Urn of Living Water

The overflow from this urn spills into a urinal - yes, a urinal - that serves as a drinking spot for the Hemingway 6-toed cats.

The story goes that the urinal came from Sloppy Joe's Key West bar. Hemingway told him, "I might as well put one of these in my backyard since so much of my money has gone down it already."

Or something to that effect...

Here's the view from the other side.

Grace Between the Lines

I caught this photo on a recent trip to the Florida Keys. It struck me as a symbol of how difficult it is for people outside the church sometimes to find grace. Some of the "wires" which keep us from grace are put their by our own conveniences, and some of the "wires" are put up by those closest to grace to hoard it up.

What does the modern church need to do to remove the "wires?"

Hemingway's Wall

They say that Ernie had this wall put up to keep away the gawkers. It fits the old farm standard of "horse high, pig tight, and bull strong."

And, like any good fence should, it makes one want to be on the inside instead of the outside.

Six Year Old Vocab Lesson

According to the Youngest Sister, the word "cleavage" can be exchanged with the open compound "boob crack."

Example of usage: "Hey, Oldest Sister, I can see your boob crack in that shirt!"

An older column - written Jan 4

The Covenant is a Sign

Each January the Willow Meadows Baptist Church family is invited to take a look at the meaning of our relationships that we have with Christ and with one another. The church is a community like none other on earth, and one of the many ways in which we are unique is summed up in one word: Covenant.

It is a word that is passé for many because we live in a world where promises made don’t always equal promises kept. Covenant is a special kind of promise. Unlike a contract between two parties that is binding because of laws and judges, a covenant is a promise between two or more people and the binding force is that the promise if made to God. As Christians, we believe that covenants are special because with God’s help, the people of God are able to maintain covenantal relationships of trust, caring, and mutual understanding.

Baptists have long been known as non-creedal. That is to say, we don’t force anyone to believe exactly as we believe, and that individuals in a community like the local church are under the authority of Jesus Christ – not the pastor, not the deacons, not even each other. We hold this belief that each individual is competent to stand before God, interpret scripture, and live a life in relationship with Jesus. And this belief stretches to say that each believer has freedom before God. But that does not exempt us from making promises to one another to live a life of moral integrity, to diligently advance as disciples of Jesus, and to submit to our church family for guidance in living the Christian life.

The sermons in January will help us focus on this call to Christian community as we build toward the annual renewal of our church covenant. This series of sermons is called Signs and we’ll be exploring the signs of covenant that are alive and well in our congregation, and how those “signs” can help us lead inspired lives. You can read more below about where we’re going for the entire month of January!

There is a time change for 2008 at WMBC – Bible Study is at 9:30, worship is at 10:45. Tell a friend about the time change!

Merry Christmas (still),
Pastor Gary

Not a Sermon – Just a Thought is a weekly column written by me, Gary Long. I’m the pastor at Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston. I took a much needed break from this column in December – thanks for your emails asking “Where’s the column?” I felt much like Sally Fields at the Oscars: “You love me, you really, really love me.”

You can get this column sent right to you by emailing me at glong@wmbc.org. You can also get removed from my distribution list by doing the same thing.

Here’s where we’re heading in January:

January 6 – Epiphany – Ephesians 3.1-12
Signs of the Covenant – Shared Vision
Isaiah saw a vision of a kingdom to come in which justice and mercy would reign and the light of God would dwell among the people (Isaiah 60). Isaiah was prophetically shaping Israel to shared vision of the Christ to come, while Paul, in writing to the church at Ephesus, helps our church understand God’s vision that is shared among us. He wrote, “the mystery was made know to me by revelation…[and] in former generations was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed by his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 3). It is the power of God at work when individual believers come together to accomplish great tasks for God. Shared vision reminds us that we are not to live in isolation and that the whole of us is far greater than the sum of our parts.

January 13 – Acts 10.34-43 and Matthew 3.13-17
Signs of the Covenant – Baptism
Jesus was baptized by John at the Jordan and we are called ever after into the waters of baptism to follow God’s calling for our lives. Baptism is the shared sign of covenant between us that commences our work as Christians who would be the presence of Christ in the world. This is what Peter understood as he told the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection in Acts 10. This sermon is going to explore the idea that baptism – a covenantal sign – is our “home base” in the journey of faith.

