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!