Metanoia Praxis

Phillip Yancey has an interesting perspective on seagulls. (From “The Strong Willed Child” by James Dobson) 'It's easy to see why people like the seagull. He exults in freedom. He thrusts his wings backward with powerful strokes, climbing higher and higher until he's above all the other gulls, then coasts downward in majestic loops and circles. He constantly performs, as if he knows a movie camera is trained on him, recording. In a flock, though, the seagull is a different bird. His majesty and dignity melt into a sordid slough of in-fighting and cruelty. Watch that same gull as he dive-bombs into a group of gulls, provoking a flurry of scattered feathers and angry squawks to steal a tiny morsel of meat. The concepts of sharing and manners do not exist among gulls. They are so fiercely competitive and jealous that if you tie a red ribbon around the leg of one gull, making him stand out, you sentence him to execution. The others in the flock will furiously attack hi...

We are not owners of our resources; we are stewards, managers of all that God has created. In the beginning of Genesis, God created everything and put Adam in the Garden to work it and to take care of it. God created us and gave us a kingdom mission as an extension of his love for us. We didn’t create it; it can be taken from us; and we can’t take it with us when we die. So it’s not really ours, it's GOD'S. Therefore we must be careful when we claim or use things in a selfish way outside his will.  So a better understanding ownership is vital to gaining a better understanding of stewardship. The next concept of stewardship we need to understand is responsibility. Within the story of creation, Genesis 1:27-28 says God created humans in his own image. Then he blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” (NLT) So as a part of the cr...

          Somewhere in the process of growing up we develop our own private philosophy about possessions, shaped by our parents, grandparents, and our experiences with others.   Altogether, these lessons and experiences have brought us to what we now believe about possessions. But, unfortunately, there’s a universal flaw lurking in our philosophy. The flaw is that our ideas about possessions typically boil down to doing what we think is best for us. Selfishness hides in the decisions we make about possessions. This is first heard in the early stages of toddler speech with the quick leaning and effective use of the word “mine” while the concept of sharing with others is naturally resisted. This is a problem because Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." We learn as the Bible opens that God owns everything because He created everything. Likewise the Psalmist wrote in Psalms 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s and all that...

Before we get too far away from Labor Day consider one of the most common misconceptions students and sometimes adults make about work, which is that the most important thing about a job is to enjoy what you are doing. While that is important, the first thing we need from our work is the ability to meet our physical needs, and that in itself is worth celebrating.       "What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun?  For  all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds  do  not rest. This also is vanity.  There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God;  for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?"  Ecclesiastes 2:22-25 (NRSV) The writer of Ecclesiastes initially decides that all human endeavors, including our labors, are just self-serving vanity—cha...

We know the importance of forgiveness from God, it is necessary for salvation because without forgiveness for our trespasses and sins, we are alienated or separated from God and we cannot function as intended in that condition. If we die in that condition, we endure endless suffering; separation from him. But there is good news today, God has taken the initiative to save us by grace.  According to Ephesians 2:4-5 God returns us to life by removing the sin that separates us from him and restores our relationship. In other words, God forgives us! And that is good news. We know the process of receiving this free gift of grace. The church has taught us from scripture that we confess our sins to God, then we turn from our former way of life in repentance, we then express our faith and belief by establishing or renewing our relationship with Jesus as the lord and leader of our life. All of this is good news, but there is something missing. Unless we understand God’s love for us, ...

Homecoming Sermon Robert’s Grove OFWB Church Date: October 5, 2014 In 1822 John Howard Payne was credited with writing a song that would remain well known for 150 years. The opening lines of the song, which you will recognize in part, say Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home; How would you define the word “home?” The dictionary says home is “the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.” But that does not seem to fully capture the mystical attachment we have for it. Home is the place we long to be but it is fleeting in our ever-changing world and thus home is sometimes best experienced in our fond memories, which is in part perhaps what North Carolina’s son Thomas Wolfe meant when he wrote, You Can't Go Home Again. The writer of Hebrews adds another dimension to the meaning of home in Hebrews 11:13-16 when he writes about Christians as strangers passin...

There was once a man in Fayetteville, NC walking along the Cape Fear River Bridge, and he saw a preacher about to jump over the rail. He stopped him and said, "Surely it can't be that bad. You know God loves you." The preacher got a tear in his eye. He said, "Son, you speak of God, but are you a Christian or a Jew or a Hindu?" The fellow said, "I'm a Christian." "Me, too” said the preacher. “Are you Protestant or Catholic?" "I'm Protestant." "I am, too. Are you of the English, Dutch, or German Reformation?" “I’m English Reformation, I think.” "So am I said the preacher. Anglican or Separatist?" "Separatist, I guess." "That's a miracle! I am, too. Are you Calvinist or Armenian?" "Armenian.” "Me, too said the preacher. Are you Episcopal, Methodist, or Baptist? "Oh, I'm Baptist, John Smyth and Thomas Helwys founded our branch of the Baptist...