January 20 – Psalm 40.1-11, John 1.29-42
Bob Lindsey will preach Signs of the Covenant – Following Christ.
The later part of John 1 records the account of two disciples of John the Baptist who ecaem the first disciples of Jessu by literally “following” him. What does it mean for us who choose to live in covenantal community to be “followers” of Christ? Is it primarily about the keeping of the rules and rituals, or is something ar more – the developing of a deep relationship with Jesus and deep relationships with each other?

January 27 – I Corinthians 1.10-18
Signs of the Covenant - Communion
The church at Corinth had some pretty big problems learning to get along. Paul wrote to them in a pleading tone, “I appeal to you…that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.” All churches have disagreements, all churches have arguments from time to time. How do we get achieve this unity of which Paul speaks? I think the answer is found around the table – the Lord’s table. Communion is a sign of the covenant, perhaps the ultimate sign. Join us as we renew our church covenant this day, and as we observe communion.

Screwballs and Nuts

Kelly Siegler is a candidate for district attorney here in Houston. According to the Houston Chronicle, she is disinclined to include the “screwballs and nuts” who attend Lakewood Church on juries. She told a judge last year that she worked to keep them off of juries. She made the comment in response to the charge that she struck a man from capital murder jury pool because he is black. She balked at that, saying that the reason was not his race, but that he attends Joel Osteen’s mega-church.

"To start with, he's a member of Lakewood Church. And we have had a running agreement, my partner Luci Davidson and I have, since we started, that people who go to Lakewood are screwballs and nuts,"
Siegler said, according to the court transcript. "I'm very familiar with that church. We try our hardest not to put anybody who goes to Lakewood regularly on any jury, he's a pretty devout member of Lakewood Church. That's one reason that scared me about the man."

Imagine that – Christians being called “screwballs and nuts” in the public sector. While many of you know I’m not a big fan of mega-churches, and that I have frequently criticized the theology and hair of pastor Joel Osteen, I’m proud to know that at least some portion of the church is viewed in the public sector as counter-cultural! What if all Christians lived out the unique message of the Gospel? We not only might avoid jury duty in capital cases, we might convince others that faith in Jesus is worth something, that it actually makes a difference in how we live our lives.

I’ll be talking about this on Sunday in a sermon about baptism. I’ll offer some practical pointers on how to “live out” our baptism, and you’ll be urged to remember the waters of your own baptism in a tangible way. Maybe by the end of the worship gathering you’ll want to be considered a screwball, too! The Bible texts this week are Acts 10.34-43 and Matthew 3.13-17.

See you Sunday,
Pastor Gary

Not a Sermon – Just a Thought is a weekly column by me, Gary Long. I’m the pastor of Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, where we gather for worship on Sundays at 10:45am. You can sign up for this weekly column by contacting me at glong@wmbc.org. You can check on the full story on Kelly Siegler at this link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/5444317.html.

Been Busy

Hey there, just wanted to write a little today - I'm still alive and well, but took a few weeks off from posting here. It's been a hectic Advent and Christmas, and the first of 2008 looks no less hectic.

I took two writing gigs that paid real money, so they captured most of my writing energy recently. But, they're done, and I'm planning on getting back here really soon. I have stories to tell!

Advent Words of Waiting

This poem is by my friend Phuc Luu. He is a lecturer in the religion department at Houston Baptist University, and a PhD student at St. Thomas.


anxious waiting
dangerous waiting
unexpected
being conceived
a plan
drawn in stars
and darkness
and fleeing
and inhospitality

as in the seventies
when in the middle of the night
taking off for another country
unaware
while artillery shells find new born babies Herod always hunts the Christ

beth-lehem
to bake bread for all
body
blood
the one to feed the world
will come crying
to suckle

to be God

to smell like new born deity
wrapped in soft skin

a mother and child at a metro stop
with a transfer
holding grace, homeless grace
looking at her, I try to read the plans on her face
dark constellation
to see God wrapped up anywhere
as I drive away, not knowing what waiting was really about

If you like cool pictures...

If you're a fan of photography, I encourage you to check out a relatively new magazine called JPG. The photos are all user-submitted and thematically organized. Some of them are typical "I got lucky with my point and shoot" type, but there are quite a few beauties. They're found online here.

I've submitted a few photos there myself. You can find them here.

A Timid Preacher's Secret

It's 10:39 on a Sunday morning, the Second Sunday of Advent, 2007. In a few minutes I'll put on a clergy robe and don the blue stole that is identical the ones the other ministers in our church will wear. They were all hand-made by a dear saint in the choir.

