Glendale Church of the Brethren

“If I speak in the tongues of mortal and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Possessing a powerful charisma that commands the attention of everyone assembled is nothing without love. To discern the mysteries of the heavens through your knowledge is nothing without love. Even to live your life in selfless dedication, like Jesus, is nothing without love. Love (agape in Greek) is the key term in Christianity. Without love the most sought after virtues of the Christian faith are nothing.

Psalm 19:1-4a

How clearly the sky reveals God’s glory! How plainly it shows what he has done! Each day announces it to the following day; each night repeats it to the next.  No speech or words are used, no sound is heard; yet their message goes out to all the world…

All of my sunset pictures at Point Mugu are of the sun setting into the ocean – except for this one!  The warm tones of the “splash” on the rocks allows us to infer that a sunset is taking place even though we cannot directlys see it. I love the subtlety of this image!

Throughout our spiritual journey in life we seek obvious evidence of God’s activity in our world.  Yet, I believe we will find this “divine intervention” more often when we look beyond the obvious and dare to look at our world in new, subtle, ways.

The psalmist tells us that all creation constantly tells of God’s glory to the end of the earth, and yet it is unintelligible to most.  Only those who take the leap of faith and plumb the depths of God’s subtle WORD will truly understand.

Peace,

Pastor John

“Baptist Preacher Charles Spurgeon once recounted the view of Rowland Hill that a person ‘was not a true Christian if his dog or cat were not the better for it’.  And commented: ‘That witness is true.’”

 What?     You are invited to a free public community activity for all pets and their owners.  This service of blessing will be held in our sanctuary.  Plus we will post on this web site a picture of your pet being blessed and you will be able to download it! 

When?    This Sunday (October 4th, 2009) at 10:45am. 

Where?  Here at the Glendale Church of the Brethren, 626 N. Pacific Avenue, Glendale.  We are one    block south of 134, on the corner of Pacific and Pioneer next to the Days Inn.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, Pastor John, at 818 572 3130 (24/7) and I will be happy to answer any of your questions.  You can also email me at pastorjjj@gmail.com

Peace!

Pastor John

Saturn:  Seen from almost a billion miles away, through the ice and dust particles of the rings, Earth appears as a tiny, bright dot to the left and slightly behind Saturn.

 Quote from a New York Times Article:  “To my mind.” Dr. Porco said, “most people go through life recoiling from its best parts.  They miss the enrichment that just a basic knowledge of the physicaly world can bring to the most ordinary experiences.  It’s like there’s a pulsating, hidden world, governed by ancient laws and principles, underlying everything around us — from the movements of electrical charges to the motions of the plants — and most people are completely unaware of it.” – Dr. Porco heads the Cassini Mission’s Camera Team.

Dr. Porco laments our lack of scientific knowledge.  She urges us to learn about the physical world so we have a greater appreciation and insight to the beauty of the entire universe.  We can make the same analogy to good/bad theology.  People live unfulfilled life journeys because of “bad theology.”  Unfortunately “bad” theology misinforms people, narrows their view, and makes many people believe that they must choose between faith and science.  Shame!

Signs of Good Theology:

1) Scripture is seen in light of the historical setting, type of literature, and intent of the author/editor.

2) Affirms the basic goodness of creation and all humans.

3) Remembers that the Gospel is a story of redemption, forgiveness, and love found in Jesus Christ – not a rule book.

4) Promotes healthy relationships

5) Trust in the only one ultimate force in the universe – God.

Signs of Bad Theology

1) Rejects clear science when it disagrees with a literal understanding of scripture.

2) Raises up one race or aspect of humanity over another.

3) Is shame based and life is to be lived by strict oppressive rules.

4) Separates you from healthy, loving relationships.

5) Believe that Good and Evil are equal in their force.

 We invited you to learn all about “Good Theology” by becoming a part of our church family here at the Glendale Church of the Brethren.

Peace,

Pastor John

Proverbs 1:32-33 “For waywardness kills the simple, and the complacency of fools destroys them; but those who listen to me will be secure and will live at ease, without dream of disaster.”  Yes, bad things do happen to good people! Proof of the righteous suffering is found throughout the Pslams, the Old Testament narratives, Book of Job, and of course we will never forget that our Savior was crucified.Yet, it is the turth we live by that those who follow God’s wisdom will eventually be saved and will prosper!Peace,Pastor John

Proverbs 1:28-31

“Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way and be sated with their own devices.”

