gay funeral cancelled

here is something interesting that happened recently. apparently there was a funeral going to be held at a texas church, but when it was made public that the man was gay, they cancelled the funeral the day before it was to happen and basically said that you can't have a funeral for a gay person in this church... rev. gary simmons (the pastor of the church) said:

"This decision was not based on hate, or discrimination, but upon principle and policy, We cannot glorify homosexuality as a lifestyle. The Bible does say it's wrong, You wouldn't go to someones house who doesn't smoke and smoke there." (here is the official statement from the church)

so, there are some links at the bottom of this post about this, BUT first i want to ask you a question:

"so, does that mean they wouldn't allow funerals for fat people in their church because gluttony is a sin and a sinful lifestyle and the Bible does say gluttony is wrong?"

oh, and is there a difference between a gay funeral and a straight funeral?

just asking.

what do you think? comment on your thoughts... i am curious.

links:

here is a link to a news story about the cancelled funeral and this is another link from another news source

here is a link that shows some of the family pictures that the church called "in-appropriate"
(i do agree that the "crotch" shot was in-appropriate for a funeral, but it was not a "gay" shot... the two men are brothers, not lovers)

one good post, from back in the day

i just want to link to something that "real live preacher" wrote back in 2005. i have been reading his blog since about 2004. this is by far one of my favorite blog entries ever... after you read the specific post that i am referring to then i invite you to read some of his other stuff... enjoy:

this is the link to the specific post called, "martin luther, diet coke and canned soup" (read this first).

this is the link to his main page

but, i would love for you to read the "martin luther" post and leave a comment on how you liked it or if you just want to comment on something else from his blog.

learned (pronounced learn-ed)

i am not a universalist (although some people think i am, but i am not), but it is nice to see some people of the christian faith understand that there are things that we can learn and take from other religions/traditions... also it is nice to see those folks understanding that as human beings we are very complicated spiritually and that God speaks in different ways to different people... i don't know a lot about these folks but i like most of what i have read so far...

click this link to go and see what i am talking about.

remove your shoes, please

there are some ups and some downs to being a pastor, or said another way, some good, some bad.

as a brand new pastor, only having been serving a congregation for like 3 weeks and getting a call at 6:00 a.m. from a parishioner who says that their 40 something year old daughter just died and they would like you to do the funeral... that is good, you feel honored, but that is bad in the sense that it was your first funeral and you don't know their daughter at all... that can be stressful. also, getting a call at 5:30 p.m. by another parishioner saying that her husband has gone into diabetic shock and the paramedics are there now trying to revive him! yikes! you feel good that they called you right after the paramedics so you can come and be with them, but that is bad when the person who went into shock really needs to go to the hospital, but they are a grown human being and you can't make them do what they should do and you spend all night worrying if they will live through the night.

there are ups and downs.

sometimes though, what you get to do as a pastor is very, very special. you get to be there with them for surgeries, weddings, for honest conversations about very private things, for new babies and stuff like that.

sometimes you perform your call and you walk away glad that you could be there, but sometimes you walk away with a blessing that you never thought you would find in that private talk, hospital room, or home visit.

sometimes when you go to them and it is just you and them, one on one... they talk to you and say things they wouldn't say in front of their spouse, family, friends, or co-workers... they let you glimpse a very private part of their lives that maybe nobody has ever seen before, and you get to see it and talk with them about it. when it is happening you are aware of it and you feel like the ground beneath your feet is holy and you have a sense in which you think you should remove your shoes because this is truly holy ground. the air around you seems to change and your eyes are locked into their eyes and you can meet their gaze because The Spirit gives you the power to be sensitive at that very moment. it gives you the power to know that right at that moment it is all about them, and not about you or anybody else. if you are smart and listen to The Spirit you keep your mouth shut and just listen, i mean really listen.

when a miracle, and i believe it is a miracle, like that happens you just want to say let's stop and take off our shoes, because right now this moment is so holy that it almost seems disrespectful not to.

