless, because of the whole graduation thing, I've been too busy to get an update in for the past week, but today I preached on the Ascension, and how because Christ reigns as King and Lord, we need not fear death because he has conquered sin and death by His cross and resurrection.

Now I will be gone for the next two weeks in Italy with my grandparents, so "Arrivederci!" and I'll talk with you again after June 5th!

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Hi everyone! Sorry that I'm a little late in getting a post done for the week. Today is Study Day at Grove City, which means finals start tomorrow! That means I've been busy studying (along with playing frisbee golf with the roommates at 11:00 at night, eating pizza and watching the Simpsons, etc...). Yeah, I'm hard at work!

Actually, since I'm graduating next Saturday and have the worst case of "Senioritis," I am having a terrible time finding the ambition to study. Don't worry, I'm managing: however, it's a struggle! Nonetheless, I have my sermon for Sunday done (thank you, Jesus!), so I can give a synopsis.

This week's sermon is titled, "If You Really Love Me..." The texts are mainly from John 14:23-29, and selected verses from Revelation 21 & 22. The basic point of the sermon is summed up well in the following quotation from the sermon: "And that is the power of Jesus Christ in our lives when we truly love Him: he takes our weaknesses and gives us strength to conquer them in His Name. He takes our sins and cleanses them away. He makes His presence known among us, He lives among us by His Spirit and gives us His peace. And His Spirit fills us in such a way that our love for Him leads us to obeying His commands. This is the promise not only to His apostles, but also to all those who believe in Him, love Him and obey Him."

So if you're interested, feel free to come to Bessemer Presbyterian Church at 10:45AM on Sunday. Have a blessed day!!

Fifth Sunday of Easter (Liberalism Strikes!! :-0)

Hi everyone! Now that I've grabbed your attention, I'll explain what I mean by looking at my topic for Sunday. The Scriptures are Acts 11:1-18, Revelation 21:1-6, and John 13:31-35. The sermon title is "All Things New." The concept in these passages is the idea that God, as He declares in Revelation 21:5, "Behold I am making all things new!"

First, in John, we find Jesus saying that He is the true revelation of the Father’s glory. The Glory of God is the nature and being of God. God is, as John tells us elsewhere, love. The idea is that God has revealed his love and what it means to love to us in Jesus Christ. Because of this, we ought to love one another. This is, as Jesus says, "A new command." We are to love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a propitiation and sacrifice before God.

And loving others often requires us to love people that we don't want to love because we don't find them worthy. But no one is unworthy. In Acts, we see this plainly. Here, we see that salvation has now been opened to all people. This was new for the disciples and apostles of Jerusalem, who felt that people could only become followers of Christ by submitting to the law of Moses and being circumcised. Those who had not been circumcised or followed the law were considered unclean. But Jesus appears to Peter in a vision, and Christ says to him, ""Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." (Acts 10:14). Therefore, Peter felt justified in associating with Gentiles, and baptizing Cornelius. And therefore he justifies his actions to the rest of the Apostles, who declare that, "...to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life." This statement opens up Christianity not only to those who by circumcision are part of the covenant, but to all who people who by faith confess Christ as Lord and believe in His saving work on the cross and resurrection.

The idea here is one which cries for unity and brotherhood within the church. There are no more dividing walls. The job of Christians is to tear down the walls which divide us and love one another with a new kind of love and charity for one another. After all, what does it mean to love unconditionally? How can we love one another better? The idea here is not thinking more highly of yourself than you ought, and putting others before yourself in thought, word, and deed. (Philippians 1:27-2:5 reference.)

