So, what's the big deal about the 25th Anniversary of Dublin Community Church / Dublin Bible Church anyway? Why make a fuss out of it? It's just another year, and millions of churches have crossed this milestone before us. Besides, isn't making a big deal out of this just patting ourselves on the back?
There are plenty of "second-order" reasons why we want to make a big deal out of this anniversary. For example, the church that planted us planted several other churches, too, but DBC is the only one still standing. In fact, the percentage is high for churches that are started but don't make it to 25 years. A band of folks get an idea that they'd like to start a new church for whatever reasons, get a lot of energy and excitement, storm out of the gates, but then when the "new church smell" fades, the enthusiasm wanes and the church closes its doors. Making it to 25 years is a big deal.
Furthermore, for a church of less than one hundred, it's even harder to still be around for the silver anniversary. And yet, DCC/DBC has not only kept the doors open, but has never missed a financial commitment to our missionaries, never failed to pay the light bill, never failed to put God's Word front and center of our teaching, and never even come close to the precipice of closing the doors. We may not be big, but we've never been on the ropes.
Additionally, we have had a number of challenges that can undermine a church's health. But rather than try to sweep them under the carpet, our leadership has consistently taken the approach of dealing with difficult issues straight on. One effect of this approach is that when our fallenness threatens our church, we don't worsen the problem by pretending that we're not all that fallen. One of our strengths is acknowledging our weaknesses and our reliance on God's power to carry us through.
But these are all "second-order" reasons. For me, the "first-order" reason to make a big deal out of 25 years is because God set the pattern of creating memorials. He created celebrations and feasts in order to give the people a way to remember what God has done in their midst. We must remember what God has done in order to trust Him for what He's going to do. We don't know what He will do in the future, but if we remember what He has done in the past, we can face forward with confidence that He will continue to be at work in our church and through our church. God wants us to create ways to remember His works.
All the good things that have happened within the DCC/DBC community are things He has done, not us. Even all the "second-order" reasons to celebrate are things He has done. A feast, just like in the Old Testament, is an enjoyable way to give God credit. As we enjoy one another's fellowship and enjoy delicious food, we feel the joy related to God's goodness. We have an event to hang memories on. We take time out to remember that God is God, and that He is at work in our fellowship.
Our celebration, again like those in the Old Testament, is also intended to pass down to our children the story of God's faithfulness in our midst. Our children need to see in the lives of our community that God is active. We can teach them about how He is active in the lives of people in the Bible, and we should. But we must also show them that He's not only at work in the lives of "Bible people" who live in "Bible lands" during the "Bible times." He's at work in the lives of us people right there right now. A fun feast teaches our children the goodness of God's activity in the lives of His people then and now.
Do join us this Saturday from 4-7 for a good ol' fashioned "pig pickin'", and then Sunday from 10 to noon for a celebration of what God has done within our people over the last 25 years.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
What's Prince Caspian About?
I have been surprised by the number of times I've been asked this question. We've been announcing that our VBS this year will be based on the book Prince Caspian, and many of you have asked what it's all about. There's curiosity, but just not as much familiarity as there is with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the first book of C.S. Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia."
On the surface, the story is about the same four children from LWW, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie and their return to the mythical land of Narnia. One year has passed in their lives, but 1300 years has passed in Narnia - the timelines never match up between the two worlds. When they arrive, the learn of a young prince, Caspian, who is the rightful one to be King of Narnia, but the post has been assumed by his uncle Miraz, who ascended to the throne through deception and murder. The story follows the battle of Prince Caspian with his small army of talking beasts and creatures fighting under the banner of Aslan, the Great Lion, against King Miraz and his large army of battle-tested warrior men.
Below the surface, Lewis tells a fascinating tale of faith. Several storylines interweave to compare and contrast characters and the decisions they make according to their faith. Lucy and Trufflehunter (a talking badger) are consistently faithful (although not perfect), showing us what Lewis portrays as model faith. Trumpkin the dwarf begins from the perspective of what we would call "modernity" (the view that the only reality is physical and the only knowledge is scientific), but later he converts to adopt the same kind of faith as Trufflehunter. Nikabrik, another dwarf, displays what we would call "post-modernity" (the view that the spiritual world exists, but absolute Right and Wrong do not). The older Pevensie children display various levels of genuine faith that is plagued by doubts caused by the effects of modernity.
Ultimately, it seems to me that the story is about comparing the childlike faith that Jesus teaches us to have against the worldview of secular humanism. Throughout the story, the characters face decisions they need to make based on faith - will they display childlike faith, or will they consider themselves too "sophisticated", too "practical", and too self-reliant to trust? When you ponder all the problems that we work through as Christians, doesn't it usually come down to this very dilemma? Will I trust God at His Word, or will I rely on my own thoughts and actions?