I'll go out for a microphone check and line up with the choir for the processional. For the next hour and a half in that robe I'll be speaking on God's behalf, I'll be an objectified symbol of religion for some, and a hopeful sign of the possibility of God for others.

It is a mantle I have accepted, but not one I would choose.

I wouldn't choose it because every Sunday morning I am sick to my stomach. I've preached nearly 500 sermons in my life, and yet I spend 30 wrenching minutes in the bathroom every time. I do it because I am afraid. Now don't go thinking you can talk me out of this - others have tried, and frankly I think the fear is somewhat healthy.

It's not that I'm afraid of speaking in public. I do that lots, and if it's not in worship then I don't get sick. Honestly, I'm afraid of God. I'm afraid of hurting someone. I'm afraid of saying something that would distract from God almost as much as I fear having nothing to say at all. I fear that people will see that blue stole as a costume cover up for the fact that sometimes I am a doubting Thomas, sometimes I am a cynic about religion, and that sometimes I am closer to leaving the pulpit than to staying.

I don't want to do anything to injure someone's faith. So lean in here, and I'll tell you the secret of how and why I get up and preach Sunday in and Sunday out despite all these fears. If you were near me I'd be whispering now. The secret is that God does this work through frail humans like me and you despite our fear. When I walk into the sanctuary in a few minutes I'll pray that same prayer as last Sunday: God, I've done what I can to prepare for this, the rest is up to You.

Amen.

No God, No Peace - No Kidding!

This photo is by Sandra Bello, found at this website. The sign says "No Peace - No God. Know God - Know Peace." Follow the link to see it more clearly.

No God, No Peace - No Kidding!

I despise bumper sticker theology. After all, how can you condense the Holy One to a sound-bite? One that I see frequently is “No God – No Peace. Know God – Know Peace.” Frankly, it annoys me, because it’s only half true. “No God, No Peace.” Check. I agree with that idea. But there are quite a few Christians who “Know God” but do not know anything about peace. Not in their homes, not in their souls, not in their world.

We await a peaceable kingdom that Jesus intends to bring to earth, but the human bent toward self makes true peace impossible in the world as we know it. Peace requires us to give up some of ourselves, our ideals, and even some of our wealth – and most of us are reluctant to change the things that make us un-peace-able people. We can’t get peace between ethnic groups because we refuse to give up our un-peace-able stereotypes. We can’t get peace in our marriages because we refuse to give up our un-peace-able notion that love is all about feeling good. We can’t get peace between nations because we refuse to give up our un-peace-able levels of status, comfort, and consumption.

Peace will not come until the Prince of Peace exerts the power of the gospel of love in a fulfilled kingdom, a kingdom for which I yearn more and more as I age. I criticize warring nations – including our own – but governments can no more beat cruise missiles and combat vehicles into plowshares than I can beat my own un-peace-able behaviors into pruning hooks. And until we Christians can manage to bring peace to our homes and churches, we cannot even begin to imagine peace in the Congo or the Middle East or even in our own Senate.

What we need is the one who frames our Advent waiting – a coming messiah who will rule with justice and mercy and who will lead us to intentionally move toward unity by way of an oh-so-subtle drift toward grace. Only then will we truly be able to say that when we “Know God” we “Know Peace.” But until then, you and I can strive to get rid of the un-peace-able planks in our own eyes so that, upon seeing more clearly, we can look with love and peace at others. That’s the fodder for the sermon this Sunday – it’s called All the Earth Awaits Peace and it comes from Isaiah 2.1-5. We worship at 11:10 am this week and I hope you’ll join us.

Shabbat Shalom,
Pastor Gary

Not a Sermon – Just a Thought is a weekly email written in hopes of getting you to think about your faith and your everyday world. If you wish to no longer receive this email, or would like to receive it every week delivered free to your e-box, shoot me an email at glong@wmbc.org. I’m the pastor at Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, and you can find more info about us at www.wmbc.org.

Isaiah 2:1-5
2:1 The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2:2 In days to come the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.
2:3 Many peoples shall come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
2:4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
2:5 O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD!

Have You Ever Been There?

An office mate at WMBC sent me this:

DADDY'S GONNA EAT YOUR FINGERS

I was packing for my business trip and my three year old daughter was having a wonderful time playing on the bed.

