My Person of the Year

Time Magazine's PERSON OF THE YEAR is "The Protester."  I guess I can understand why "The Protester" was chosen and not Steve Jobs...although I have more of an affinity towards Steve Jobs.  I assume that their "person of the year" is the person who has the most influence on the year, was most newsworthy, and will have the most lasting influence.  And, while Steve Jobs did some great stuff in 2011 and his passing was definitely newsworthy, one can argue that much of his work and influence covers the last decade, not so much the year.  The protesters, in contrast, were quite a phenomenon for 2011.  It is clear that their influence on "The Arab Spring" will be felt for years to come as the dust settles throughout the Middle East.  On the home front, it has been the Occupy Wall Street protestors, from coast to coast, trying to confront the social and economic inequity that affects our nation greatly. 

So, yes, "The Protester" makes sense.  Impact on the calendar year.  Lasting impact around the globe.  Newsworthiness.  How they will impact history.

That, and we'll put Steve Jobs in second place.

Well, what about my PERSON OF THE YEAR.  I decided I'd go with some of the same qualities that I think Time Magazine uses.  This person would be newsworthy to me...the focus of much of my time and attention.  This person would need to have made an impact on the year...there were changes or movements that this person was intimately connected with.  This person would be someone whose actions or choices would have a lasting impact on myself, my family, or my job.

This narrows things down dramatically and there are some runners up who didn't come out on top:

Gail Grossman (my mentor) -- Gail is a layperson I met with 10 times over the course of the first half of the year.  All of our meetings were by phone.  While her help was enlisted to address some of the financial difficulties at Girdwood Chapel, what she ended up doing with me is helping us figure out a long-term ministry plan and get the ball rolling.  It's because of her that our small group ministry is taking root.  She was also influential in the start of our "Friday Night Live" youth nights and our Tween Group.  I can't thank her enough.

Mark Scandrette (author/Christ-follower) -- I read his book this year...and it changed the way I think about discipleship.  It's not that any of what he said, as far as the individual pieces are concerned, was new to me.  However, the way he put it all together was exceptionally helpful.  I just want to jump in and put it all into practice and once and need to take a breath as I realize that it's a marathon and not a sprint.  I think this book is something I'm going to have to take out again and again and again.

Jon Stewart (TV Personality) -- OK, so Jon was probably not really in the running for PERSON OF THE YEAR for me.  But I want to take a moment and recognize that, The Daily Show is one show that I catch 3-4 times a week...and it's only on 4 times a week. This year, perhaps more than any other, I have gotten totally frustrated with the world of politics. I know many accuse Jon of firing his shots from the left, but I seriously believe he's frustrated any time politics is put ahead of people and he tries to shine a light on it.  He recognizes the lies that this world tells us through the media.  Some of it is painful to watch.  Much of it is uproariously funny.  But his show has made me want to live into the notion that all politics is local.  It's about people.  It's about the people I know and meet and eat with and love.  This year, more than any other, I've been shaped by this.

Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple) -- I am an Apple fan boy.  I type this on a MacBook Pro.  This year I got an iPad and and iPhone.  Much of my time is spent on a device that this guy thought up and brought to production.  He has had a lasting effect on how I communicate and the ways in which I use technology for my job...for pastoring people.  This year I mourned his death.

But with those three finalists out of the way, it's time to introduce my PERSON OF THE YEAR.

Drumroll, please.........


MY PERSON OF THE YEAR IS JULIE DOEPKEN, MY LOVELY WIFE.

Here's how it is. 

This year we celebrated our 20th anniversary.  She's been instrumental in what I do and think and who I've come to be over those 20 years.  Moreover, this year was a big year for her.  Not only did she complete her hours of education for her teaching certificate but she performed her student teaching and jumped through hoop after hoop of administrative requirements.  This was a Fall fraught with turmoil and conflict as we navigated the rough waters of her job...much of it related to a killer schedule.   Together we struggled and made decisions about what was best for us as a family. 

Over the last four months in particular, Julie has been "newsworthy."  Her work and her education, the struggles and the great joys, were what we spent time talking about.  She got up early to get to work.  She worked after everyone else had gone to bed.  She was a focus of our family and the rest of us rallied to enable her to complete the job before her.

