Monthly Archives: July 2023

2330 – “Did God Create a Mess?”

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Genesis 2:18-24 New International Version

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam[a] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[b] and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib[c] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
    for she was taken out of man.”

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Friday’s Word

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Back in the pulpit this Sunday after a two-weeks absence due to illness.

Remember the classic novelty song from the late 50s: Yakety Yak?

Take out the papers
and the trash—
Yakety yak, yakety yak.

Ah, they don’t write them like that anymore.

But that’s what we will be doing in a series of sermons over the next few weeks: taking out the trash.

Trash theology, that is.

In visiting old churches in England, I noticed the ground beneath the east window often rises up on the church. That’s because so many people wanted to be buried there—close to the altar inside the church.

If you had money (like Mr. Shakespeare) you could be buried in front of the altar inside.

It was believed that those closest to the altar would be the first to rise on Resurrection Day.

Silly—including the idea of a Resurrection Day.

It’s trash theology.

We are “raised” the moment we die. Life continues uninterrupted.

In a spiritual world, we will have no use for those bones in the ground.

(Or that powder after a cremation.)

Paul said, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” And every NDE tells us the soul, the true self, our consciousness, lives on.

Yet, surprisingly, many people still believe that, at death, we enter some “great sleep,” to be awakened at the “General Resurrection.”

Even the theologian John Pokingham says, “God will remember us back into existence.” Great minds can come up with dumb ideas–and bad theology.

This Sunday we will take more bad theology out with the trash.

Join us at 11:00.

In-person, if you can.

Max’s Corner

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Let’s Talk—One More Time

And then put it to rest.

You know we have a problem. I’m not sure why we thought it was a good idea to increase our spending beyond our income, It doesn’t take high math to know that does not work. Some of the spending was essential. Some not.

In the essential category, we had to hire a Financial Administrator to do the work Harry Schneider (and Judy) did for free for 14 years. (Thank God for Harry and Judy. What a blessing they have been,) Their paid replacement costs over a thousand dollars a month. But we are sticking by our decisions and commitments. We have what we need in place to move the church forward. But something must give somewhere. We are running about $3,000 short every month.

To keep the church out of danger (and preserve my own ministry,) I will bear the burden of it. I will return $3,000 of my salary every month, $2,000 beyond my usual monthly giving of $1,000.

This will go on until we reach the point where it is no longer necessary.

Now, let us put the matter to rest, trust in the Lord, and move on in our work for the Lord Jesus Christ.

I Look Forward to Seeing You

Yes, I hope it is this Sunday.

I plan for it to be this Sunday.

I’m still weak, but I can preach sitting on a stool if I must. The sermon title is, Did God Create a Mess? (Genesis 2:18-24) Is that what the world is? Did creation get away from God? Out of God’s control? Did it all go wrong?

That is what most Christians think.

But does Jesus think that? Did he teach us that?

We’ll look at that Sunday.

What a joy it will be to be back in church.

Thanks to Mary and all for holding down the fort.
God Bless—MB

Mary’s Corner

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Greetings from Lubbock! My son and I have ventured to West Texas to help the family with a few things and to visit will everyone. The evenings here are fantastic (low 80s) and the mornings here are luscious (71 degrees this morning). But there are still not enough trees for me! The cooler mornings made it very attractive to have an outdoor time of study and contemplation, so I took full advantage of the situation. I look forward to those 4 days in November when it is pleasant enough to sit outside and enjoy the morning. 😊 I learned something this week from the Fort Worth ISD website: the school district buys school supplies for all elementary school children! I had no idea. We will still host a back-to-school bash for the kids in our neighborhood on August 4th. I haven’t heard from anyone who wants to help with this event yet. We can still get backpacks for the kids and some general supplies for the classrooms: tissue, sanitizing wipes, etc. August 4th is only one month away. We will begin advertising this weekend. Blessings to all! Mary