At one point she said, "Daddy, look at this", and stuck out two of her fingers.

Trying to keep her entertained, I reached out and stuck her tiny fingers in my mouth and said, "Daddy's gonna eat your fingers", pretending to eat them. I went back to packing, looked up again, and my daughter was standing on the bed staring at her fingers with a devastated look on her face.

I said, "What's wrong, honey?"

She replied, "What happened to my booger?"

No Walt Whitman, but...

I think that I shall never see,
A sight as beautiful as a tree.

But those men from out of town,
Chopped the whole darn forest down.

So I guess I’ll sit here on my rump,
And write a poem about a stump.

Don't know where that poem came from, I think perhaps I read it in Mad magazine when I was a kid and it stuck in my brain. Funny how somethings are so easily remembered, ay? Why couldn't I ever remember my Greek or Latin conjugations so easily?

Stumped?

So I published this piece today about the tree stump on Braeswood Blvd near my new house. It wasn't quite useful for the topic hope, but this site I found is fun. Take a look at The Stump Online.

To the person in charge of the site I ask, "Does your boss know how you're spending company time?"

Of Winter and Stumps

I've moved to a new house recently, so my commuting paths have changed. As such, I've noticed more details while I'm driving around home. One detail is a water oak in the median of the street I drive most. It is among a group of eight or so trees. Some time ago, I can't tell exactly how long, it was cut off about 5 feet above the ground. Now, it has a year or two's worth of growth out of the stump, and it's coming up kind of scraggly and rough looking. It’s ugly, but there’s still life in it.

This tree recalled a bit of forgotten farm folklore for me, although I can't cite the source of this tidbit: Never cut a tree down in winter. That's because, in winter, the tree always looks dead from the outside, even if there is still life going inside. If you cut a living tree in the winter, the stump will send out shoots in the spring when the sap rises with the temperatures.

The point is - In the winters of life we are tempted to cut down dreams, hopes, and ideals but you can never really tell if a thing is dead when the situation is at its worst. Nature teaches us that a thing isn't necessarily dead just because you can't see life in the winter. God taught nature to be that way. Seems that's part of the Holy One’s nature.

In Isaiah 11 there is a promise that a shoot will come out of the stump of Jesse. All of Israel believed that they were in decline and that foreign oppression was their fate. They were ready to cut down the tree, when Isaiah bursts in with "Wait! Something better is coming. Wolves are going to lie with lambs, and the root of Jesse will be a banner over all the people of the earth." And in just the right time, God delivered on his promise that was to come from the family of Jesse - his name was Jesus. And as surely as all of Israel awaited God's salvation, all the earth awaits something even now.

God's methods aren't always easy to understand, and sometimes life throws us curve balls that look like winter time. Advent reminds us that hope isn't hope if it doesn't have to wait and the God of Advent urges us to stop cutting down trees in winter time so that, when spring comes in its many forms, our dreams, hopes, and ideals will still be standing as trees of righteousness in the Kingdom of God.

What do you await? Love? Security? Kindness? Acceptance? Forgiveness?

Whatever you await this Advent, keep on waiting - for that is hope, and that is what we celebrate beginning this Sunday. I'll be preaching a sermon called All the Earth Awaits Hope based on Isaiah 11.1-10. We'll gather for worship at Willow Meadows Baptist Church at 11:10 a.m. and I'd be honored if you join us this week.


Waiting on the World to Change,
Pastor Gary

Not a Sermon – Just a Thought is a weekly column by Gary Long. I’m the pastor of Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston, and you can subscribe or unsubscribe by contacting me at http://webmail.logixonline.com/images/blank.png. Feel free to pass this along to a friend or family member who is awaiting something in these days. Encouragement and optimism cost you nothing but they are worth the world to someone else!

Forming Faith in a Missional Church

Here's a story that circulates the email vortex a little too often, but for this week's sermon it was cogent:

A boy went to church for the christening of his younger brother. Going home, he sat in the back seat quietly weeping. His father asked him, “Son, what’s wrong?”

Bravely, the boy replied, “Well, the pastor said he wanted us raised in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys.”

Funny! Or not so funny?

After all, do Christian parents know what it takes to make a home specifically Christian? Do parents know what spiritual formation is? And for that matter, how many Christians – adult or child – are being spiritually shaped at all? There are a whole bunch of preacher-types out there who tell me that church should be “missional” and go out into the world, but what should be done to spiritually prepare people for this kind of sending?