All the while she managed to mother our five kids and be a wife to me and be an active member of our church community and the Girdwood Community as a whole.  This was no small task.

And it will have a lasting effect on all of us.  She exhibited both strength and humility...a fine example for me and our kids.  Her choices in her job will have a positive effect on our economic situation...especially important as I move from full time to 3/4 time employment in the church.  Almost always, she was an example of grace under pressure...and Lord knows we had enough pressure.

I thank God for her.

So, with that in mind, I declare that JULIE DOEPKEN IS THE PERSON OF THE YEAR...at least "my" year.

(And she should be pleased as can be that she, too, beat out Steve Jobs.)

"The Incarnation of the Piper"

I see Christ as the incarnation of the piper who is calling us. He dances that shape and pattern which is at the heart of our reality. 

Sydney Carter

The Liberation of the Incarnation

Among other things, Jesus liberates by mediating God’s Presence to us.  In the midst of our pains and prisons, Jesus liberates us through Presence.  God’s Presence is a subtle, unique, and powerful kind of liberation.  It does not promise to change our circumstance, instead it transforms the way we relate to our circumstance.  It gives clarity, acceptance, and hope in the midst of the storm.

Shane Hipps

"The Xmas Borg"

Image via Wikipedia

The following is an excerpt of an article by Jeffrey Weiss found over at RealClearReligion.

[The "War on Christmas"] is the battle by Christmas against any other religion's tradition. I defy Bill O'Reilly and his compadres to locate the smallest corner of our nation immune from the months-long drumbeat of Christmas stuff. For us, the holiday seems closer to Star Trek's Borg Collective ("Resistance is futile!") than anything I can find in the Christian scriptures.

...so much of Christmas in America has nothing to do with Christ or Jesus. If there was a war, it was waged long ago amongst Christians. And the majority of them decided they also wanted a cultural holiday that distilled an essence from Christmas and left most of the God stuff behind. In my mind, I think of that holiday as "Xmas."

Look at our cultural holiday touchstones, all the way back to Dickens's Christmas Carol. What are the books, movies and TV specials that come back again and again and again? It's a Wonderful Life. How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The Nutcracker. Frosty the Snowman. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. A Visit from St. Nicholas. The Nightmare Before Christmas. And on and on.

There's only one example I can think of in the entire popular pantheon that includes enough actual theology for a short sermonette: Linus giving his unapologetic recitation from the Book of Luke in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Let's not blame this on the ACLU or the Supreme Court or Barack Obama. The decisions about which of the many, many holiday-timed specials became perennials were made by the marketplace and over decades. Most attempts by Christian religionists to create entertainment that was explicitly Christian and transcendentally popular have had little success beyond preaching to their own choir.

The Incarnation -- According to Michael Spencer

“...the incarnation is the complete refutation of every human system and institution that claims to control, possess, and distribute God. Whatever any church or religious leader may claim in regard to their particular access to God or control over your experience of God, the incarnation is the last word: God loves the world. God came into the world in the form of the people he created, the human race (including you and me), who bear his image. God's creation of humanity in his image gives hints of who he is, since we all are marked by his fingerprints.

But as flawed humans, we give only a vague hint of God. Our broken reflection of God's image is easily drowned out by our broken humanity. then, two thousand years ago, God came in his fullness. He came to all of us in Jesus. The incarnation is not owned, trademarked, or controlled by any church. It belongs to every human being. The incarnation is not something that requires a distributor or middleman. It is a gracious gift to every person everywhere, religious or not. God gave himself to us in Jesus.”

― Michael Spencer, Mere Churchianity: Finding Your Way Back to Jesus-Shaped Spirituality

C.S. Lewis and The Incarnation

"Lying at your feet is your dog. Imagine, for the moment, that your dog and every dog is in deep distress. Some of us love dogs very much. If it would help all the dogs in the world to become like men, would you be willing to become a dog? Would you put down your human nature, leave your loved ones, your job, hobbies, your art and literature and music, and choose instead of the intimate communion with your beloved, the poor substitute of looking into the beloved's face and wagging your tail, unable to smile or speak? Christ by becoming man limited the thing which to Him was the most precious thing in the world; his unhampered, unhindered communion with the Father. "

C.S. Lewis

Prayer Celebrating the Incarnation

All praise be to you, Lord Jesus, because you are the Almighty Word of God!

