Another Sermon Word Cloud

Many Thanks to the guys at Wordle.net! Here is a cloud of today's sermon on prayer. Sorry, but you have to click it to go to the wordle site to see it bigger. (worth it)

a word cloud of Sunday's sermon from Philemon

I think you can click on the picture to open it as a bigger (readable)one from the wordle site. I give credit to them (wordle.net).

Belhar Confession

This fall and winter the presbyteries will debate adding the Belhar Confession from South Africa to our Book of Confessions. A copy of the Belhar can be found here.

You'll have to make one more click from that page to get a pdf file of the confession. I plan to quote it Sunday, Sept 5, 2010.

"Fake Christian Young People"

Sunday I quoted extensively from a piece on CNN online. I don't think there is video of it, but if a reader has a link, please share in in the comments.

The article is "More teens becoming 'fake' Christians" on CNN.com and is found here.

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word cloud of yesterday's sermon

click on the word cloud to be taken to a bigger image on wordle's web site. I give them credit for the program and project.

On Faith

Sunday, Aug 8, I will be preaching on faith.

Brian McLaren had an interesting take on Anne Rice's announcement she is leaving the Christian Church is his own blog. His thoughts are here.

I'm also intrigued by the book Called to be Human by Michael Jinkins, the new president of Louisville Seminary. He has a lot to say about faith and being human as the purpose of Christianity. I will probably quote him Sunday. A like to the book is here. I'm looking forward to getting to know Michael once he moves to Louisville in September and I go to Board meetings with him.

I will add a few more thoughts as Sunday approaches.

vacation

I'm going on vacation July 22-31, so I probably won't blog until August, unless I see something really interesting I want to pass along

Recipe for South African meatloaf - bobotie

Here is the recipe I followed, although there are many on the interwebs.

http://www.ehow.com/how_6640685_make-african-bobotie.html

Anghaarad Teague-Dees' prayer for the Gulf

This is the prayer a group of ministers prayed at Pensacola Beach this week. I encourage you to pray it when you can.


O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Yonder is the great and wide sea with its living things too many to number creatures both small and great. As we hear the waves crash against the shore we are reminded of the mighty works of your hand and we humbly ask that you step in with works of restoration.

The fragile balance of the Gulf waters is tainted and yearns for healing. We come to you today with heavy and humbled hearts asking for healing, comfort, strength and wisdom as we face this unfolding tragedy.

We confess that we demand more energy for our homes, autos, farms, and industries
We demand more plastic things that begin from oil; things big and small; things expensive, things ordinary, things cheap. Our demand for more has degraded and destroyed the earth’s bounty. We have taken for granted the beauty and grandeur of this amazing creation. Like Adam and Eve, in our desire to taste the good life, we overstep the boundaries you have placed on your creation. We are sorry.

We seek mercy, we seek vision and we seek the courage we will need as we work to help the victims of the sins of human greed.

We pray for workers injured, missing & presumed dead from the explosion on the rig and for their families and friends.

We pray for the engineers, laborers and individuals working tirelessly to contain the spill & protect the fragile ecosystems and communities from its toxic impacts.

We pray for all who grieve and mourn for this situation. For our children who worry about the impact it will have on their futures. Give us the words of comfort and hope that they seek.

We pray for all of those who live off the sea, the fishermen and women, those who live off tourism, vacationers, and those of us who do not know how to live without the sea. Be with those whose jobs are affected in an already tough economy, May they receive your provision.

What a shame that your creatures should suffer! We pray for the smallest sea creature to the birds of the air. For dolphins and pelicans, grouper and shrimp, algae and scallops…Lord, please protect and heal them. What a shame that your creation should be damaged!

This is wrong, Lord. This will be wrong for a long time to come. Strengthen us to bravely face the days ahead.

We turn to you the Creator whose restoring power is stronger than any human folly.

Eternal God, who brought order out of chaos accept the prayers of your people. Guide and strengthen us by your spirit that we may give ourselves in love & service to one another and to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.