The Jerry Garcia Game

I noticed several years ago that in almost any crowd there is at least one person who looks like Jerry Garcia. Jerry Garcia, as I am sure that you all remember, was the bearded leader of the Grateful Dead. This phenomenon became amazing to me. Everywhere I looked there was Jerry Garcia, even though I knew that he was dead. That made me notice other people. You would not believe how many people look like someone else, famous or not.

Yesterday when we were having lunch in a restaurant we saw a man at the next table who could have passed for the character actor M. Emmett Walsh. These 'sort of' celebrities are all around you. Open your eyes.

So play this game the next time you are with a group and in a crowd. Find someone who looks like someone else. Point out your look-alike to your companions. Everyone then gets to vote on whether or not the look-alike really looks like who you say. If the person looks like a celebrity, you get two points for every yes vote. If the person looks like a personal friend or acquaintance, you get one point for every yes vote.

And here's one variation: Play the game finding look-alikes for family members, friends and acquaintances. No celebrities allowed. This one will be a little harder because everyone in your group will probably not know everyone you know. But you will see people who look like your cousin, your dog groomer, or your local barista. You will be surprised, but it will be a lot of fun.

The Practices of a Christian: The Lord's Supper

The Lord’s Supper, also called Holy Communion or the Eucharist, is one of two sacraments in the United Methodist Church. Other denominations recognize other practices as sacraments, but UMs hold that in Baptism and Holy Communion God’s grace is especially present and significant. To begin with, of all the practices and procedures that are considered sacraments- including last rites, confession, foot washing and others- Communion and Baptism are the only ones that Jesus specifically instructed his followers to practice. We are to be baptized and receive communion.

In communion God works in a very wonderful and mysterious manner. He speaks to us as he enters us. He is present, literally, as we take the bread and cup. Many like to think of communion as an “outward sign of an inward grace.” I do not like that definition. It is true in as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough. Communion, or the act of eating and drinking, is not merely a sign. It is in the eating and drinking that Jesus is present. His grace is given and received as we eat and drink. When we take the bread into our bodies, we are taking Christ into our lives.

There are many controversies surrounding communion. Most of them are ancillary to the importance of what God is doing.

• Where is Christ? This is a very divisive issue. Many Christians believe that the bread and cup actually become Jesus’ body and blood. They hold that the communion must be cared for in special ways because it is literally Christ. Others hold that the bread and cup are “elements,” or that they represent or symbolize taking Jesus into our lives. I prefer the middle ground. When we eat and drink, we are literally receiving Christ, but the bread is not Christ.
• Intinction or not? Many are concerned about the method of receiving communion. There are several different practices among Christians and churches. Some like to drink from small cups. Others prefer to dip bread into a cup. Still others use wafers and drink from a common cup. There is no right way. God’s grace is available and active in every situation and circumstance. Each person and congregation has its own favored way of celebrating.
• Wine or Juice? Some groups use wine because that is what Jesus used at the Last Supper. Others use non-fermented juice. Again, I see no difference. I prefer to use juice so that no one is offended by wine, but God’s grace could work in communion if we used Pepsi and Oreo cookies.
• How often? Many Christians celebrate the Lord’s Supper, or Mass, weekly. Others do so less frequently. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was an advocate for celebrating communion at every gathering of believers. One argument against frequent communion is that people will take it for granted and the practice will begin to lose its significance. I do not believe that is necessarily the case, but care should always be taken to never lose sight of the work of God.
  

There are some people who do not participate, appreciate or enjoy communion. My suggestion to all followers of Jesus is to always receive the gifts of the Lord at every opportunity.

Weekly Prayer Thought

When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Matthew 6.5

Prayer is a simple and powerful tool that can often be intimidating. Many are lost on the way to prayer because it seems overwhelming. We don't know where to begin. The cares of the world, after all, are huge. I am just one person. Even if I pray hard, what difference can it possibly make?

Many times we get stumped in efforts to pray before we even get to the praying. One reason is that for too many people, we have never been taught how to pray. We are lost when it comes to what we should say or do. And yet we know Jesus' words were "When you pray," not, "If you pray."

So, here is an old pattern that you can use for your prayer time. Use this acrostic to remind you of the different areas that you should pray in. I use this pattern more than any other prayer-method. It works.

• A- Adoration. Praise God for all he has done and all that he is. Tell him how much you love him. Spend time reminding God, and yourself, how great he is.
• C- Confession. The Bible is very clear that every human is sinful. We need to confess and repent of our sins. God will forgive us, but we must be honest and open with him. This part of prayer should never be neglected or taken lightly.
• T- Thanksgiving. The Lord has done many things for you. Never forget to be thankful for them. Thank him for forgiveness, for life, for salvation, for family, for answers to prayer... The list is endless.
• S- Supplication. This is when you ask God for things. Notice that you ask for your needs after you have established and built a relationship with God. He will answer in the context of our relationship with him.

Use this prayer model each day this week. Watch what a difference it makes in your life.

Prayer: Help me to pray, dear God. Eliminate the excuses I have for neglecting you and my responsibility to pray. Make me faithful. Make me holy. Make me yours. Amen.

How it Starts

I have a friend who is not particularly religious. He is a good person. He values honesty, integrity and loyalty. He does not use foul language or have any of the traditional sinful vices. He doesn't drink, smoke, gamble or use drugs. He has no need for religion or God. He thinks that he is an atheist, but I am not sure. It is not that he rejects God, it is just that he doesn't see a need for God.