Now, I have to admit that had I heard such a sermon before the last two years, I would have been suspect of a call for the church to uphold social justice and peace in our world (hence my "liberalism" comment). Some Christians focus far too heavily on this aspect of our mission in Christ, and this has caused problems. After all, many of such persuasion will ignore evangelism, or they will confuse the modern notion of tolerance with love. But in a way, they have something to contribute to our thinking. But we cannot disregard the call we’ve been given in Christ to impact the world with the Gospel of Christ, to proclaim freedom for the captive, sight for the blind and life to the one living in death. But if we do not have the love of Christ in us, we have no motivation to do this. We need to uphold Jesus’ command to love one another, and in doing so, we humble ourselves, and tear down the walls of class, race, culture, and sex. As Paul says in Galatians 3:28, "In Christ there is no Jew nor Greek, Slave nor Free, Male nor Female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus

This is only a taste of what is to come: if you are interested in hearing how it all fits together, come to Bessemer at 10:45 on Sunday!

Fourth Sunday of Eastertide

Hi folks, here is the sermon topic for this Sunday. We will be looking at Psalm 23, Acts 9:36-43, Revelation 7:9-17, John 10:22-30. The title of this week's sermon is “Don’t be Baaaad: Be a Part of God’s Flock!” We will begin with the Gospel text, which comes from the chapter where Jesus refers to Himself as the "Good Shepherd." In this part of the text, the Pharisees are quite angry with Jesus and looking to take Him out. So they ask Him who He is, and if He is the Messiah. He answers that He has already told them, but they don't listen because they are not a part of His flock. Those who belong to His flock are those who hear His voice and follow them. Christ even says that He knows them. I then show why it matters that we follow Christ by looking at the declaration of God's providence for His sheep in Psalm 23. If that sparks your interest, you know the time and place: 10:45 on Sunday at Bessemer Presbyterian.

The Midweek Sermon Extravaganza

Hi there, folks. Just thought I'd give a preview of this week's sermon. I'm preaching primarily on John 21:1-23, along with the other texts for the week (Acts 9 & Rev. 5:1-14). In honor of the first week of trout season, this weeks sermon is called "No Luck Fishing? Try it with Jesus!" The basic question that this: Jesus calls us Peter to follow Him, and of course that call extends to us as well. We are called to follow Jesus. What does that mean? How do we do it? And finally, Jesus was basically calling His disciples to leave their lives, their homes, their occupations to follow His call. What stands in our way of following the call God extends to each of us to follow Him?

All these questions and more will be answered at 10:45AM at Bessemer Presbyterian Church. I look forward to seeing you there!

Calm After the Storm...

Hi everyone! I'm doing really well, especially because of two recent and exciting developments:

1) All the Holy Week services at Bessemer went very well. People really enjoyed them and I felt good about that. Also, I went to all the Holy Week services I could this week, when meant that between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, I had gone to church 12 times: Church on Palm Sunday at Bessemer, the MACA Choir Festival/Service at Westfield Church, every morning at 6:45AM for the community Holy Week services at Mt. Jackson Church, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday at Bessemer, the Easter Vigil on Saturday night at St. Rose with Grandma, and then Easter Sunrise and Regular worship on Sunday. I was churched out by Sunday afternoon! But it was a wonderful week (especially since I ate six meals with the ladies from church this week as well - haha, that was a lot of fun).

2) The session voted, and the results are in: I will be the Student Pastor at the First Presbyterian Church of Bessemer (or Bessemer Presbyterian - the other is their "official" name). We believe that Presbytery will give this an okay, and everything will be set. I am thrilled to no end. So now I guess I can be called Pastor Leslie, or as I think I prefer, Pastor Nate. Has a neat ring to it, don't you think. Just think: a little over three years from now, I will be the Rev. Nathan R. Leslie - how wild will that be!?!? But let's not get ahead of ourselves... I've got a lot of school to go through and experience to gain before that time. But things are going well with that.

As for what else, I spent last week living at Grandma's house (I'm not allowed to call it my house, because it will ultimately be my brother's house at some point and he hates it when I call it my house. But Grandma has moved on to her eternal home, and Alex doesn't live there yet - so he'll have to deal with it). I didn't have a whole lot of time to work on it, but I did some major cleaning, repaired the bathroom window, and put a new tile floor in the kitchen. This weekend, I will continue cleaning the kitchen cabinets, and we have some furniture to move between my parent's house and grandma's (which is so funny, because neither house is mine anymore). I wish the weather would get warm so we could do some work on the outside, but that will come in time.