Yes - it's told a children's story, and a story that children will love. But the biblical truths Lewis reveals appeal to a mature look at childlike faith. Lewis doesn't try to explain all these views, he doesn't use any of the technical terms, and he doesn't forcefit a storyline into an attempt to teach Philosophy 101. He simply tells the story of characters who come from these different perspectives and allows their worldview to drive the story. You won't come away from the story thinking that you've just had a lesson on the various kinds of faith - you'll come away appreciating a well-told story about different characters and their struggles, failures, and successes.
Please consider joining us Saturday afternoon at 3:30 pm to see the movie Prince Caspian. As of this writing, there are still tickets available. Call or email Debbi at the church. Also, please consider helping us put this VBS together - we need craftmakers, builders, fixers, painters, teachers, leaders, helpers, feeders, preparers - a whole host of tasks. Everyone has something they can do that would be a big help to Debbi and her crew.
Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia!
On the surface, the story is about the same four children from LWW, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie and their return to the mythical land of Narnia. One year has passed in their lives, but 1300 years has passed in Narnia - the timelines never match up between the two worlds. When they arrive, the learn of a young prince, Caspian, who is the rightful one to be King of Narnia, but the post has been assumed by his uncle Miraz, who ascended to the throne through deception and murder. The story follows the battle of Prince Caspian with his small army of talking beasts and creatures fighting under the banner of Aslan, the Great Lion, against King Miraz and his large army of battle-tested warrior men.
Below the surface, Lewis tells a fascinating tale of faith. Several storylines interweave to compare and contrast characters and the decisions they make according to their faith. Lucy and Trufflehunter (a talking badger) are consistently faithful (although not perfect), showing us what Lewis portrays as model faith. Trumpkin the dwarf begins from the perspective of what we would call "modernity" (the view that the only reality is physical and the only knowledge is scientific), but later he converts to adopt the same kind of faith as Trufflehunter. Nikabrik, another dwarf, displays what we would call "post-modernity" (the view that the spiritual world exists, but absolute Right and Wrong do not). The older Pevensie children display various levels of genuine faith that is plagued by doubts caused by the effects of modernity.
Ultimately, it seems to me that the story is about comparing the childlike faith that Jesus teaches us to have against the worldview of secular humanism. Throughout the story, the characters face decisions they need to make based on faith - will they display childlike faith, or will they consider themselves too "sophisticated", too "practical", and too self-reliant to trust? When you ponder all the problems that we work through as Christians, doesn't it usually come down to this very dilemma? Will I trust God at His Word, or will I rely on my own thoughts and actions?
Yes - it's told a children's story, and a story that children will love. But the biblical truths Lewis reveals appeal to a mature look at childlike faith. Lewis doesn't try to explain all these views, he doesn't use any of the technical terms, and he doesn't forcefit a storyline into an attempt to teach Philosophy 101. He simply tells the story of characters who come from these different perspectives and allows their worldview to drive the story. You won't come away from the story thinking that you've just had a lesson on the various kinds of faith - you'll come away appreciating a well-told story about different characters and their struggles, failures, and successes.
Please consider joining us Saturday afternoon at 3:30 pm to see the movie Prince Caspian. As of this writing, there are still tickets available. Call or email Debbi at the church. Also, please consider helping us put this VBS together - we need craftmakers, builders, fixers, painters, teachers, leaders, helpers, feeders, preparers - a whole host of tasks. Everyone has something they can do that would be a big help to Debbi and her crew.
Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Vote for Anderson in 2056
The 2056 presidential election has been heating up over the last several months, between the Demopublican candidate Senator Paulie Takallick Oreck, from New Polis, and the Repubocrat candidate Governor Joshua Anderson, originally from Dudley, Georgia. Until tonight, the presidential debates held so far have been spirited-but-polite exchanges over all the major issues: the economy, the continuing war on terror, global cooling, and the dwindling supply of our primary fuel source, kudzuthenol. But in tonight's debate, the mood changed.
Takina Head, the moderator of this debate hosted by satellite news channel FXCNNABC, crossed a line with one of her questions, venturing into the once-taboo topic of the candidates' past associations with pastors. No reporter has dared raise a question of this type since the presidential campaign 48 years ago.
Senator Oreck received the question first, "We have the video showing the pastor of a church you once attended claiming in a sermon that Jesus did not attempt to pull everyone in society out of poverty. Do you repudiate this teaching? Will you announce publicly that you no longer want to associate with this pastor?" Senator Oreck replied with a very long, confusing, and unenlightening explanation of his view on global cooling. The reporters had no follow up questions.