i'm back

i'm back after a couple of days of down time. our anniversary weekend was GREAT! we had lot's of fun. we went to the clinton library, the old statehouse, we went to see the 3rd in the series of the "bourne" movies (which was freakin' awesome!), we ate at great restaurants, and we even did a little shopping. since this was in celebration of our 10 year anniversary i bought regina a ring that wraps around her engagement ring... i don't even know what you call that... i just told regina that she could spend a certain amount and i let her pick it out and stuff.

anyway...

i am kind of a "bible collector", i like to have several different translations of the bible, plus i also like to have the same bible translation in different bindings ( hardcover, softcover, leather, paperback, big, small... you get the idea).

so, as an anniversary gift to me regina bought me a new copy of "the message". even though i already have one that i use for sermon preparation i was hoping to get another one to be my own "personal" use... you know one i could carry with me, write in, make notes in, etc... and then i could keep the one for sermon prep at my office. it is the perfect size, it is 1 x 4-1/4 x 6-1/8". it is small enough to carry without it being to bulky and the font is a good readable size! this is what it look's like:

i love my new copy of the message, thank you baby.

finish what you started!

-i don't know about you but i have a hard time finishing stuff that i start. now obviously when i start a sermon for sunday i have to finish it because i am the preacher! what i am specifically referring to is personal devotions. now if you are a christian you know that word and what it means. to those who might not have any contact with the christian faith it is just something that you read/listen to... usually pertaining to some scripture from the bible or somebody writing/talking about some scripture from the bible and how it applies to you in everyday life.

well, i have started probably like a hundred devotionals of some sort in my journey with christ... and usually i get bored with them in a week or two. so, that means i have tried a lot of devotionals but have not finished any of them.

the reason i am writing this piece is to proclaim that recently i finished two (that's right count em', two!) devotionals all the way through from start to finish! wooohooo!

the first one i finished (which i went back and did it all the way through once more!) was the "practice of the presence of god" by a monk called brother lawrence.

here is a link where you can download the "practice of the presence of god" in pdf format (don't worry, it's free!)

i highly recommend this book, even if you are not roman catholic, i still recommend it... there is much to learn from this humble monk who spent most his life cooking and washing dishes for the brothers in his order. i learned a lot from this monk and you might also. it is a collection of letters, so they are all short and easy to read... hence that is why it makes a great devotional. short and sweet.

-alright, the other thing i have been reading is the collection of writings in the bible known as "proverbs"... even if you are not a christian you probably at least knew that there was a part of the bible called "proverbs". i have been reading them in a translation (depending on your opinion you might call this a paraphrase) called "the message" by eugene h. peterson. most people read proverbs because there are 31 of them and it makes for a convenient "one-a-day" reading. after reading all of these i found a lot that i liked and inspired me, but the one that inspired me the most was this one, it is from proverbs 30:

"...And then he [the believer] prayed, "God, I'm asking for two things
before I die; don't refuse me—
Banish lies from my lips
and liars from my presence.
Give me enough food to live on,
neither too much nor too little.
If I'm too full, I might get independent,
saying, 'God? Who needs him?'
If I'm poor, I might steal
and dishonor the name of my God."

The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

i am not exactly sure why i like it so much, but i do know that the prayers found in this text is something that would be a good thing to pray no matter what faith tradition you come from and the principles from brother lawrence wouldn't hurt anyone either.

"h" "e" double hockey sticks

alright, you christians out there: what do you think the bible says about hell? who it's for? what's it like?

non-christians, agnostics, buddhists, hindus, etc...: does any of your faith traditions have it's own kind of "hell" doctrine/philosophy?

i have done a semi-in depth study of the subject of hell in the bible and i would like to see what you all have to say about it. i would also like to see what i can learn from non-christians from their faith tradition of "hell" if there is one... or just what do you think about "hell" and what it might be like?