As for sermon stuff, I'm off this week. But as I look at the lectionary, I noticed there are several readings from Revelation coming up soon, so I'm thinking I might preach on those. But we'll see. Anyway, that's all from me...have a great week!

Wednesday Morning Repentance and Sermon Starters for Sunday

Yes, so I love when I think I did something well and then find out maybe I shouldn't have done what I did in the first place...

I preached on John 8:1-11 last week, one of two passages of Scripture that are believed to not be originally a part of Christian Scripture (the other being the last half of Mark 16) because they do not appear in the earliest manuscripts. It was not in the Revised Common Lectionary, but it was in the Catholic Lectionary. I thought it fit better with my other texts, so I decided to use it instead. Friday afternoon, I was in a panic because I felt that maybe I shouldn't have used it. I called my mom (who at least until I find a wife is the person I always go to for advice because she's typically right and honest about such things) and asked her what I should do. After we talked, she and I both agreed to keep it. And I did.

I thought the sermon went well, and people were generally responsive to it. However, we finished translating John 7 in Greek today, and we talked about how the next little section of John was probably not part of Scripture. I was like, "Whoops." I talked to the professor about it afterward a little, and although he said he personally wouldn't preach on it, I didn't feel so bad because, as I said, it seems to fit (when understood properly) with the rest of Scripture. And since I tied it in with passages from other parts of Scripture, I don't feel as bad.

As I was looking at one of the websites I use for exegetical material (exegeting the text means to draw out details and context to determine what the author is saying), they argue that while it may not be original to the manuscripts and thus to the canon, it is still worthwhile to the church. First, it is in line with the teachings of Christ and his relation to sinners (again, when understood properly and in context), it is in line with the nature/character of the Pharisees, it blends a note of grace with the challenge to live a more godly life, and it has served redemptive purpose in the life of the church. So, if you want to be strict about it, perhaps I shouldn't have preached on this text. But oh well, you live and learn. I didn't teach heresy or anything people shouldn't have heard, so the Spirit must have been at work all the same. I hope he challenges people to do what I felt led to teach: that God forgives us of our sins in Christ and remembers them no longer, but we are called to leave our lives of sin and follow Christ.

On a different note, here is what I'm preaching on this week: it is Palm Sunday, and I am preaching on Isaiah 50:4-9, Philippians 2:1-11, and Luke 22:7-38. The theme is centered around the humility of Christ in coming to earth to die for us, and the fact that the one who wishes to be the greatest must be the servant of all, following in Jesus' footsteps. I haven't done a whole lot with this one yet, but if you're really interested...the place and time for this is Bessemer Presbyterian Church in Bessemer, PA at 10:45AM.

I'm also working on getting the Holy Week stuff together...if all goes to plan, they should be especially neat services. I only hope the people there find it worshipful and meaningful. So if you aren't otherwise engaged, we will have services on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday at 7PM, and Easter Sunrise at 7AM on Sunday (with breakfast afterward - but let me know if you actually want to come to that so I can put in a reservation), followed by Easter Sunday Divine Worship at 10:45. It's Easter Sunrise that I'm a little worried about - I'm attempting a shortened communion-less (regrettably) Easter Vigil service that morning. It will be interesting - we'll have to see how that one goes.

That's all - have a good one.

Midweek Sermon Thoughts

Greetings! I thought I'd give a little talk about what's on tap for this Sunday.

This week's lectionary texts are Isaiah 43:16-21, Philippians 3:4-14, and John 12:1-8...however, I felt that the Roman Catholic lectionary text for this week would fit better with the other two, and so the Gospel text I will be using this week is John 8:1-11. Another and more important reason that I chose this text is that in the RCL, it is not ever used in the three year cycle! I find this rather unfortunate, because I absolutely love how Jesus handles this situation. So I decided that now was as good a time as any to include it with the texts. John 12 is a good story too, but perhaps I will use it another time.

