Preach It!

I've been out of touch with most of the world this past week while attending the Festival of Homiletics in Minneapolis. It was a week of worship and lectures on preaching given by some of the big names in the reformed tradition. I think I'm about "worshipped out".

Don't get me wrong! It was great to be in a setting where about 2,100 pastors were listening to and learning more about their craft. The presenters did an awesome job. But 10 worship services in 4 1/2 days? It's a good thing I'm not preaching this Sunday!

As I drove home on the last leg of my trip, I suddenly realized that not a single one of the pastors who preached, and only one of the workshops, used powerpoint. Just the spoken word was powerful enough to get their messages across, and they did it in a way that kept your interest.

Occasionally, someone tossed out a $10 word, but then, they were preaching to pastors who should be able to understand them. However, what was most compelling was the vivid, descriptive language and the ways they shared the "old, old story".

It's funny, but most of them stayed in the pulpit, too, with only a couple of them wandering about the chancel area. And not a one of them walked out into the congregation as they spoke. I didn't even pick up on that until just now.

Of course, the big-name lecturers, people who teach people to preach, managed to contradict each other about some things. That really didn't surprise me too much. One said "every pastor must preach without notes". Another said "it just depends". And about half of those who led worship used manuscripts and half didn't. *chuckle*

Guess we'll all just have to continue to hone our craft, do the best we can before God, and preach the Good News with all our hearts and minds and souls and strength.

The Secret

It's baaaaaaa-ack!

The Power of Positive Thinking, that is. Sure it's wearing contemporary clothing and wrapped in the scientific language of quantum wavicle theory, but it's back nevertheless.

I was at a meeting this weekend and there was a segment on "The Secret Isn't a Secret". Time was spent going through the wavicle theory and how the observer interacts and affects the outcome of whatever's being observed. Well, DUH! This isn't a new concept! It's been around for quite some time.

Then the presenter gives a recent personal experience of thinking she's about to be fired from her job, and Lo! and behold! ... She's fired.

Please don't get me wrong. I've been involved in community and individual prayer for positive outcomes and been ecstatic when incredible outcomes occur. I've known people who've gotten their lives back together by changing the way they approach the experiences in their lives. I'm not saying that a positive approach to life isn't a good thing.

Yet ... I can't help but see the fallacy in this approach to life. While we were watching the associated video, I kept thinking of the person blind from birth whose positive thoughts were of being able to see, and nothing happens. Then the family dealing with Alzheimer's unrelenting path to lost and befuddled death, putting positive thoughts out into the universe while their loved one continued to die bit by bit, day by day. Do we tell the amputee that if they just think good thoughts long enough, that prosthetic will somehow become real?

If this kind of message comes from a religious person, are we not telling those whose dreams and visions are not (and perhaps cannot be) fulfilled in this life that God has rejected their requests, and, thus, the person themselves? It seems to me that if putting positive thoughts and visions out there were the solution to all of life's ills, that Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane would have been "Father, I've envisioned this wonderful, peaceful way to bring your kingdom into being", and he would have been spared the suffering and death of the crucifixion.

Of course, I guess you could also look at Gethsemane as Jesus putting out the negative vibes and then getting what he deserved. Hmmmmmmmmm.....that doesn't seem right either.

"Not my will, but Thine" is the prayer of relinquishment Jesus prays. That's the harder prayer to pray, and may be why we're drawn so quickly to the "happy talk" prayer. Guess I'm just getting cantankerous in my *chuckle* 'old age'. I find myself being drawn to that Gethsemane prayer: "God, I'd love for the wonderful, positive thing to happen ... my definition of the perfect vision to occur, but God, I relinquish all that I have and am to you and am willing to trust you with it. Not my will, but Thine, O God!"

In the Mail

When I moved back into my house, I made some well-considered decisions regarding my telephone, tv, and internet. Because I am a pastor, I really need the reliability and confidentiality that one can get on a landline telephone. Of course, the only secure landline is through AT&T, so guess who supplies my telephone service.

I've done the satellite tv bit before. Not only did I consistently lose the picture whenever there was a significant storm (one of those times you really need tv reception), but the satellite provider significantly changed the service they provided without notification. No more satellite for me! How does AT&T provide tv service? You've got it! Satellite! So, I get my tv service through cable.

Before the storm, I had dsl service. It was good, but not the fastest service for the price. So, when I got back home, I decided to go with Roadrunner.

All very clear decisions. Each particular choice told to the particular company with the reasons why I made the choices, and the fact that I would not be making any changes was particularly noted.

So, why is this post titled "In the Mail"?

Today's mail contained an advertisement from the phone company offering all sorts of incentives for me to shift my tv and internet to them, AND, an advertisement from the cable company offering all sorts of incentives for me to shift my phone service to them.

*sigh*

It'd save them all sorts of shekels in postage and ink and paper, and it'd save the environment too. Why won't they listen to their customers?