Friday, January 29, 2010

Jay Makes USA Today

Our favorite hobbled, but recovering, kicker is not resting on his Fellowship of Christian Athletes laurels with the recent Soles 4 Souls campaign. Now, Jay has been active raising money for Haitian relief through the "Hugs for Haiti" program, sponsored by the FCA at Mt. Union College, which has already raised over $10,000.

Today, Jay is quoted in The USA Today in an article about former Mt. Union teammate Pierre Garcon, who is now a wide receiver on the Super Bowl-bound Indianapolis Colts. (Look for Jay's quotes in the section titled "All donations welcome.") As you might expect, Jay speaks well for himself, his school, and his effort. Congratulations, Jay.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Update on Hatian Relief

Week of Compassion, the emergency relief ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), has been busy assisting the Haitian relief efforts, especially through partner ministries Church World Service and Action by Churches Together. You can read updates about these efforts here and see a brief video here.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Coming Up Sunday, January 24

This Sunday, we continue our S.P.I.R.I.T. sermon series, as part of the beginning of our strategic ministry plan. So far, we have covered S.P.I.: S - Share the Gospel, P - Pray without Ceasing, I - Inform Our Faith. This week, we move on to R - Reach Out.

A key part of Christianity is helping others in need. Jesus exemplified this throughout his ministry. As he traveled from place to place, he always helped those who asked him for help, whether they were afflicted with illness or disability, whether they were poor or hungry, whether they were "good Jews" or outcast from the religious community. He asked his disciples to continue to do this in his name.

Beyond that, most people are generous, especially with people in desperate need. We want to be helpful, provided we're not being taken advantage of. If we hear of a family in need because of illness or disaster, we happily give money, food, or anything else.

Sometimes we find reasons not to give, though. We wonder about the motives or if people are worthy of our charity. We wonder if our gifts will be appreciated or not. We wonder if we should focus our resources elsewhere, usually "closer to home."

We have limited resources, so we can only help so many people. Unfortunately, though, our excuses are sometimes rooted more in misplaced priorities rather than in honest discernment. How should we make these decisions? How can our outreach be wise and faithful at the same time?

Sunday, January 17, 2010

About Haiti

Remember that the Greater Fairmont Council of Churches is sponsoring a city-wide worship service for the victims of the Haitian earthquake on Monday night, January 18. The service will be held at Faith United Methodist Church (322 Fairmont Ave.) at 7:00. There will be a collection for the "Gift of Love Food Drive" to benefit local food pantries at this service.

There are several online resources regarding the Haitian earthquake and relief efforts, especially the American Red Cross. Among the Disciples' related resources are information from the Christian Church (DOC)'s relief ministry, Week of Compassion, and our Global Ministries.

Additionally, our WV region ministry partners, Kim and Patrick Bentrott, who serve in Haiti, have been frequently updating their blog with news and pictures from within Haiti.

Please continue to keep the people of Haiti, those working to aid them in the earthquake's aftermath, and those around the world with ties to Haiti.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Sermon Widget Temporarily Down

The widget (technical term for a type of small Internet program that you embed on a website or blog) that I use to post the sermon audio on my pastor's blog is not functioning right now. There seem to be some technical problems with the company that operates the widget.

In the meantime, I have put a much more limited list of recent sermons (only the most recent 5), just above the widget. Unfortunately, it lists things by title only, but if you follow the links, you'll still be able to listen to recent sermons.

If the issue is not resolve in the next few days, I'll see if I can find a replacement widget. A cursory search for one today was disappointing.

Faith and Film: "The Blues Brothers"

On Friday evening, we will watch and discuss the classic 1980 comedy "The Blues Brothers," starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. The duo play Jake and Elwood Blues, the Blues Brothers, blues musicians who find themselves of a mission from God -- they need to raise $5000 in just a few days to save the Catholic school where they were raised.

Here's the trailer:


It is difficult to explain to people how good this movie is. It has something for everyone -- it's very funny, with jokes on all sorts of levels (from the gutter to social commentary and everything in between); it has zany chase scenes; it has great musical performances; it has a strong (if slightly deranged) female character, played by Carrie Fisher; it has great acting, including Belushi in his prime. What's not to like? (Trust me, you will like this movie.)

Friday, January 8, 2010

Coming Up Sunday, January 10

This Sunday we continue our S.P.I.R.I.T. sermon series, coinciding with the introduction of our new strategic ministry plan. (Remember that SPIRIT is an acronym for key parts of our ministry together.) Last week, we focused on "S" - Share the Gospel. This week we move on to "P" - Pray without Ceasing.

The title refers to a bit of Paul's advice to the Thessalonian church. At the end of this letter (1 Thessalonians) he gives several suggestions of how the Christians should live. In this list is "Pray without ceasing."

During our 2009 Lenten series on prayer, we spoke a few times about how we might approach this seemingly impossible task. As we were focusing on the "how" of prayer -- at least in the sermons -- we imagined how we might live into unceasing prayer.

This week, we will focus on a related but different aspect of "Pray without ceasing" -- why? Why does Paul mention this task? How can unceasing prayer benefit us and our Christian community? The short answer, which we will consider Sunday, is that prayer is the single most active means of strengthening our relationships with God. We are constantly aware of, and thus more open to, God's presence in our lives. We can be more open with God, and we can be more aware of God's continual effort to nudge us to make better choices in our lives.

If you missed last week's sermon, you can listen to it here. (Reminder: All recent sermons are available on the right sidebar of this blog.)

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Central Christian on Ch. 19

Central Christian is prominently featured on the January schedule of TV19, which is a public access channel sponsored by the Greater Fairmont Council of Churches. Partially this is because DD Meighen, the prime force behind TV19, is working to improve the visibility of the member churches, of which we are one. Partially, though, this is because we have been doing some exciting things.

Three programs should be of particular interest this month:
  • 12:19 am/12:19 pm: "Christmas at Central Christian"
  • 4:29 am/4:29 pm: "Vocal Tapestry Concert"
  • 5:33 am/5:33 pm: "Christmas with Josh Patty"
"Christmas at Central Christian" (28 minutes) is a selection of the musical numbers that began our Christmas Eve service this year, which we recorded earlier that week. Leigh Anne, Eddie, Willa, Brooks, and I are featured.

The "Vocal Tapestry Concert" (1 hour 4 minutes) is a part of the Christmas concert that was held at Central Christian at the end of November.

"Christmas with Josh Patty" (27 minutes) -- which I did not name, by the way -- is a part of the secular half of this year's concert "The Memory of Christmas." The program features performances by everyone involved in that concert, including Brooks, Leigh Anne, and my brother, along with the aforementioned (overexposed?) Josh Patty.

There are also several other programs regarding good work done by other churches in the area (alongside footage of recent city and county meetings). Also, the new "News of the Greater Fairmont Council of Churches" program has begun, this month shown at 6:00 am/6:00 pm and repeated at 6:30. We have been featured on this program before, and will be again. It is a new effort that I will personally be more involved with as the year progresses. I have high hopes for it, and I hope that you take time to watch it every once in a while.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!

As the page on the calendar turns, we have the opportunity to savor the past and await the future. For a brief moment, we forget our stresses and our busyness, and we imagine that the future has possibilities as yet untold, and maybe even unimagined.

As you make your resolutions, take time to appreciate the year just past. Perhaps it was not all you hoped -- maybe it had awful moments, even -- but it also had good times. Say a prayer of thanksgiving, even as you hope for better in the coming year.

May you receive what you wish in the months ahead. And may God's blessings -- expected and unexpected -- shower upon you in 2010.