How do you announce the latest death?

People die. 

Obviously, this includes those who attend churches. They are not protected from the scourge of the Reaper.

But, I’m curious about the manner that churches announce a death of a congregant.

Church-wide email?

An announcement from the pulpit?

A message on the notice board?

But, these methods provoke further questions…

How “in” the church do you need to be before you receive an acknowledgment?

How old do you need to be?

Does it need to be an unexpected passing?

Do either of these last two questions even come into consideration?

Furthermore, if the announcement is only made via email or in person, these methods only reach those actively within the congregation.

What about lapsed members?

How about those whom have a historical legacy at the church but have moved on due to life-change?

A pain of leaving behind a faith-community which you’re connect with is, over time, you lose contact with your former church.

And thus, you will miss the deaths of people you knew.

You’ll miss the passing of those you looked up to.

You’ll miss the funerals of those who were your spiritual examples.

And, without some kind of death notice you can sign up to, it is inevitable as the years pass on…

Trimming down the 23K

23,145.

This is how many verses there are (depending on the version you’re using) in your bible.

As I slowly prepare to teach a new Studies of Religion subject at my school, I’ve started piecing together the essential elements for each of my topics.

One of my religious depth studies, alongside Islam and Buddhism, is Christianity.

In the cheat notes, which I’ll provide at the start of the subject, will be a through vocabulary and important verses/passages from their sacred texts.

Of the +23,000 options, I’ve had to nail it down to just the pearls of the bible.

And, it’s been a refreshing challenge.

I’ve had to discern the primary points of Christianity.

Love.

Grace.

Faith.

Forgiveness.

Christ.

And then, I had to find succinct verses to align with the core truths.

This exercise would be something which I believe most Christians would benefit from.

Because, how often are you challenged to distill your/orthodox beliefs down, ensuring that they are backed up by scripture?

God is now a lot more “willing” than in the past

James 4:14-15 - Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

This truth has been around for two Millenia, but it emerged as a life-verse over the last three years.

The reason is simple.

Lives were locked down.

Plans were cancelled.

Dreams were changed.

Everything went online. Quickly.

Now, everything is “God willing.”

The next season for a ministry.

The next sermon series.

The plans for next Sunday.

Everything is in the hands of God.

Now, post-Pandemic, more than ever in living memory.

Is this going to be the enduring spiritual legacy of COVID?

Is the uncertainty of the future the lesson we, as a church and community, needed to relearn?

When I was in ministry, I’m sure that I gave the “God willing” disclaimer for any plans I laid out.

Now, what was a back-of-the-mind mantra, has been thrust into the forefront of all our experiences.

The COVID pandemic reminded us all that James 4:14-15 is still very much truth.

I wonder how long it will take us until we return to our comfortable forward-planning?

Being rewarded for mining the untapped scriptures

I’ve read the book of Ezekiel in the past.

But, I remember nothing about it.

For me, it’s always been one of the overlooked sections of the scriptures.

It sat alongside Leviticus, Numbers, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Isaiah and Jeremiah.

I just don’t read these books in depth.

But, over the last ten weeks I’ve been studying Ezekiel.

And it’s been really good.

I’ve noticed things I’ve never seen before and understood things which have gone over my head previously.

This has been the refreshing thing over the last few months.

And, honestly, I didn’t expect that to be the case.

At the start of the year, knowing that Ezekiel was on the horizon, caused an inward groan.

But - having already been a Christian for over a quarter century - it’s nice to be reminded that there’s always new things to learn, new truths to find and refreshing scriptures to delve into.

The ministry of accepting the blessing

It is better to give than to receive.

A few weeks ago my wife and I got a new car.

The last time I purchased a car I got a trade in of my old one. 

I received a single dollar for my vehicle. And, I haggled then up to that price.

This time around, we didn’t bother with a trade in.

Financially, we didn’t need to.

Beyond that, we had bigger plans for our departing automobile; give the car away.

Over the last few days we did.

Without going into details, we found a couple in need and I had the thrill of offering them the car.

Frankly, it was as much a surprise to me as it was for them.

I had no idea, even ten minutes before I made the offer, that they were in need.

And, without consulting with my wife, I gave the car away.

But, the experience reminded me of this encounter back in 2009.

Just as I hesitated to accept praise 14 years ago, the recipient of the car - understandably - hesitated.

All I wanted him to do was to say yes.

Why?

Because, there is a gift in accepting the blessing of another.

There’s a ministry you can allow others to have by allowing them to exercise their calling.

Be it a physical gift.

Or an act of service.

Or a word of prayer.

Ministry is not a one-way transaction.

It needs to be received.

And, when it is, then the giver is blessed to see their blessing outworked in the life of another.

Being stuck with someone else’s words

There’s a major downside to using prepackaged material.

They aren’t your words.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ever use them.

At times, you absolutely should consider using a purchased curriculum.

You’re short on time.

You’re not an expert on a topic.

But, you should never - ever - claim that what you are saying or using is a creation of your own.

The simple reason?

Someone else’s words will not be your own.

They won’t sound like you.

They may not connect as well with your context.

And, if you play them off as your own, then you’ll be stuck with them.

After all, it would be weird if you end up disagreeing or contradicting “yourself.”

And, when your stuck with other people’s words in your mouth, you don’t want to paint yourself into a theological corner or look like you have a theological multi-personality.