Recently he came to me overcome with guilt. I will not go into details about his "sin," it is sufficient to say that he felt bad for what he had done. I am not sure that he would call it sin, but to the average religious person, to nearly all Christians, it would be considered sin.


This is a great place for him to consider re-evaluating his views on God, faith, religion and sin. There is no question that he is suffering from a guilty conscience. But why? If there is no God, why feel bad about violating God's rules? Why should anyone ever feel guilty for anything. The plain and simple answer is that we know we sin. We know that we mess up. There is a standard of behavior that is built into us and when we do not live up to it God sends us a warning message. That message comes in the form of a guilty conscience.

First of all, guilt comes because we have done something wrong. We can only do wrong if we are aware that some things are right. That is, if there are no values in life, no good, no bad, no beauty, there is no need for guilt.

Guilt is the result of doing something that is bad, or not doing something that we should do, that we know to be good. Our guilt, the bad feelings that we get when we are in violation of anything good, is a gift from God. This is foundational to the views of most Christians and nearly all religious people around the world. If there are no absolute values, there is no guilt. Therefore, the presence of guilt seems to imply that there is a definite standard for right and wrong.

I do not believe that right and wrong are arbitrary designations based on what is popular or positive. Right comes from God. Wrong does not. We can agree on what is right because we all come from the same place- morally at least. We all know that murder is bad and that caring for your children is good. We know this because a higher power- God- instilled those values in us.

Guilt comes because we have violated God's order. Guilt is not a human invention and it is not administered by humans. God dispenses guilt to those who need it.

So, I say to my friend who is suffering today, embrace your guilt. It is a gift from God. Evaluate where you have gone wrong. Find out how to make it right. Change your life to avoid those mistakes in the future. And thank God for setting you on the right path.

What We Need

The world has been blessed by the internet. I know that there are a lot of problems. There are addictions, predators and other evil and bad boogey-men out there in the online world. The most popular searches and websites are of an illicit origin. The most profitable websites are pornographic and the most dangerous- in my opinion- are gambling sites. There is also a lot of misinformation on the world wide web. And yet, I believe that the internet is a great new world.

There are new opportunities for making connections and networking. There are great avenues for learning and growth. The convenience of shopping for goods and services is amazing. The internet has made the world smaller in a lot of good ways.

One of the most beneficial- and sometimes suspect- sites is http://www.wikipedia.org/. Wikipedia is a website that seeks to cover every topic in an encyclopedic way. The key to its success is that it is user-generated. That means that people, just like you and I, contribute to wikipedia. We make entries, additions and corrections. When it is good, it is because of our contributions. When it is wrong, we can be blamed for that as well.

I believe that there is a need for a similar website for Christian users. A Christian wiki site would include various doctrines, biographies, history, denominations, movements, events, and more. It could be a useful tool for everyone interested in Christianity, the church and the church's place in the world.

What do you think?

Two and a Half What??

The other day the television was on in my house at around 6pm. I was in another room of the house, but from time to time I passed through the family room and gave passing attention to what was on tv. It was Two and a Half Men. In the six or so years that this has been on television I have watched it a couple of times. I was not impressed. It didn't seem funny to me. Just so you know, it still doesn't seem funny to me.

But the lack of humor is not what get me interested that day. I was interested in the content of the jokes. I did not do a study of it, but there seemed to be a lot of jokes about sex, penises, vaginas and other graphic "R" rated things.

I am not a prude. I do not believe that adult humor and situations are always wrong. There are times and circumstances when grown-ups need to be grown-ups. There is nothing evil or inappropriate about discussion, or even joking, about sex. My problem with this was that it was being broadcast at 6pm.

This is a time when many young people are watching television unsupervised. Parents, if they are at home, are often pre-occupied with preparing dinner, watching the news or other early evening pursuits. Children, adolescents and teens are left to their own devices.

It is no wonder that we have so many unwanted teen pregnancies. This is a part of the explanation behind the casual attitude that young people have about sex. They are saturated with sex talk, they watch it on tv, they hear it at school. That is why they send nude pictures of themselves via text message and email. They are surrounded with it. Why not participate in it?

No one is innocent here. Such television programs should not be broadcast during hours when children will be more likely to watch them. Parents should do a better job of monitoring their children's viewing practices and other activities. Children should learn to say no to such media.

Weekly Prayer Thought

Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” Exodus 3.3

I came across an interesting thought the other day. It is not a new thought, not to me anyway. But it was important enough that I noticed it.

Prayer is listening to God so that he can change us, not talking so that we can change him.

I know, it's very simple. But too often it is not the way that I approach prayer. I use prayer as a sounding board. I tend to us God as a cosmic-analyst who helps me process my complaints, aches and pains. I talk and talk and bellyache and talk some more. And when I am done I trust that God will solve all my problems. That makes me feel better.

Don't get me wrong. I am an advocate for telling God your problems. I believe that we should take our concerns and petitions to the Lord. However, we should never spend so much time talking to God, that we are unable to listen to him. Moses is a perfect example of this. He had a conversation with God. Moses told the Lord all the reasons why he was unable to lead the people out of Egypt, and yet, Moses was changed by the encounter.

We should be changed when we pray. We should listen to God and allow his word to change us, to shape us. Our opinions, attitudes and actions should all be shaped by what happens in our prayer time. The mark of true prayer is that God will change you, not that you will change God.

If God has not changed you lately, it probably time to evaluate your prayer life. Could it be that you are not praying enough? Are you not praying at all? Or, is your prayer time filled with your own agenda, with little attention given to God's will for your life. Listen next time you pray.

Prayer: Speak to me and change me today, o Lord..............................Amen.