The title of this weeks sermon is, "All is Loss in the Shadow of the Cross," a reference to Paul's passage in Philippians 3:8, "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" as well as Issac Watt's hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" ("When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, My richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride"). The main idea dove-tails onto last week's sermon, because again the concept is that God wipes away our sins and remembers them no more. Jesus met the woman caught in adultery, and when He challenged those who judged her, He said to her "Go and sin no more." In other words, he had mercy on her despite of her sins, but told her to go away from this encounter and sin no more. Paul gives similar advice in Philippians 3:13-14, "forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. " The concept is that no matter what we've done, Jesus gives us a second chance, and often times many more chances than that. But the concept is to leave our lives of sin and focus on becoming more and more like Christ, the goal of our lives in Him. And with our eyes upon Christ, straining toward the finish line, we will be able to say with Paul in 2 Timothy 4, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing." So while we may not and will not live perfect lives on this earth, we should repent of but not dwell on our sins. Instead, we must recognize the cleansing power of Christ's blood and, rejoicing in His grace, we must press on with endurance toward the victors crown of gold, never quitting the race of life...but if you want to hear more, come to Bessemer Presbyterian Church this Sunday at 10:45AM.

By the way, I split this post in two today because the other post is kinda long. Take some time to read it though, and tell me what you think (although maybe I'll regret this!) Anyway, have a blessed day!

The First Ranting on This Blog

I know most people don't want to hear me banter on, but I had a topic that I felt I needed to address from a pastoral point of view. Since this is my forum for such things, I believe I shall. I apologize that it is long, but I thought I'd take a stab at an answer to the question. Maybe I'll fail, but don't hate me for it, please. :-)

I often times will read the blogs of others, and it's always amusing when I come across the religious musings of another person. Sometimes they are insightful, but other times they make me think.

Today, I stumbled across a person who was discussing how Christians can claim they have the market cornered on truth. They wandered how it is that Christians can claim that their religion is the only way to heaven. After all, isn't religion man-made? So how can it be fair that a person like Gandhi would go to hell by Christian understanding when He exhibited Christ like character better than many Christians?

The problem with such debates is that it misunderstands several things. First, Christians didn't "invent" their religion. The earliest Christians took their religious understandings from Judaism. Judaism has a strong oral tradition by which the encounters between God and His people were passed down, and eventually written down (I would argue at first by Moses, but other scholars seem to think that unlikely, but all the same they were written down). The Old Testament is a recollection of God's encounters with His people, His chosen people. They, we are told, knew and worshipped the true God.

So if Christians get this concept from anywhere, it is from their roots in Judaism. The earliest Christians witnessed the coming of the man Jesus, who they believed to be the Christ, the Son of the True and Living God. Jesus testified that He was who they believed Him to be, but many of God's chosen people did not believe Him because He was not the Messiah (Greek = Christ) who they believed He should be (i.e. they expected a political conquerer who would free them from the tyrrany of the Romans, and not a suffering servant who would conquer sin and death - an even bigger problem). And this presented the religious leaders with many problems. And this is why they sought His death. But it wasn't completely their fault - after all, He came willingly with the purpose to die for the sins of all mankind and redeem God's people, which makes it our fault too in a way...but that's getting off the beaten path.

Nonetheless, many of the writers of the New Testament witnessed not only the earthly life of Christ, but in some way particularly, they witnessed the Risen Christ. Others recorded it first-hand from someone who did. These people who witnessed the Risen Christ are called Apostles (and Paul qualifies as one because He witnessed the Risen Christ in a vision on the Damascus Road). The Scriptures are their testimony to this, and they make that clear (for instance, see 2 Peter 1:16-21). And the Scriptures, and therefore the basic teachings of Christianity are not man-made; they are divinely inspired. Peter tells us this in 2 Peter 1:20-21, "...knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

That being said, Christianity at its very core, is not a man-made religion. It is a testimony to what these Apostles saw and testify to. It is a faith based on eyewitness testimony, which means you have to take it for what it is worth. I won't try to prove Christianity true or their testimony true, because beside the fact that I am not able to do that, doing so would undermine the whole concept of trust and having faith in God, the basis by which man receives the grace and salvation of God. Now, as for it being the only way, while it may seem unfair to us that God would do such at thing, the reality is that if God is real and is Sovereign (meaning He has power and dominion over all things), then does he not have the right to determine what is just and true? And thus would not truth be what God decrees as true and real?