In last week’s sermon I suggested that a missional faith should be holistic and apostolic, but how do we acquire such a faith? Or, put a different way, how can we be shaped by God to live the missional faith to which we are being called? The answer lies in seeing souls as beings that need to be shaped and changed, not merely “educated” with lots of knowledge about God, but rather encounters with God. Instead of pouring Bible facts and doctrinal statements into our minds, a missional faith is best shaped by experiences with God that aim not only at head knowledge, but heart-level change. This means that that you and I may have to change how we seek God, listen to God, and imitate God’s ways.

We may also discover that our familiar ways of Christian education are inadequate for preparing us to live missionally. Sunday School is a start, but do all the Bible facts we’ve learned through the years change our ways of living? Does missional faith require something more? Yes.

That’s what I’m talking about in Sundays’ sermon entitled Change Your World – By Allowing God to Change You, based on parts of Psalm 119. We’ll explore some ways that you and I can be changed by God (spiritually formed) for missional living, and you may be pleasantly surprised to find that you’re already doing some of these things – and that they’re actually fun!!! Things like conversation, art, hospitality, or exercise, games, or sharing life with others. It all boils down to the fact that God is already working in our lives on multiple levels and in varied ways – we simply need to see things that way and be changed by it.

Hope to see you Sunday,
Pastor Gary

Not a Sermon – Just a Thought is a weekly column written by me, Gary Long. I’m the pastor of Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston, Texas.

Psalm 119. 1-8 and 33-40

1 Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD.
2 Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.
3 They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways.
4 You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.
5 Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!
6 Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.
8 I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.

33 Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.
35 Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.
36 Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.
38 Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared.
39 Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good.
40 How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness.

With Friends Like That, Who Needs...

A few years ago I asked God to send me some good friends. You know, the kind you can call at 2 a.m. if you need 'em, the kind who will show up and feel welcome to rummage through your fridge, the kind who are there to celebrate big and small stuff.

I was at a birthday gathering for my wife on Saturday night, and caught this photo of me and two such friends . Looking through the photos today, I realized: Answered prayer. That would be the caption for each of these photos. There are a lot more folk in my life who fit that bill, but were not available for the photo.

The biggest sports news the first of November didn’t get much press. An NBA player signed a contract for less money than he could have gotten! Granted he won’t be starving, because the contract was for $13 million a year. But he went against his agent’s advice and took a lower amount of money.

Al Jefferson signed a contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves for about $2 million per year less than he could have negotiated for. "I didn't even think I was worth max (money) this year anyway," Jefferson said at a press conference on Thursday (11/107). "I would've been a fool to go up there and ask for max, having not really proved myself for that. So the number I got was the number that was my goal from Day 1. And I think it was a win, win situation."

You just don’t hear about this kind of thing very often in our cash crazy country. I was discussing this with a friend and he said, “Yeah, but come on, he’s got $13 million a year, how much more does he need?”

Fair question – for Jefferson and for you and me.

How much is enough money for us to live? And how much of our money should we use to sustain our lifestyle and how much should we give away?

Fair question, but hard question. And a timely question.

This weekend Willow Meadows Baptist Church begins our annual offering for world missions. We’ll be raising money for missionaries, theological education, orphans in Moldova, churches in Mexico, and food for the poor in Southwest Houston. There are even more good causes that I don’t have room to list.

We make these contributions over and above our regular giving to our church and other charities, and I challenge you to ask and answer the question my friend raised about an NBA player: How much is enough?

I challenge each of my readers to consider this as the end of the year spending spree called Christmas approaches. I challenge you to spend less on yourselves and your family and to put your money where your faith is - support your favorite churches and charities generously.

This Sunday I’ll be preaching a sermon called Change Your World – Splot by Splot. My November sermons will focus on how to “Change Your World – For Good” by not only giving money, but by adopting a missional lifestyle. That’s a lifestyle were our faith is wholistic, incarnational, and apostolic. Find out what those words all mean by reading 2 Timothy 1. 3-14 and joining us for worship if you’re in Houston this weekend. We gather at 9:00 a.m. and 11:10 a.m.

Show me the money,
Pastor Gary

A Prayer for Today

I was reading some stuff on missional thinking on this blog today, and found that this prayer provided me with a bit of spiritual sustenance for the frenzy of my life:

May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and
To turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world.
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.