Then, the question turned to Governor Anderson, "We have several podcasts of the pastor from your childhood claiming that the book of Leviticus is in fact relevant to our lives here in the 21st Century. How do you explain this mindless drivel? Have you cut off all ties from this maniac pastor?" Governor Anderson carefully explained that even though he was in the nursery at the time, his parents explained to him year after year how Leviticus helps explain the cross of Jesus Christ. This reference to Jesus Christ and the cross could be the undoing of the governor's campaign.
Sensing a chance to embarrass the governor, the bank of reporters stumbled over one another with follow up questions. "Did that preacher actually talk about Jesus?" "Did he ever claim that Jesus was God?" "Did he actually teach that God is real?" "Did he claim the virgin birth and the resurrection?" "What other whacked out miracles did he claim?" "Do you still associate with this man?"
Governor Anderson calmly answered each question, not only affirming that his former pastor made all these claims of the miraculous, but that he also taught the scandalous concept of "grace" - an illogical theory which claims that men and women can do nothing at all to merit status before God, the gods, Mother Nature, the dryads, or the secular humanist ideal. Rather, so the theory claims, God bestows favor freely, according to his own sovereignty. Acting as if he had not yet done enough damage to his own campaign, the governor further affirmed that he himself believed in such things.
Governor Anderson finished his speech with a sense of assurance which seemed to belie the fact that he had practically forfeited the election. "I don't mind you taking offense to what my pastor said," he stated, "as long as what he was doing was just preaching the pure Gospel. If that's what offends you, then I stand by him! And I hope that all who claim Christ will be equally confident to stand tall when the only offense people find in them is that they believe in Jesus Christ."
Tomorrow's poll numbers will record how much damage the governor's remarks will have on his popularity, who has enjoyed up until now a double-digit lead. What cannot be measured, however, is the effect that his comments will have on Christians across the nation and their willingness to stand strong for what they believe, no matter what the consequences.
Takina Head, the moderator of this debate hosted by satellite news channel FXCNNABC, crossed a line with one of her questions, venturing into the once-taboo topic of the candidates' past associations with pastors. No reporter has dared raise a question of this type since the presidential campaign 48 years ago.
Senator Oreck received the question first, "We have the video showing the pastor of a church you once attended claiming in a sermon that Jesus did not attempt to pull everyone in society out of poverty. Do you repudiate this teaching? Will you announce publicly that you no longer want to associate with this pastor?" Senator Oreck replied with a very long, confusing, and unenlightening explanation of his view on global cooling. The reporters had no follow up questions.
Then, the question turned to Governor Anderson, "We have several podcasts of the pastor from your childhood claiming that the book of Leviticus is in fact relevant to our lives here in the 21st Century. How do you explain this mindless drivel? Have you cut off all ties from this maniac pastor?" Governor Anderson carefully explained that even though he was in the nursery at the time, his parents explained to him year after year how Leviticus helps explain the cross of Jesus Christ. This reference to Jesus Christ and the cross could be the undoing of the governor's campaign.
Sensing a chance to embarrass the governor, the bank of reporters stumbled over one another with follow up questions. "Did that preacher actually talk about Jesus?" "Did he ever claim that Jesus was God?" "Did he actually teach that God is real?" "Did he claim the virgin birth and the resurrection?" "What other whacked out miracles did he claim?" "Do you still associate with this man?"
Governor Anderson calmly answered each question, not only affirming that his former pastor made all these claims of the miraculous, but that he also taught the scandalous concept of "grace" - an illogical theory which claims that men and women can do nothing at all to merit status before God, the gods, Mother Nature, the dryads, or the secular humanist ideal. Rather, so the theory claims, God bestows favor freely, according to his own sovereignty. Acting as if he had not yet done enough damage to his own campaign, the governor further affirmed that he himself believed in such things.
Governor Anderson finished his speech with a sense of assurance which seemed to belie the fact that he had practically forfeited the election. "I don't mind you taking offense to what my pastor said," he stated, "as long as what he was doing was just preaching the pure Gospel. If that's what offends you, then I stand by him! And I hope that all who claim Christ will be equally confident to stand tall when the only offense people find in them is that they believe in Jesus Christ."
Tomorrow's poll numbers will record how much damage the governor's remarks will have on his popularity, who has enjoyed up until now a double-digit lead. What cannot be measured, however, is the effect that his comments will have on Christians across the nation and their willingness to stand strong for what they believe, no matter what the consequences.
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