I know I'm skipping a lot of other questions that need to be answered, but follow me here on this: If, even hypothetically, God has this power, does He not have the right to determine what is right, true and good? And if God is the absolute standard of truth because He created it in the first place, and He chose to reveal who He truly is in some way, His revelation would thus be the truth, correct?

Well, this is what Christians claim Jesus came to do. As God incarnate (in human form), He came to reveal who God is and the way that man can know God. And this is what the Apostles are telling us in Scripture. So what does Jesus say? In John 14:6-7, He is quoted as saying, " 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.' " (and this whole passage is a demonstration the Jesus is God, and thus a revelation of who He is. Not only so, but it means He has the authority as God to tell men how they may truly know Him). And there are several other places where Christ seems to claim His power as judge of the world or shows some exclusivity to coming to God, such as Matthew 7:21-23 (where He says not everyone who calls him "Lord" will be saved), Matthew 7:13-14 (the Narrow Gate), or Luke 13:22-30 (when someone asks if few will be saved, He doesn't just answer yes or no, he says to strive to enter through the narrow door, which He says few will really find).

Further, the Apostle Peter testifies to this in his speech, recorded by Luke in Acts 4:10-12: " 'Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead--by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.' " And I could go on, but I think I've made my point on that matter.

So what does all this mean? Well, first it means we humans do not know what happens between God and people, so we shouldn't venture to guess where they went in the after life. I don't know where Gandhi ended up, and I would never say where a person ended up after death, because I plain don't know. But perhaps God saves more than we think - if so, wonderful and that's His choice. But from what He tells us, (and my belief is that since this is a part of God's revelation of Himself to us, He will be consistent) He is the way to salvation (and that through faith in Jesus Christ).

And yes, people will still disagree and even complain about that; and they can do that because it is their choice. But remember that it is a part of sinful human nature to complain about God's way of doing things. The Israelites complained about the manna in the desert, but at least God provided for them. And He wasn't happy with them when they did and showed His judgment. They complained that He delivered them out of Egypt to "die in the desert," when it was their sin after the fact that caused this, and they weren't happy in Egypt. God once again punished them for this. The Pharisees complained because Jesus wasn't the Messiah they wanted, but they missed the only Messiah they were ever going to get. And I know this is a stupid analogy, but I know I complain a lot about not finding a girlfriend yet and although God doesn't show His judgement on me (for a good reason - but not in the current scope of this post), He probably is not happy when I don't trust that He will work things out in His time and in His way.

But that is the point: if God is God, and He is sovereign over the whole universe, what right do we mere mortals have to complain about His way of doing things? Will He change the course of human history because we say He should? The problem is also that God has provided us with a means of coming to Him. It isn't man-made. It's God. He blessed us by sending His Son to die for us and rise from the dead, that we might have forgiveness and eternal life. As Paul tells us in Romans 10:9-13,"...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, 'Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.' For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'"

God went to such great lengths for us, and makes salvation open to all people. And we complain about His method? To do so unfortunately shows a deficient understanding of the nature of God, sin, fallen humanity, faith and grace. Well, I've rambled on long enough. But I will leave on this thought. Jesus says in Luke 9:62, "'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.'" In other words, unless we are willing to put faith in and service to Christ above all else, we will never be able to follow Him. After all, as He says elsewhere (recorded twice - Matt. 6:24 and Luke 16:13), " 'No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. ' "

My aim here is not to prove Christianity true or to destroy others in the process. I have love and respect for all human beings (at least I try - I'll regretfully admit I don't succeed at this). But I felt the need to clear up some misunderstandings about Christianity which are out there, and to hopefully show some justification for why Christians claim exclusivity (even though I do think Christians often don't handle when approaching and working in the world with others of different faiths). In the end, I probably didn't succeed in what I set out to do, and maybe made some people mad. That was not my intent if I did.