All praise be to you, Lord Jesus, because you are the Word made flesh. You are Emmanuel, God with us!

All praise be to you, Lord Jesus, because you, the all-powerful Word of creation, became weak and vulnerable.

All praise be to you, Lord Jesus, because you became human in order to be with us, so that you might reveal the Father to us, and so that you might save us.

All praise be to you, Lord Jesus, Word of God Incarnate, Savior of the world…and my Savior too!  

Amen.

By Mark Roberts

"The Incarnation" -- In Spoken Word

"Christmas in a Nutshell"

State of the Church -- Presented at Girdwood Chapel Charge Conference

State of the Church

Presented to the Girdwood Chapel Charge Conference

21 December 2011

by Pastor Jim Doepken

You already know this, I hope.  But we have some wonderful, holy, good things going on right now: 

·      We have a Food Pantry that is meeting more need than we knew existed and we’re trying to be part of the solution to the underlying problems of economic need in the community. 

·      We have a discipleship group that has been a wonderful exercise in following Jesus with the hope of expanding it to more groups in the coming year. 

·      We have bunches of youth coming to the Friday Night Live events and also to the Tween Group which meets before it.

·      We have the stirrings of a men’s group…a long way from our Women’s Bible Study…but we can dream.

·      We’re in our new space and have seen it used for outreach to Alcoholics Anonymous, Cub Scouts, an art program, and one wedding.

·      We have a real good spirit to this place, a Holy spirit of care, acceptance, love, and grace even though we are a pretty diverse lot.

With all of this going on, it’s a shame that our economic realities often take center stage and color how we view the many wonderful things we have happening.  But, alas, it’s true.  We are struggling, financially.  We have commitments to the United Methodist Development Fund and to individuals.  Moreover, we have a building that still needs work to be truly finished.  We’re doing a lot of ministry.  But we’ve taken on a lot of responsibility to get here.

It’s this present reality that has shaped much of our discussion over the last four months as we’ve explored the possibility of moving to a ¾ time pastoral position.  It has weighed heavily on the leadership of the congregation and also upon the pastoral family.   But, throughout the discussions, we’ve been clear that all of us in the conversation love the church, love each other, and hope for a better future together where the celebrations of our ministries aren’t followed by a caveat concerning financial problems.  We pray this is the case and we’ll work for this future in the grace of God and the love of Christ.

We have our work cut out for us.  “I” don’t have my work cut out for me.  “Our leadership” doesn’t.  It’s all of us.  It’s the whole body which is the church in this particular place that has our work cut out for “us”…the whole body, with kids screaming, parents overburdened, faces smiling, hands serving, “Eagle’s Wings” singing, and hearts open to the will of God. 

I pray that we’ll be able to creatively work on this together.

While the Discipleship Group has been my primary means of working on the discipleship of the members of the church over the last several months, it has also been my primary means of spiritual growth and I thank those who have journeyed with me.  I hope others will join as we move forward.  It’s a good thing to follow Jesus more closely in one’s life.

As for continuing education, I received training from the Jurisdictional Leadership Team in January and, for the first half of the year, I met with a ministry coach via phone.  The Discipleship Group, the Tween Group, our Lenten Small Groups, and our Stewardship Drive all have their roots in discussion with my mentor.  In the coming year, I’ll be heading to General Conference in Tampa to meet with United Methodists from around the globe.   This will be my education for 2012.

I think it’s important for me to say that I truly thank God for Girdwood Chapel.  I thank God for my experiences.  I thank God for the people. I thank God that I’ve grown as a pastor here while always believing that it’s a “good fit.”  I thought that 11 and half years ago and I think that today.

We will share many more memories and celebrations over the coming months and, potentially, years.  Let us band together and meet our financial difficulties head on so that our collective ministry can take center stage.  For that is where we really shine as a light to the community.

Peace

Jim

Receiving Christ

“What is uncertain is not the ‘coming’ of Christ but our own reception of Him, our own response to Him, our own readiness and capacity to ‘go forth to meet Him.’”