“Good Cop/Bad Cop” was the game I played as a Junior High substitute teacher.  (I did some substitute teaching in the raucous inner-city schools of Lima, Ohio while I was on Sabbatical.)

When a student “acted out” I was determined that I would not allow one or two students to ruin the rest of class from learning “verb and subject agreement.”  So I would march the worst offender down to the Principal’s office and engage in a “bad cop/good cop” banter with the office administrative assistants.  The dialogue would go like this…

AA (Administrative Assistant)–”So Mr. Jackson I see that you have brought Courtney down to the office.  I am so sorry she has given you such trouble.”

John (ME)– “Yes, but what it is truly sad is that Courtney will be missing out on a vital day of her education.  Her sitting down here in the office is what is such a waste.”

AA –”Courtney, it sounds like Mr. Jackson is giving you a second chance.  Is that so Mr Jackson?”

John–”Well only if Courtney stays in her seat, does not bother the other students, and actively participants in the lesson – then I will give her a second chance.”

AA –”Courtney, what do you want to do?  Mr Jackson is giving you a generous offer here”

Believe it or not, this routine, routinely worked!  There is nothing that settles a Jr. High Class down more then having the “class pest” sheepishly walk back into the class and positively participate in the lesson.

Today’s scripture seems harsh because Sophia (Wisdom) is saying that by the time the “simple” realize the errors of their ways that she will not listen to pleas for help.   Sophia, teaches us that God’s ultimate punishment is to let us suffer from the consequences of our own actions. 

What makes this understandable is that every minute, of every day God is calling out to us to seek wisdom, to learn what the good life is all about, and yet not only do we not listen – we despise God’s overtures.

God gives us multiple second chances, (like I did for Courtney), but there comes a time when we will suffer the consequences.   Think about it, there are many who waste their education, they never really get serious about learning.  Then these students, who never took their educational opporunities seriously,  find themselves after high school with little or no skills.   They suffer the consequcnes of their own actions.

Yet it is God’s desire that none should ever perish, that is why God is constantly, persistently pursuing you, and wishes every good thing for you.  You know, for you, right now, It’s NOT too late for you baby.

 Peace,

Pastor John

 Proverbs 1:20-23

Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice.  At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:  “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?  How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?  Give heed to my reproof; I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you.”

Sonny and Cher

[Her] They say our love won’t pay the rent, Before it’s earned our money’s all been spent

[Him] I guess that’s so, we don’t have a pot, But at least I am sure of all things we got”

Jefferson Starship

If only you’d believe like I believe, baby we’d get by.  If only you’d believe in miracles, baby, So would I

Jesus: Matthew 6:25&26

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body and what you will wear.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?

Wisdom (Sophia), in the first scripture above, is calling out in the busy market place for anyone to listen to her advice about the good life.  Yet people are way too much in a hurry and too “simple” to pay her any heed.  Wisdom is all around them (us), abundant, and free, but we tend to get it all wrong.

The next two quotes are from pop music. People generally think of these two songs and others like them as “cute” – they are not connected to real life!  It is okay to sing and believe stuff like this when you are young, but there comes a time to grow up and face the hard realities of life.

Jesus’ quote stops us short, they sound more like the pop songs then popular wisdom?!?  Perhaps we have outgrew Jesus’ teachings like we outgrew those songs. 

Next time you are stuck at your local mall perhaps it might be worthwhile to look all around see how “simple” we can be.  No wonder Wisdom (Sophia) has such a difficult time. 

Peace,

Pastor John

“Wisdom cries out in the street;in the squares she raises her voice.”Proverbs 1:20 

“Get your Gladiolas folks! Only four dollars for a bunch, or you can get three bunches for ten dollars – what a deal!”  I heard this loud refrain from a grower every Saturday morning at the farmers market back in Dayton, Ohio.   It seemed like such a wonderful bargain, for only ten dollars you could brighten your house with abundant beautiful flowers.   And yet, the grower had a hard time selling all of them – sometimes people just do not know what is good for them!

In today’s scripture the personified Sophia (Sophia = Wisdom) is hawking wisdom in the market place and getting very few takers.  Sometimes when something is free and plentiful (like wisdom) people do not think it is worth very much!  Yet on the opposite side some women are willing to spend $2000 on a “rare” hand bag or purse!

Fortunately, our gift of salvation has always been free…

Peace

 Pastor John