My true intent is to see that all people I come in contact with experience the grace, love and mercy of Jesus Christ in my thoughts, words, attitudes and deeds. No I don't always succeed at this, but it is my life's goal to do this: to be more and more like Christ every day. So instead of seeing Christians (and ultimately God) as being mean for not letting all people in, I would implore that we should perhaps look at the whole problem from another angle. God tells us in His word that He offers salvation through Jesus Christ to all people, no matter who you are, what you've done, where you've been, or how many times you've screwed up in life. To all who simply trust and place their faith in Him for salvation, He offers it to them. The question is do we take it or do we not? And that's the real question every man and woman must ask himself or herself.

Church Signs and Sunday Randomness

This morning's sermon went well at Bessemer, at least as far as I can tell. The best comment of the day was when I walked in the door and one lady says, "Nathan, I gotta tell ya. You must be God or something...at least that's what these people must think." I burst out laughing. I said, "Well, I'm definitely not!" The reason she said this was because I went visiting with her the other day, and the people we visited were so impressed by the fact that I took time out of my day at school to come visit them. I guess that sometimes what I don't otherwise think to be a big deal is a big deal for the people you do it for - if that makes sense. But nonetheless, that was really cool.

I had a fun weekend. It started by me traveling to Cranberry for dinner on Friday (through the snow - okay the travelling wasn't fun, but dinner was good). Then I went home and visited with one of our friends from church who was at our house for the evening. Saturday, I worked on the house a little and went out to dinner with Mom, Dad, Uncle Tom and Dorothy at the Crane Room in New Castle. That was fun. Today was church, then a meeting to discuss things for Holy Week, and then home for lunch. Now I'm back here, having translated 30 verses of John 6 for Greek, and read 50 pages for another class. And I'm actually done for the night...

The final thought for the evening is about church signs. I find them fun. Thursday, I was talking with one of the ladies at church who normally changes the sign. She said that she didn't like to take care of the sign for the old pastor, but now she's doing it again. I told her I would take care of it the next time I had a chance. So last Thursday before I went visiting, we took care of the sign and put up this past week's sermon. I was going to change it before I left today and forgot...but I still was going to look for a clever saying to put up. Here are a few I came up with so far...

- "Happy Hour here every Sunday!"
- "God allows U-Turns"
- "Sign Broke: Message Inside"
- "Santa Claus Never Died for Anyone"
- "God Expects Spiritual Fruit, Not Religious Nuts."
- "Jerry Falwell, Leave the Teletubbies Alone!"
- "Walmart is Not the Only Saving Place!"
- "Thinking about coming? Start now, please!"
- "Don't Let Worries Kill You - Let the Church Help!"
- "Free Trip to Heaven - Details Inside"
- "If you think it's hot here, try hell."

I don't know if I would use some of these, but they're quite entertaining. Some others I could not ever use....

- "True Submission"
- "The Best Position is On Your Knees"

...and so on. As for these ones, I'd never use them (well, unless I was feeling rather bold, but I usually don't feel that way). So anyway, that's pretty much it for now. If you have any other ideas for church signs, leave a comment. Peace out.

Thursday Morning Sermon Thoughts

Hey everyone. I'm not sure if anyone but me actually reads this blog yet, but if you do, then good morning to you. So after completing my Systematic Theology exam yesterday (which = not fun), I was able to catch up on reading (110 pages last night, and there was still more I could have done), got my vocabulary notecards for my Greek quiz tomorrow done, I started writing my sermon for this Sunday. The title is "Lost No More," and it is on the story of the Prodigal Son.