--Thomas Merton

via

Question: What limits are we to put on love?

I ask this question because this week's theme in worship is LOVE ALL.

And, while I think that's a "nice idea," should there be some limits to that love?

Or, if that question seems a bit rough, what if we asked, "What are the boundaries to love?" Are there no boundaries whatsoever, or, for the sake of self-preservation do we need to put up safeguards to reign in our love? After all, it would seem that in Christ Jesus we see what happens when someone loves without boundaries.

What does it mean to really "LOVE ALL?"

So, what do you think?

"There Has Only Been One Christmas..."

Christmas Tree by ~DreAminginDigITal on deviantART

"There has been only one Christmas.  The rest are anniversaries"

~W.J. Cameron

Envying the Shepherds

14 DAYS 'TIL CHRISTMAS!!

I think we finally have our schedule set up, with leaders and musicians and practices and gatherings on the horizon.

I think today we may finally get our tree set up.  I'm not sure our kids will let it slide another day.

I think this week I might have time to get some gifts together...finally.

I think adding Charge Conference, our main administrative meeting, the week before Christmas is going to add a burden that didn't need to be there...but really "needed" to be there because of scheduling issues.

I think I need to read this quote again from Jeff Monroe.

Friends from Europe were visiting and after a long day we were discussing what to do for dinner. Sergio, whose family is from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, said, “My father was a shepherd. Like him, I am a simple man. If I have some bread, a piece of cheese and a glass of wine I’ll be happy.”

My father was a shepherd! Have you ever heard someone say that? How many shepherds or shepherds’ sons do you know?

Later that night, a smiling Sergio had his bread, cheese and wine. And I learned a lesson about joy. There is a relationship between joy and simplicity. The more we have, the more cluttered our lives become, the more difficult it is to find that elusive combination of delight, satisfaction and well-being known as joy.

Here’s my life too often: I have 300 channels on my television and am bored that there’s nothing on. I have hundreds of Facebook friends but precious few people I really share my life with. There are multiple cell phones, land lines, televisions, PCs, laptops and an iPad in my house, yet I feel increasingly out of touch. And Christmas? Well, Christmas can become a seemingly endless must-do list of tasks that have little relationship to joy. Amid the often unfulfilling complexity of modern life, I am reminded of the elegant simplicity of figures like the shepherds in Luke 2, who cannot contain their joy after what they’ve seen in Bethlehem. I envy them.

Yes, there are times in my own life that I envy the Shepherds.  Even as I pastor, or shepherd, a people I can seem so far removed from the hands-on journeying and guiding that seems so basic to the role.  Too much to do.  Too much to think.  Too many places to go.

And this Christmas season doesn't seem to help.

And so, for today, I'll envy our Shepherds.

Put the Xristos back in Xmas :)

From the Good Folks at Occupy Advent.

No "Sweet Little Jesus Boy"

Is Your Baby Jesus Too Safe? 

Christmas Eve I saw a stable, low and very bare,

A little child in a manger.

The oxen knew Him, had Him in their care,

To men He was a stranger,

The safety of the world was lying there,

And the world's danger.

-- Mary Elizabeth Coleridge, "The Stable"

via

Pregnancy and Advent

I found this yesterday and it stopped me in my tracks--

“Wendy Wright, in her book of reflections on keeping watch in the season of Christ’s coming, says this, “Of all types of waiting, the waiting of pregnancy is most like the waiting that we do during Advent.

The waiting of pregnancy is like the waiting we do for God.

Advent is a season of waiting; we wait for the coming of God.

We need him to come. Our world is messed up and we are messed up. We lament our condition and long for God to set things right, to make us better.

So we pray and watch for signs of his presence. We do all we know to do so that we are open and ready. In the midst of hardship and disappointment, we continue to wait. We wait in hope. We believe that something is happening in our world, something is taking shape in our lives; something large, light-filled and life-giving. Even in December’s lengthening darkness, this seed of joyful hope grows within us.

We are pregnant with it.

In our waiting, we are enlarged.

God is coming!”

(From Living the Christian Year, page 35.) via