Some of you may wonder how I come up with topics for preaching when I preach every single week. Well, the answer is I cheat...sort of. Actually, I follow what is called the Revised Common Lectionary, which is a list of four readings for each Sunday of the year (Old Testament, Psalter [Book of Psalms], Epistle and Gospel), following a three year cycle (Years A, B, & C). Right now, the lectionary is in Year C. I find this to be the best way for me to preach, because it forces me to look at a variety of different texts and preach on them. It also covers a good chunk of the Bible (although critics of this method point out that it doesn't cover the whole text - but when was the last time I heard a pastor make it a point to preach on the whole Scripture anyway? It's been awhile...). While I find that the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel text do often line up, a good chunk of the time they do not; on those occasions, you pick one to focus on primarily. Usually the Gospel text is the one I preach on, and use the other texts as ways of setting the context and applying the passage to people's lives. There have been times, however, when I've seen the need for something else to be preached, and on those rare occasions, I do "tweak" one, two or even all of the texts. This is rare for me, however.

Nonetheless, here's what I'm thinking about for this sermon. We're discussing the story of the Prodigal Son (or as my professor of Greek, T. David Gordon pointed out, it should be called the story of the Loving Father), and I was thinking this week about outcasts. I have always felt a soft-spot for those who are thought of as outcasts, because for a time in my life (the awkward Jr. High years), I didn't fit in so well either. But just the same way, there are those in the world who don't feel good enough to be in church. They think they don't fit in because their "lives aren't perfect." While I didn't know that any of us in the church were perfect by any stretch of the imagination (I'm not - that's for sure), I think it goes to show how we sometimes deal with the "tax collectors and sinners" of our day, and we often cast them from our presence, and consequently God's presence. But as this parable illustrates, this is not what Jesus had in mind...come to Bessemer Presbyterian Church at 10:45 this Sunday to hear how the rest of it turns out. If you can't make it and want to read the sermon, contact me and I'll send you a copy Monday.

In the mean time, today I'm headed to meet some of the shut-ins and do visitation with a session member (which I probably shouldn't be doing yet as "pastoral" duties, but just because it isn't official doesn't mean I can't go visit people, right?). So, I'm off...

Have a blessed day, and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you. Amen.

In the beginning...

So this is theoretically where I should be studying for my last of four midterms in the last seven days...but I decided instead to start a new blog. It's not that Xanga wasn't a nice medium for outlet, but I felt that perhaps I should start a blog which is a bit "classier" than my previous one. We shall see what I think. But the purpose of this blog is to talk a little about my experiences and thoughs as I finish college and undertake seminary. It will be a place to share experiences from the pulpit as well as my thoughts on matters in my life.

For now, if you do not know about me, I am a senior Christian Thought major at Grove City College, who will be attending Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in the fall. This is a three year program, which is a part of the process I must undertake to be ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Right now, I am working as a Pulpit Supply for the Bessemer Presbyterian Church in Bessemer, PA. Basically, that means that I preach and lead worship for this congregation of about 100 members (40 on average show up each Sunday morning). Their full time pastor left in December, and because they are unable to afford a full time pastor anymore, they are looking for someone to work for them part-time. It looks as though that person may very likely be me. How, you say, if I am not ordained? Well, for a person who is under care of their presbytery (meaning I've declared my intent to become ordained, and the governing body above my church as well as my home church support me), I am able to perform such functions. But I can't marry people, perform baptisms or the Eucharist/Lord's Supper/Communion, and I can't lead their session meetings. But I can do just about anything else for them. So, there are still some details to work out with this, but it looks like they will, along with presbytery, be officially making a decision in the next two months. Things at this point look like they will work out in my favor, and it seems that will make the people at this church very happy (they love having me there and I love working for/being among them). So we'll see how that goes.

Other than that, that's really all there is to know about me. Although my guess is that if you are reading this, you already know quite a bit about me, for good or for bad ;-).

Well, I'm off to band. But I think I'll take in this gorgeous and unseasonably warm March weather on my way. Have a good one :-)